The 2012 Pinot Noir Sommers Reserve will be released near the end of 2015. It offer lively red berry fruit with redcurrant and wild raspberry scents, fine delineation with cheeky hints of marmalade and orange rind. The palate is medium-bodied and almost feral on the entry, as it seems to shoot off in a different direction. Then the acidity begins to bind it all together to form a cohesive, sorbet-fresh, bay-leaf finish that is long in the mouth. It needs to develop a little more persistence on the balsamic-tinged aftertaste, but otherwise this has good potential.

The 2011 Pinot Noir Sommers Reserve contains a higher percentage of estate fruit compared to the Mt. Jefferson, around 80%, and is treated like the single-vineyard–matured for 18 months in around 50% new oak. It includes 50% whole-cluster fruit. It has a mellow, natural bouquet with lifted brambly red berry fruit with touches of bay leaf and autumn leaves. I like the delineation here. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, quite crisp and reserved at first, but it gently fans out with pretty red berry fruit mixed with plenty of dried herbs. This adheres to Cristom's classic style, much more Old World inspired than its peers, and certainly well crafted.

Cristom’s 2010 Pinot Noir Summers Reserve – as usual, sourced diversely, but in only small part from the Cristom estate – is pungently – and sweetly-scented with blond tobacco; fresh cherry and red currant; smoked meat; brown spices and white pepper, all of which then inform a tight, tart-edged, firm palate. It finishes with sappy, gripping and energetic intensity; not the most refined Pinot to be sure, but bursting with flavor and, I suspect, bursting to leave the starting gate and show that it can cover at least a decade’s distance with aplomb. Steve Doerner – for much more about whom, and about this estate, see my Issue 202 introduction – reported from 2011” the lowest brix in our estate’s (20 year) history, lower even the cool vintages from the ‘90s” and he chaptalized to the greatest extent, typically bringing the wines up by nearly a point in alcohol, to around 13%. Some wines were acid-adjusted (adding tartaric to compensate for the high malic that was going to turn lactic) and – unlike most other strong protagonists of this approach that in the Willamette is above all associated with him – Doerner backed off a bit on the share of whole clusters and stems that went into the fermenters. As a measure of the Cristom team’s confidence in the 2011 vintage, they not only rendered from this vintage a four-barrel “Signature Cuvee,” but also an “estate blend” utilizing a barrel from each of their vineyard sites. As usual, though, with one exception it is the Cristom Pinot Noirs of three calendar years prior that were presented to me to taste there this summer. It’s no wonder that the team here is keen on a 2010 vintage in which they managed to achieve power and structure, as well as in which flavors clearly developed superbly before must weights climbed significantly. Doerner refers to a certain “delicacy” in the wines; maybe, but tasting the 2010 vintage Pinot collection here left me not just exhilarated but pretty nearly wrung out! Tel. (503) 375-3068

The 2008 Pinot Noir Sommers Reserve spent 6 months longer in a higher percentage of new oak than the Jefferson bottling. It exhibits a whiff of toast along with meaty black fruit notes, spice box, and incense. On the palate it displays an elegant personality along with intense fruit flavors, good balance, and enough structure to evolve for 1-2 years. It will deliver prime drinking from 2012 to 2020. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, continuity and consistency are the keys to Cristom’s success. The winemaking team led by Steve Doerner rose to the occasion, taking full advantage of the great raw materials provided by the 2008 vintage. Tel. (503) 375-3068; www.cristomwines.com