The 2006 Pinot Noir Jerome Reserve is a barrel selection from the best lots in the winery. Medium/dark ruby-colored, the nose exhibits cassis, cherry, and wild strawberry. This leads to a wine with excellent grip, several years of aging potential, complex flavors, and a lengthy finish. Drink it from 2011 to 2020. Lemelson Vineyards is certified organic which encompasses six estate vineyards and 120 producing acres. All of the wines are fermented with native yeasts. Tel. (503) 852-6619; www.lemelsonvineyards.com

This complex wine lists no fewer than eight different clones in the blend, harvested at an average of just 1.8 tons/acre. The winery suggests that it is their most ageworthy Pinot Noir, and the structure of this young wine would support that assertion. It’s tight, hard, compact with black fruits, smoke and chewy tannins. It’s a wine that needs time to stretch its considerable muscles. The roughly 50/50 mix of new and once-used barrels adds baking chocolate, licorice and charred toast to the finish; well-integrated and buttressed with crisp acids. But the lingering flavor is of raspberry jam; so good you want to spread it directly on your tongue.——P.G.(12/15/2008)—— 92