Finicky pinot noir flourishes in Carneros Valley

Of all the pinot noir made in California, I think the most consistent quality comes from the Carneros Valley. On the northern part of San Francisco Bay, it is at the southern end of the Napa and Sonoma valleys.

Carneros gets both wind and fog, and it has become one of America's best cool-climate growing areas.

These attributes make it an ideal place to grow pinot noir, a grape that is finicky to manage but when harvested and fermented well, can be extraordinary to taste.

Prices have been soaring out of sight in recent years, but now we are beginning to see many pinot noir prices less than last year's.

The wine-tasting group sampled five pinots from Carneros in a blind tasting. One of the bottles was bad, and two members of my group tasted a second bottle a week later.

We found five good pinot noirs you might consider:

- 1998 Bouchaine Pinot Noir at $22.99. This wine smelled of caramel, brown sugar and a luscious smokiness. We could immediately tell it was a classic pinot noir. In the mouth, it had a lush texture, a silky mouthful. It had a savory finish, with a hint of cranberry. Bouchaine often holds its wines for an extra year before releasing them for sale, which is why this wine was older than the others. The Bouchaine finished second in our tasting.

- 1999 Castle "Los Carneros" at $25. This wine tasted of plum jam and spice with a bit of menthol. It was more robust, more jammy than the Bouchaine -- more in-your-face fruit. It had a long finish, with raspberries at the end. This wine finished third in the tasting.

- 2000 Gloria Ferrer Pinot Noir at $23.99. This wine's aroma offered vanilla beans, coffee and maple. In the mouth, we tasted cinnamon and other spices, but not the coffee. It had a velvety texture and a simple but long finish accompanied by strawberries.

- 2001 Acacia Pinot Noir at $24.99. Our first bottle was bad. The second bottle was probably my favorite of the five. The aroma was full of cherries, mint, oak and tea leaf notes. In the mouth, it was lush and rich. The finish was long and mellow.

- 2000 Cuvaison Pinto Noir at $24.99. Tasters ranked this pinot No. 1. It had a sensuous, earthy aroma with cherries sneaking up around the edges. On the palate, it was soft and supple, with complex layers of taste. It had a bright finish. Tasters thought this wine would be great with duck or pork.

Surfing the wine shelves

- 2001 Laetitia Estate Chardonnay at $18. There were complementary aromas of green apple and pineapple with hints of vanilla in the nose of this wine. On the palate it had more green apple nicely balanced with pear and vanilla. Vanilla and oak hung in the mouth at the end.

- 2002 Jacob's Creek Grenache Shiraz at $9. Aromas of caramel, butterscotch and toast followed by fresh berries met the nose. In the mouth, it was soft, lush and fruity but had a short finish with few tannins. Because it lacked the structure tannins would provide, this wine would be a better sipping wine than one to serve with food.

Questions can be sent to Frank Sutherland, editor, The Tennessean, 1100 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203 or e-mailed to editor