The 2009 Pinot Noir Ulises Valdez Vineyard is a plush wine loaded with dark red fruit. This is a fairly straightforward, fruit-driven style. It shows terrific balance, if not quite the delineation and nuance of the best 2009 Pinots. Spices, new leather and licorice wrap around the muscular, dense finish. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2019. This is a dazzling set of Chardonnays and Pinots from Paul Hobbs. The wines are made with native primary and secondary fermentations, aged on their lees and bottled without fining of filtration. Readers may want to check out my video interview with Paul Hobbs on www.eroberparker.com for more details. Vintages 2009 and 2010 are both strong, but I find myself favoring the 2010s for their greater verve and focus. Either way, it is virtually impossible to go wrong with any of these new and upcoming releases. Tel. (707) 824-9879

The 2009 Pinot Noir Ulises Valdez Vineyard is a plush wine loaded with dark red fruit. This is a fairly straightforward, fruit-driven style. It shows terrific balance, if not quite the delineation and nuance of the best 2009 Pinots. Spices, new leather and licorice wrap around the muscular, dense finish. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2019. This is a dazzling set of Chardonnays and Pinots from Paul Hobbs. The wines are made with native primary and secondary fermentations, aged on their lees and bottled without fining of filtration. Readers may want to check out my video interview with Paul Hobbs on www.eroberparker.com for more details. Vintages 2009 and 2010 are both strong, but I find myself favoring the 2010s for their greater verve and focus. Either way, it is virtually impossible to go wrong with any of these new and upcoming releases.Tel. (707) 824-9879