Serious and substantive in its perfume of incense, crushed plum, smoke, forest bark that foreshadow a silky and explosive mouthful of pinot fruit. The flavors are pure, reminiscent of a top vintage of Clos des Papes (usually the comparison is the other way around, but I've just been drinking so much damn Chateauneuf that I can'thelp but see Pinot in a Grenache light now!) in the spades of raspberry and kirsch liqueur that are offered up. As the wine sits in the glass, scents of moss, loam and damp meadow emerge. This wine is maturing beautifully and expresses a sense of sheer transparency that I?d aspire to attain if I were a winemaker in California.

Slightly cloudy but still nearly translucent red colored wine with a Burgundian (Cote de Beaune) nose of cherry, plum, spice, mint, and light earth. Elevated acidity somewhat mars the wine on the palate. Still, it offers plenty of candied fruit and oak flavors. Drink now to 2006+. 88 points ? not one of Kistler?s best efforts.