2002 Etude Heirloom

A small parcel of land in California's Napa Carneros region planted to several different heirloom clones of Pinot Noir—descendents of vines brought over decades ago from some of Burgundy's top estates—provides the fruit for this complex Pinot. Made by longtime Pinot Noir specialist Tony Soter, who also makes top Pinots in Oregon, its flavor suggests crushed wild berries and loamy earth.

For 20 years, Soter, 51, was one of Napa's most successful winemaking consultants, giving advice and services to wineries that today are among the cult Cabernet Sauvignon-producing elite -- Araujo, Dalla Valle, Niebaum- Coppola, Shafer, Spottswoode and Viader. He added his own Napa Valley brand, Etude Wines -- high-end Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinot Blanc -- to his repertoire in 1982, and by 1997 owned a 45-acre vineyard parcel in Oregon's Willamette Valley, where he makes Pinot Noir and sparkling wine.

Soter's Etude Carneros Pinot Noirs ($40) are known for their youthful, spicy, deeply flavored fruit character; they're typically rich and toasty, yet with a sense of elegance, with fine-grained tannins and suppleness. The Etude Heirloom Carneros Pinots ($80), made from the best barrels of wine from each vintage and named for the mix of clones (like heirloom tomatoes) that exists in the vineyards, tend to be bolder and richer than the Carneros, with sweet black fruit, smoke and silky tannins.