1998 Porter Bass Chardonnay: Deeper gold than the first sample, with lovely clove/nutmeg on the nose and more finesse than the blend. Greg called the fruit "very expressive this vintage," and said both wines will be bottled in August.

1998 Camp Meeting Ridge Chardonnay: Greg called this wine "full boogie tilt," and "pulling out all the stops." While my brief notes only mention a deeper gold color, luxurious and high extract character; there is no doubt that this is some serious, serious Chardonnay.

1997 Flowers Sonoma Coast Chardonnay Camp Meeting Ridge: Though Greg and Bree both opined that this lovely golden colored wine is too tight right now, I thought that it opened up nicely and was an excellent choice to accompany the mixed green salad with grilled portabello mushrooms and citrus-white truffle oil vinaigrette. It showed big butter/tropical fruit flavors and aromas, and some maple syrup on the nose with air. Rich and intense, it’s is smooth but not fat. There’s a very bright future in store for this one.

1996 Flowers Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir Camp Meeting Ridge: We sipped both the ’96 and ’97 CMR Pinots with Sandra’s delicious mushroom and English pea risotto. The ’96 is a ruby dark garnet that’s browning slightly at the edge. It shows BIG smoky sweet black cherry flavors and aromas with tea leaf nuances, all in what I’m coming to recognize as the Flowers style. (Will I soon be commenting on "all that Flowers perfume?") This is creamy, lovely and ready to drink now, and was served at the White House in April for the 50^th Anniversary of NATO.

1997 Flowers Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir Camp Meeting Ridge: This is another ruby dark garnet, but more purple at the edge, as one would expect from its youth. While it may not be as expressive aromatically, as Bree observed, I found it to have purer fruit on the nose, and cleaner black cherry fruit on the palate. There are plenty more tannins and acidity than the earlier model, and in fact this is one too tight mama right now, and needs cellaring. Greg said it will be "most long lived and elegant," and I have no reason to believe otherwise. We’ll give mine a minimum of three years in the cellar, when we get our allocation.

 1998 Camp Meeting Ridge Pinot Noir: Greg called this the mishmash barrel, and commented on the huge color, tannin and sugar, despite only 12.8 % alcohol; he said this cool climate Pinot has the longest hang time in California. He noted Indian spice in the flavors and aromas, while Joan mentioned cardamon. These complimented the huge black cherry essence of the wine. While we were being wowed by this, Greg stated "This is a magic place, a happy, favorite site for Pinot."  This point was becoming increasingly obvious to us.

1998 Mendocino Zinfandel: Yes, Zinfandel! 15.1 % alcohol and no heat to speak of at this point, just big spicy fruit without much oak. Greg said they were just concentrating on the fruit. Pure beautiful stuff!