The 2006 Pinot Noir Emery spent 14 months in 60% new French oak. Nearly purple in color, it offers up a slightly brooding bouquet of toast, earth notes, black and blue fruits. Supple, smooth-textured, and full-bodied, this is a ripe, dense pleasure-bent effort for drinking through 2016. Willakenzie Estate remains a reliable source for well-made and fairly priced Pinot Noir. Their vineyard-designated wine are held back for an additional year before release so these 2006s are the current offerings. The differences between the various vineyard designates are subtle (each parcel has its own clonal selection, exposure, and age of vines); personally I would like to see a cuvee of the top barrels encompassing all of these sites for purposes of comparison but, alas, they do not make one. Tel. (503) 662-5026; www.willakenzie.com

Right away this wine seems bigger, chunkier and more fruit-forward than some of the more refined, backward bottlings from this winery. Big strawberry, raspberry and cherry fruit flavors are backed with balanced tannins and some higher alcohols that leave a little burn in the back of the throat.——P.G.(12/15/2009)—— 89