As good as Les Pavots is in 2009, the real surprise is the 2009 L'Esprit des Pavots, which costs about half the price and delivers nearly as much pleasure. To be sure, $95 a bottle isn-t cheap, but the Esprit delivers the goods and then some. The 2009 is a huge, mouthfilling wine bursting with dark fruit. It doesn-t have the textural finesse or sophistication of Les Pavots (especially in the tannins), but it is nevertheless incredibly pleasing right now. I loved it. The Esprit is made from vineyards that are 10-15 years old. The blend is 47% Cabernet Franc, 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petit Verdot and 2% Merlot. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2024. I tasted a large number of wines at Peter Michael. Overall, the 2009 reds made the most positive impression on this visit. The 2009 Chardonnays are very strong. I am less enamored with the 2010 Chardonnays, as they clearly show the ill-effects of a challenging growing season, which at Peter Michael yielded very concentrated whites with slightly higher than normal alcohol levels and an element of heaviness that is out of character. Winemaker Nick Morlet describes 2010 as a difficult year. Bud break was a full month late. High winds and rain during the flowering resulted in high amounts of shatter and yields that are dramatically lower than normal. Morlet describes 2009 as a vintage where everything ripened quickly and at the same time. This lineup includes several wines that are being released for the first time, including a trio of Pinot Noirs from estate-owned coastal vineyards planted in 2006 and 2007. It will be fascinating to see how those wines develop as the vines acquire age. The newest wine in the ever-expanding Peter Michael stable is a new Cabernet Sauvignon from the former Showket vineyard that will make its debut with the 2011 vintage and that will be called Le Chevalier. I hope to taste it soon. I tasted the 2010 Chardonnays and Pinots from barrel. Those wines were scheduled to be bottled in February 2012. The 2009 Chardonnays and Pinots were bottled in late January/early February 2011.Tel. (800) 354-4459; www.petermichaelwinery.com

The 2009 L’Esprit des Pavots (47% Cabernet Franc, 46% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Petit Verdot and Merlot) is a much smaller cuvee of 1,540 cases. One of the best second wines I have tasted from this winery, it offers up much of the same character as its bigger sibling, but softer tannins and a more near-term accessibility give the wine immediate appeal. It should drink well for 10-12 years. The Peter Michael estate has grown considerably with their vineyards in the Fort Ross-Seaview region of the Sonoma Coast region producing some remarkable Pinot Noirs, and their Chardonnay vineyards in Knights Valley having been at the top of the qualitative hierarchy for many years. Add to that their proprietary Bordeaux blend called Les Pavots, their remarkable Sauvignon Blanc and their Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blend. Additionally, they have purchased a great parcel of vines in the Oakville Corridor near the well-known Dalla Valle property. Owned by Sir Peter Michael, this estate has employed a bevy of brilliant winemakers over the years, the current being the two Morlet brothers from the Champagne district in France. Nick Morlet is employed full-time as the main winemaker, and his brother, Luc, consults at Peter Michael. Both have brought French savoir-faire and applied it to extraordinary vineyard sites to produce world-class wines of extraordinary richness, intensity and complexity. Readers looking for some of the best Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, Sauvignon Blancs, Sauvignon/Semillon blends, and Bordeaux proprietary red blends can do no better than the wines from the Peter Michael Winery. Since I had not visited this estate in several years, I asked to do a complete retrospective of the last three vintages of Chardonnay and the last four vintages of Pinot Noir. The result was one of the most remarkable tastings I experienced over the last several years. First, Nick and Luc Morlet gave me a summary of their vintages. They were staggered by the quality of 2013 after what was clearly a great vintage in 2012. The three previous years were among the most challenging in recent years. Following one of the hottest years they had ever experienced, 2008, 2009 produced a small crop because of a cool year, 2010 was another small crop because of some rain issues, and 2011 was the most difficult vintage since 1998. Extremely cool, with no heat spikes, the 2011's microscopic crop had to be harvested extremely late, with many vineyards not finished with their harvest until the end of October or early November. The brilliance and flexibility exhibited by the winemaking team at Peter Michael has brought in a treasure trove of wines that readers will adore. All of the following Chardonnays are bottled without fining or filtration. From the hillside stony soils of La Carriere, the three Chardonnay vintages I tasted have a kinship to a great Burgundy grand cru from Chevalier-Montrachet or Corton-Charlemagne because of the wines’ minerality. I hope these notes persuade a lot of readers of just what an extraordinary winery owned by the visionary Englishman, Sir Peter Michael, sits up in Knights Valley. The Belle Cote Chardonnay comes from a Knights Valley vineyard planted in 1990 with the Rued clone of Chardonnay. Peter Michael has long produced one of the finest Sauvignon Blanc cuvees in Northern California. Another serious white is the blend of equal parts Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon called Coeur a Coeur. I suspect you can only buy this at the winery as only 100 cases are produced in each vintage. Peter Michael’s proprietary wines made from Bordeaux blends include their flagship red, Les Pavots, and their second wine, L’Esprit des Pavots, which is meant to be drunk at an earlier age. In 2011, the winery added a new cuvee, the Cabernet Sauvignon Au Paradis, made from the vineyard they purchased on the Oakville Corridor on the eastern hillsides. Tel. (707) 942-3200