The 5th Annual Pinot Noir Shootout...
A Wine Challenge

I’ve been drinking Pinot Noir for more years than I like to admit but I never tire of the experience. You’d think that after five years of concentrated Pinot Noir tastings, I’d have nothing left to say about the wines but Pinot inspires emotional reactions and lots of words, sometimes sighs and occasionally moans (usually of pleasure).

Being the magical wine that it is, one might think that you can grow Pinot the way that Jack grew his beanstalk but Pinot Noir is notoriously difficult to grow and vinify. If Pinot Noir grapes are to become unforgettable wine in your palate memory, wines of elegance and subtlety the stars have to line up.

• The vineyards must be in the right place (cool climates) with the right soils (well-drained). It’s all about terroir. [According to the Wine Lover’s Companion: French for "soil" and used in the phrase gout de terroir ("taste of the soil") to refer to the earthy flavor of some wines. When French wine producers use the term terroir, it not only includes reference to the type of soil (chalky, claylike, gravelly, sandy), but also to other geographic factors that might influence the quality of the finished wine like altitude, position relative to the sun, angle of incline, and water drainage. In the United States, wine producers use the term Microclimate to encompass the same considerations.]
• Mother Nature must provide a good growing season. Early bud break, warm days (but not too warm) and cool nights allowing for long hang time.
• The winemaker must be at his best. The great Pinot Noir winemaker is an artist. The difference in my mind between a good Pinot Noir winemaker and an amazing one is similar to the difference between a good cook and a great chef. A good winemaker can follow the rules and make a good, even an excellent wine. The great Pinot winemaker has an innate ability to “read” the vines and the wines and make truly sublime Pinot Noir.

Pinot Noir...

creates a lasting impression.
Great Pinot Noir creates a lasting impression on the palate and in the memory.

is difficult to ferment.
Andre Tchelistcheff, Beaulieu Vineyards' legendary winemaker from 1938 to 1968 and a mentor to a whole generation of winemakers, is rumored to have said that "god made Cabernet Sauvignon, whereas the devil made Pinot Noir." Difficulties plague Pinot Noir at every step from propagation through bottle aging. No single grape type is more temperamental or difficult to work with than Pinot Noir. Pinot Noir ferments violently partially due to the 18 amino acids present in the grapes. It is difficult to retain the color in the wine and can be tricky to maintain desirable aromas and flavors through fermentation and aging.

belongs on a psychiatrist’s couch.
Pinot Noir has multiple personalities. It is complex and delicate, temperamental, fragile and difficult to grow, a challenging wine to ferment, finicky, silky and sexy, and reflective of the Gout de Terroir (the flavor of the soil). Pinot Noir lovers have endless adjectives to describe the flavors and aromas of these intoxicating wines. Fruit flavors and aromas are varied including black cherry, raspberry, cranberry, fresh strawberry, strawberry jam, Bing cherry, black cherry, and blueberry. Look for rose petal, cinnamon, vanilla, anise, black pepper, and an array of assorted other spices.

is unstable.
At least genetically so. The parent vine can produce offspring that have markedly different characteristics - fruit that varies in size and shape of the berry or cluster. The grapes may have different aromas, flavors and the vines may produce more or less fruit than their parent vine. There are 200 to possibly 11,000 clones of Pinot Noir worldwide. Compare that to twelve identifiable clones of Cabernet Sauvignon.

is vulnerable.
Almost every problem known to affect vines is common in Pinot Noir vineyards. Pinot Noir survives well in cold climates but it is very susceptible to Spring frosts. The sharpshooter, the insect that carries Pierce's Disease, finds Pinot Noir vineyards a good place to thrive. Pinot Noir vines over ten years old are very susceptible to leaf-roll virus. Birds often feast on Pinot Noir grapes since the vines do not produce adequate leaf coverage.

is not inky.
Don't expect deep inky colors like you find in Cabernet Sauvignon. The color of Pinot Noir ranges from a light red almost rose to a deep garnet.

is an exciting wine to explore.
One of the most complex of all varietals. Pinot Noir should be delicate with deliciously ripe, concentrated strawberry, raspberry, cherry or other berry flavors and can have mushroom or barnyard overtones and luscious spices. It is difficult to describe all the flavors and styles of Pinot Noir. It is estimated that there are more than 11,000 different clones world wide that produce a wide variety of styles from heavy, jammy, "in your face" wines, to light, delicate but complex wines and all possible combinations in between. Pinot Noir can be full-bodied and rich but should not be heavy or high in alcohol. The wine should have acids without being acidic and balanced tannins without being tannic. If your glass of Pinot Noir is special, the mouth feel will be rich and silky if not outright velvety. Pinot Noir at its best is sexy; elegant, smooth and velvety on the tongue...satin sheets in a bottle. Wonderful Pinot Noir caresses and embraces.

is good for you.
Pinot Noir is three to four times higher in resveratrol than other varietals, especially when it is grown in cooler and more humid climates.

