For past-vintage Accolades, click here.

2007 VINTAGE ACCOLADES

2007 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
91 Points
Lucious. rellay pleases for its deliciousness, and made even better by the good structure of acids and tannins. shows enormously ripe flavors of red and black cherries, red currants, licorice, cola, tangerine zest, cinnamon and pepper. Suggests pairing with a great steak or lamb chop. - S.H.

2007 Cargasacchi Vineyard Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills
90 Points
Ripe to the point of super-mature, this Pinot explodes with flavors of black and red raspberries, cherries, milk chocolate, coffee and spice. Almost like a glass of Kahlua, with the softness that implies. - S.H.

2007 Keefer Ranch Vineyard Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
90 Points
They must have let the grapes get superripe in this fine, long vintage, to judge by the massive flavors of melted berry and cherry jam, currants, anise and chocolate. Delicious, but could use greater acidity for firmness. Drink now. - S.H.

2007 Sonatera Vineyard Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
90 Points
Shows an exotic array of flavors, including blackberry and cherry jam, Dr. Pepper, mashed ripe dates, milk chocolate, orage zest and black pepper. The wine is dry, although it's a little too soft. - S.H.

2006 VINTAGE ACCOLADES

2006 Siduri Keefer Ranch Russian River Valley Pinot Noir Adam and Dianna Lee are making increasingly muscular wines from almost anywhere a Pinot vine can grow. But this bottling from six different clones on a top Green Valley site (which just began bottling under its own label as well) has impressive earth-focused nuance. That and hints of mint and soy add depth to the rich berry fruit.

95 Points -
2006 Pinot Noir Sonatera Vineyard Sonoma Coast
This opus from the Sonoma Coast is a rich and lavishly filled wine whose impressive complement of very deep and delicious fruit comes with no debt to overdone ripeness. It is plush on the palate, and, although showing a good sense of fruity muscle, it stays supple and balanced from front to back. Its combination of polish and potency places it with those at the head of the class, and just how good it will get is a question to be answered several years hence.

93 Points - 2006 Pinot Noir Rosella's Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands
Santa Lucia Highland Pinot Noirs are very often defined by their ripeness and weight, and, while this bottling is lacking in neither, it is the wine's balance and sense of real polish that sets it apart. Velvety smooth, yet with a fine spine of acid, it is everywhere keyed on youthful cherry-like fruit and is filled in with mildly creamy oak at every stop. A classy and complete package that ranks among Siduri's best efforts in 2006, it is at once irresistible now
and seems likely to gain still further refinement with time.

93 Points - 2006 Pinot Noir Ewald Vineyard Russian River Valley
Our favorite of this new batch from Siduri, this bottling presents fresh, medium ripe red cherry fruit aromas combined with hints of wild berries and creamy oak in the nose. It is full on the palate and supple with a suggestion of fleshiness that is nicely held in check by the wine's vital acidity, and if a bit of heat rises in the finish, this extremely well-crafted bottling will want only service with savory roasts and chops to handle it with ease. Latter palate tannins ask for a few years of age.

92 Points - 2006 Pinot Noir Amber Ridge Vineyard Russian River Valley
Very much keyed on the pure cherryish fruit that seems so often the message of fine Russian River Pinot Noir,
Siduri's Amber Ridge Vineyard bottling is further lifted by a veneer of rich oak and shows touches of briary spice, plums and toast that herald complexity to come. So, too, are there the first signs of velvet beginning to appear, and, as admittedly inviting and fascinating as the wine is now, we would vote for a couple of year's patience with expectations that a very good thing will get even better.

92 Points - 2006 Pinot Noir Truett Nolan California
Deep and delicious with a more direct and bold personality than the wine above, this one offers a lovely combination of keenly focused Pinot Noir cherryish fruit, toasty oak and very admirable concentration to go along with its singluar sense of balance. It is supple and velvety in feel even now yet has the tannins and acid in support, especially at the finish, to propel its layered flavors into a half decade or more of very rewarding service alongside your best roasts.

91 Points - 2006 Pinot Noir Gary's Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands
Finding a comfortable niche somewhere between its somewhat more polished partner from the nearby Rosella's Vineyard and its heavier, more muscular mate from Pisoni, this fairly complex offering mixes ripe cherries with toast, a touch of dried flowers and hints of bacon and comes up a winner in its own right. Not quite as juicy as it is deep and rich, it has a few finishing edges that are in need of some smoothing, and its persistent fruit is good insurance that it will round into very fine shape with a few years of rest in the cellar.

90 Points - 2006 Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands
Of the three outstanding Siduri efforts that hail from the Santa Lucia Highlands, this one is far and away the biggest, ripest and most fully extracted. It is, however, still solidly fruity in spite of itself, and, while presently blunted by a little more tannin than is typical in Pinot, it is nevertheless an involving, moderately age worthy offering that is bound to satisfy those who champion red wines of real savor and weight.

90 Points - 2006 Pinot Noir Arbre Vert Vineyard, Willamette Valley
We have not always been fond of Siduri's efforts from Oregon, but this one is quite compelling, and it shows none of the extra ripeness that is a part of many 2006 Oregon Pinots. It is, rather, keenly balanced and superbly weighted in a way that allows the supple, velvety potential of the grape to emerge. Both light on its feet and invitingly deep in character at the same time, it has the Siduri polish from front to back.

91 Points - 2006 Pinot Noir Amber Ridge Vineyard Russian River Valley - 483 Cases
Sleek, elegant and refined, showing a mix of dried currant, black cherry, herb and light cedary oak, with hints of spice and herb. Impressive for its balance, depth, restraint and complexity. Drink now through 2012.—J.L.

90 Points - 2006 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast - 923 Cases
Intense and complex, with vivid blueberry and wild berry flavors that touch on ripe plum jam. Holds its focus and fruit on the finish.

One bonus to making multiple single-vineyard wines from Sonoma is that it gives Adam and Dianna Lee the flexibility to redirect some of the barrels that don't fit into those wines into a regional blend. The 2006 vintage turned out to be trickier than expected, but the Lees' Sonoma Coast Pinot is complex and compelling, rivaling their single-vineyard wines in quality.