From an exposed 15-acre (and recently expanded) sector of the estate that reaches up to 700 feet in elevation and hence ripens relatively late, Cristom’s 2009 Pinot Noir Eileen delivers a marriage of lightly-confitured but juicy, ripe cherry and red raspberry – garlanded in buddleia and lily – with rich, toasty underlying nut oils and savory, marrow-rich meat stock that is strikingly pure and uncannily saliva-inducing. Irritatingly vague though it is, the German wine expression “feinherb” springs to my mind here, because there is an alliance of fine (i.e. pleasurable) bitterness with savor – not to mention an overall refinement of texture and purity of fruit that are both memorable and irresistible. An admirable sense of buoyancy (though in collection-typical fashion, this weighs-in at a bit over 14% in alcohol) and a persistently, dynamically complex finish further certify the excellence of a bottling that will probably pay distinctively delicious dividends for at least the next dozen years. - David Schildknecht

With scents of mulling spices and stem spice, this well-built ’09 has impressively concentrated fruit, leaning toward plum and black cherry. Its fruit elements feel a bit impacted at the moment but everything seems to be in place, suggesting that this wine will age beautifully.

Cellar Selection. This begins as a hard, tight wine with hints of rose petal around a core of blackberry hard candy. The balance is superb, and the wine is lively with nuanced, dark notes blending smoke, espresso and bitter chocolate. An intriguing animal scent surfaces after some hours of breathing.

A pure, airy and ripe yet cool nose of various red berry fruit aromas is nuanced by hints of violets and plum before being followed by succulent and delicious medium weight flavors that brim with dry extract on the attractively textured and lingering finish. Like the Mt. Jefferson, this displays good but not truly special depth yet given that there is such good underlying material as well as a buried and well-integrated tannic spine, there is reason for optimism that more depth is in the offing with some bottle age.