Complete results of the 5th Pinot Noir Shootout with comments by gender

Pinot Noir lovers are adventurers, always seeking the next great and best ever Pinot Noir and will often go to extremes to find a unique or new Pinot Noir that they have heard about. They are willing to taste through a lot of wines to find it. Some may call us obsessed. Perhaps Pinot Noir lovers belong on the psychiatrists’ couch too. So call our Pinot Noir panel a little bit crazy.

Our panel is very fortunate indeed to have the opportunity to taste these wonderful wines and we are very cognizant of the fact that our conclusions matter and have impact, so we take our responsibility very seriously.

The incredible lineup of 276 top quality Pinot Noirs submitted from growing regions the world over were critically reviewed by a diverse panel of 41 wine professionals.

The Pinot Noir Shootout judging panel included:

Wine Retailers & Consultants: Sybil Ajay, Global Wine Company; Dan Berman, Fiesta Market; Shaun Green, K&L Wine Merchants; Michael Jordan, K&L Wine Merchants; Simon Littler, Global Wine Company; Aaron Luna, Wine Consultant; Greg O'Flynn, California Wine Merchant; Renay Santero, Oliver's Markets in Cotati and Santa Rosa

Wine Writers: Lynne Char Bennett, San Francisco Chronicle; Dan Berger, Vintage Experiences & Appellation America; Laurie Daniel, San Jose Mercury News & Appellation America; Barbara Drady, Affairs of the Vine; Rusty Gaffney, Prince of Pinot, Pinotfile; Alan Goldfarb, Appellation America; David P. Jones, Wineworks; Laura Ness, Appellation America; Christopher Sawyer, Wine Writer; Sue Straight, San Diego Tribune; Tim Teichgraeber, Wine Writer; Byron Vaughn, Santé Magazine; Rosina Tinari Wilson, WineX & Gilded Fork; Alder Yarrow, Vinography

Winemakers & Winery Owners: Anthony Austin, Winemaker; Ellen Mack, Russian Hill Winery

Wine Sales and Marketing: John Drady, Sales & Marketing; Kristina Fischer, The Estates Group; Jeff McCarthy, The Estates Group; Tatyana Zicko, Marketing

Wine Educators & Consultants: Skip Hanson, Wineworks; Ray Johnson, TasteWine: Wine Writer & Educator; Sid Sall, Consultant; Edgar Vogt, Wineworks; Walter Vornbrock III, Consultant

Sommeliers & Chefs: Samantha Brennan, Pres a Vi; Joanna Breslin, Sommelier: Ana Mandara Restaurant; Eva Goud, Food and Beverage Director: Warwick Regis Hotel and La Scene Restaurant; Eric Gower, Eric’s Kitchen; R. Anton Hicks, Nectar Wine Lounge; Ellen Landis, Wine Director: Landis Shores Oceanfront Inn; Ken Landis, Chef: Landis Shores Oceanfront Inn; Cluney Stagg, Bistro des Copains

The Pinot Noir Shootout is the most comprehensive and focused tasting of Pinot Noir in the US, utilizing an incredibly diverse tasting panel comprised of wine industry professionals from varying disciplines including restaurant and retail trade, winemakers, wine writers, wine educators, and viticulturalists.

