The 2009 Pinot Noir Quarter Moon Vineyard is a big, rich wine loaded with sweet black fruit. Expressive aromatic nuances are woven throughout, giving the wine much of its lift and vibrancy. Firm tannins frame the long, polished finish. This wonderfully complete wine is firing on all cylinders. Another year in bottle should help some of the power to soften. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2019. I was deeply impressed with the wines I tasted from Joseph Phelps’s Freestone property on the Sonoma Coast. The Pinots are made with some whole clusters, but it is the distinctive personality of the Calera clones that seems to define those wines. The Chardonnays are both done in a full malolactic style. The Pastorale sees a little bit more time in oak and also gets a slightly higher percentage of new barrels. These beautiful Chardonnays and Pinots deserve considerable attention. The 2010 Chardonnays were scheduled to be bottled in March 2012.Tel. (707) 963-2745

Lots of acidity in this young wine, maybe more than some wine lovers will be comfortable with. That gives the enormously ripe cherry and persimmon fruit a bite, and could help this dry, silky wine to develop in the cellar. It’s of a piece with the 2007 and 2008. Try after 2015.——S.H.(12/31/2011)—— 92