This dark ruby-colored beauty reveals scrumptious flavors suggestive of cookie dough laced with cherry syrup aromas. With its dense, intense, and concentrated flavor profile, this wine's medium-to-full-bodied character coats the palate with velvety blueberries and black cherries. It possesses the vintage's tell-tale firmness, but is buffered by superb ripeness, fat, and richness - qualities more associated with 1994 Oregon pinot noirs! It will not be released before spring, 1999. Drink it between 2002 and 2006. The 1996 Mark Bradford Vineyard, produced from an east-facing parcel at an elevation of 620 to 760 feet (planted with the Pommard clone), is certainly one of Oregon's wines of the vintage. Grace and Ken Evenstad are wine lovers from Minnesota. They share the passion, commitment, desire, and financial means to produce first rate Pinot Noirs. These self-described red Burgundy fanatics were convinced by some Oregon wines they tasted (including the 1975 Eyrie, Ken Wright's 1986s, and older offerings from Rex Hill) that the Willamette Valley is capable of producing world class Pinot Noir. Presently, Domaine Serene comprises 142 acres on the southern-most slopes of the Red Hills. The winery currently produces 5000 cases, and should increase to 10,000 as they complete their planting plans. Ken Wright, Evenstad's winemaker, uses 100% new French oak barrels (Seguin Moreau and Francois Freres) that have been steamed to remove the more aggressive wood flavors. Tel. (612) 473-9825. Bravo!