The process and manner utilized by Affairs of the Vine for assessing and judging entries is unique within competitions in that it employs the following procedures:

• All wines are tasted blind. (How could you ever do it differently?)
• All wines are tasted without reference to producer, appellation or price.
• Each wine is judged and reviewed on its own merit.
• A maximum of 32 wines is tasted per day – four flights of eight wines each. We have arrived at this formula and find that in this format, each wine can be tasted with clarity and concentration without palate fatigue.
• The wines are rated using a 100 point scale. Copious notes are required and the notes and the ratings must have continuity or the scores are not recorded.
• Although we would prefer not to use a point system to rate the wines, we have not come up with an alternative method that allows us to select the top wines that are tasted by our final panel and those tasted at the Pinot Noir Summit.
• For the Pinot Noir Shootout, The wines were placed into flights and evaluated by teams of judges over a period of a month. The top 64 wines selected were then submitted to two final tasting panels for review. Each panel tasted only 32 wines. Each panel was further divided into two groups with one of the groups tasting the wines alone and one of the groups tasting the wines with food. The Pinot Noir Shootout is the only competition where a food & wine element is introduced incorporating a comparison of reactions of the wines with and without food by two different, but equal, panels.

The wines worthy of note are reviewed here. They each get a numerical score and are recommended "from the heart with the additional reference of 's designating the following:
Key:

= Love at First Sip
= An Affair to Remember
= Will Provide Fond Memories

At the completion of our finals, forty of the top rated wines participated in the Pinot Noir Summit on February 10, 2007. 300 lucky Pinot Noir Lovers gathered at The Officers’ Club at 1 Fort Mason in San Francisco to participate in a blind tasting of the award winning Pinot Noirs, attend Pinot Noir workshops, enjoy a reception featuring the over 70 Pinot Noirs paired with fabulous hors d’oeuvres, attend the Pinot Noir Shootout Awards Ceremony, and meet the winemaker's. The delegates to the Pinot Noir Summit, seduced by Pinot Noir, indulged their passion. They tasted forty luscious Pinot Noirs at The Final Showdown of this year's Pinot Noir Shootout. The wines were tasted totally blind and were assigned random colors for identification purposes. The wines could be tasted in any order to avoid undue advantage to a particular wine or group of wines. The delegates pitted their palates against the expert panel's findings. The results as ranked by the wine judges and the Pinot Noir Lovers are detailed in the table below.

Each of the wines was tasted by half of the judges and there are notations of how the wines fared with and without food. There is a lot of information here and we have tried to present the results as clearly as possible. Please refer to the text and tables below.

Please note that all of these wines are winners. All received
and cumulative scores of 90 or above by our judging panel.

Judge's Choice - Wine Only
Sojourn 2005 Pinot Noir Sangiacomo Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast BLACK (93)

AND
TR Elliott 2004 Three Plumes Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley
PINK (95)

Judge's Choice With Food
Bogle Vineyards 2004 Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley
LIGHT GREEN (94)
AND
Phillips Hill 2005 Oppenlander Vineyard Pinot Noir, Mendocino
WEDGEWOOD (94.5)

2nd Place Wine Only
David Bruce 2004 Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains GRAY (92)
AND
Sonoma Coast Vineyards 2004 Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast RED (94)

2nd Place With Food
Ortman 2004 Fiddlestix Vineyard Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills
HOT PINK (93.5)
AND
Woodenhead 2004 Morning Dew Ranch Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley Coral (94)

3rd Place Wine Only
D’Argenzio 2004 Klopp Thorn Ridge Ranch Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley GRAY (94)
AND
Phillips Hill 2005 Oppenlander Vineyard Pinot Noir, Mendocino
WEDGEWOOD (94.5)

3rd Place With Food
La Rochelle 2004 Garys’ Vineyard Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands
BRICK (93)
AND
Lucas & Lewellen 2005 Queen of Hearts Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara County PUMPKIN (93.5)

4th Place Wine Only
Halleck 2005 Hallberg Vineyard Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley
BROWN (92)
AND
Lost Canyon 2004 Saralee’s Vineyard Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley GUNMETAL (92)

4th Place With Food
Aubin Cellars 2004 Verve Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley
BEIGE (92)
AND
Latetitia 2004 La Colline –Laetitia Vineyard Pinot Noir, Arroyo Grande Valley TURQUOISE (92.5)

5th Place Wine Only
David Noyes 2004 Dutton Ranches Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley FOREST GREEN (93)
AND
Stephen’s Cellar 2004 Encell Pinot Noir, San Luis Obispo County
DARK GRAY (93.5)

5th Place With Food

David Noyes 2004 Dutton Ranches Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley FOREST GREEN(93)
AND
Davis Family Vineyards 2004 Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley GOLD(94)

6th Place Wine Only
Castle Vineyards 2004 Sangiacomo Vineyards Pinot Noir, Carneros TAN(92.5)
AND
Copeland Creek 2004 Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast BLUE(92)

6th Place With Food
Kenneth Volk Vineyards 2004 Sierra Madre Pinot Noir, Santa Maria Valley GREEN(93.5)
AND
Row Eleven Wine Company 2004 Bien Nacido/Solomon Hills Pinot Noir, Santa Maria Valley LILAC(92.5)
AND
Sojourn 2005 Pinot Noir Sangiacomo Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast BLACK (93)

7th Place Wine Only
Sonnet 2004 Tondre’s Grapefield Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands BRONZE(92)
AND
Wild Horse 2004 Cheval Sauvage Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara County DARK BLUE(94)

7th Place With Food
D’Argenzio 2004 Klopp Thorn Ridge Ranch Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley GRAY (94)
AND
Roessler Cellars 2005 Dutton Ranch Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley
MINT GREEN(92)
AND
TR Elliott 2004 Three Plumes Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley
PINK (95)

8th Place Wine Only
Artesa 2005 Reserve Estate Pinot Noir, Carneros PEACH(92)
AND
Bogle Vineyards 2004 Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley
LIGHT GREEN (94)

8th Place With Food
Belle Glos 2005 Las Alturas Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey County BURGUNDY(92.5)
AND
Sonoma Coast Vineyards 2004 Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast RED (94)

9th Place Wine Only
Davis Family Vineyards 2004 Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley
GOLD(94)
AND
Gary Farrell 2004 Russian River Selection Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley STEEL BLUE(92)

9th Place With Food
Castle Vineyards 2004 Sangiacomo Vineyards Pinot Noir, Carneros TAN(92.5)
AND
Robert Stemmler 2004 Ferguson Block Pinot Noir, Carneros
PURPLE(91)

10th Place Wine Only
David Bruce Winery 2004 Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley
ORCHID(91)
AND
Kenneth Volk Vineyards 2004 Sierra Madre Pinot Noir, Santa Maria Valley GREEN(93.5)
AND
Row Eleven Wine Company 2004 Bien Nacido/Solomon Hills Pinot Noir, Santa Maria Valley LILAC(92.5)

10th Place With Food
David Bruce Winery 2004 Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley
ORCHID(91)
AND
Estancia 2004 Stonewall Vineyard Stonewall Vineyard Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands LIME GREEN(93)
AND
Paraiso 2005 Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands ORANGE(92)

11th Place Wine Only
Gary Farrell Vineyards & Winery 2004 Rochioli-Allen Vineyards Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley YELLOW(92)
AND
Lucas & Lewellen 2005 Queen of Hearts Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara County PUMPKIN (93.5)

11th Place With Food
D'Argenzio 2004 Bacigalupi Vineyard Westside Road Pinot Noir,
Russian River Valley PERIWINKLE(91)
AND
Wild Horse 2004 Cheval Sauvage Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara County DARK BLUE(94)

12th Place Wine Only
Ortman 2004 Fiddlestix Vineyard Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills
HOT PINK (93.5)
AND
Estancia 2004 Stonewall Vineyard Stonewall Vineyard Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands LIME GREEN(93)

12th Place With Food
Baileyana Winery 2005 Firepeak Vineyard - Grand Firepeak Cuvee Pinot Noir, Edna Valley BLUE-GREEN(91)
AND
Spy Valley 2005 Pinot Noir, Marlborough MAGENTA(91.5)

13th Place Wine Only
La Rochelle 2004 Garys’ Vineyard Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands BRICK (93)
AND
Roessler Cellars 2005 Dutton Ranch Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley MINT GREEN(92)

13th Place With Food
Sonnet 2004 Tondre’s Grapefield Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands BRONZE(92)
AND
Stephen’s Cellar 2004 Encell Pinot Noir, San Luis Obispo County
DARK GRAY(93.5)

14th Place Wine Only
Belle Glos 2005 Las Alturas Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey County BURGUNDY(92.5)
AND
Robert Stemmler 2004 Ferguson Block Pinot Noir, Carneros
PURPLE(91)

14th Place With Food
Gary Farrell 2004 Russian River Selection Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley STEEL BLUE(92)
AND
Lost Canyon 2004 Saralee’s Vineyard Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley GUNMETAL (92)

15th Place Wine Only
Paraiso 2005 Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands ORANGE(92)
AND
Spy Valley 2005 Pinot Noir, Marlborough MAGENTA(91.5)

15th Place With Food
Gary Farrell Vineyards & Winery 2004 Rochioli-Allen Vineyards Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley YELLOW(92)
AND
Kynsi 2004 Pinot Noir, Edna Valley DARK GREEN(91)

16th Place Wine Only
Hallcrest Vineyards 2004 Barrel Select Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz County WHITE(91)
AND
Latetitia 2004 La Colline –Laetitia Vineyard Pinot Noir, Arroyo Grande Valley TURQUOISE (92.5)

16th Place With Food
Amity Vineyards 2005 Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley
DEEP PURPLE(91)
AND
Copeland Creek 2004 Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast BLUE(92)
AND
Halleck 2005 Hallberg Vineyard Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley
BROWN (92)

17th Place Wine Only
Amity Vineyards 2005 Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley
DEEP PURPLE(91)
AND
Baileyana Winery 2005 Firepeak Vineyard - Grand Firepeak Cuvee Pinot Noir, Edna Valley BLUE-GREEN(91)

17th Place With Food
Artesa 2005 Reserve Estate Pinot Noir, Carneros PEACH(92)

18th Place Wine Only
D'Argenzio 2004 Bacigalupi Vineyard Westside Road Pinot Noir,
Russian River Valley PERIWINKLE(91)
AND
Woodenhead 2004 Morning Dew Ranch Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley Coral (94)

18th Place With Food
David Bruce 2004 Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains GRAY (92)
AND
Maboroshi Wine Estates 2005 Maboroshi Vineyard Pinot Noir,
Russian River Valley LIGHT YELLOW(91)

19th Place Wine Only
Aubin Cellars 2004 Verve Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley BEIGE (92)

19th Place With Food
Hallcrest Vineyards 2004 Barrel Select Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz County WHITE(91)

20th Place Wine Only
Kynsi 2004 Pinot Noir, Edna Valley DARK GREEN(91)
AND
Maboroshi Wine Estates 2005 Maboroshi Vineyard Pinot Noir,
Russian River Valley LIGHT YELLOW(91)

Click here for the complete results of the 5th Annual Pinot Noir Shootout.

At the Pinot Noir Summit the forty wines were tasted blind and rated by the Summit attendees. The Wine Lovers who attended The Pinot Noir Summit voted for their top three wines in order of preference after tasting them blind. The wines were wrapped individually and identified by a random color. The male and female votes were tallied separately.

As in last year’s Pinot Noir Shootout...there were not huge differences in scores or impressions among our female and male panelists, but Oh!...then we polled our delegates at The Pinot Noir Summit by gender. There was a definitive gender split - men and women did not agree with each other or with the panel.

The Pinot Noir Summit delegates agreed with the panel…the wines tasted were fantastic! The Summit delegates however, did not rank the wines in the same order.

The Male Pinot Noir Lovers first choice at The Pinot Summit on February 10, 2007 was Sojourn Cellars 2005 Sangiacomo Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast.

The Female Pinot Noir Lovers first choice at The Pinot Summit on February 10, 2007 was Sonnet 2004 Tondre's Grapefield Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands.

There was a definitive gender split - men and women did not agree with each other or with the panel on numerous wines. When there were large discrepancies, the female delegates chose wines that were more elegant and balanced where the male delegates chose wines that were a bit more bold.

For your review, the wines featured at The Pinot Noir Summit are listed alphabetically in the table below indicating the ranking by the Pinot Noir Shootout panels – wine only and with food, the ranking by the male delegates and the female delegates. Note that wines in the final competition were tasted by two distinct groups (to ensure that we maintained our goal of only 32 wines tasted per day by our panel). The wines were tasted in the same order by the group tasting the wines alone and the group tasting the wines with food. For this purpose, the scores will be denoted by the red panel and the blue panel. Therefore, there will be a #1 choice by the red panel rated as wine only and a #1 wine rated by the blue panel wine only. This will be true of the same wines tasted with food. These are the best wines of the over 270 wines we tasted. Lots of information to report. If you have any questions, or need clarification, please feel free to contact me pinot@affairsofthevine.com

Similar to last year’s experience, the top rated wines overall were more balanced and elegant than in our first three Pinot Noir Shootouts. The style of Pinot Noir at wine lovers are embracing is more like traditional Pinot Noir and less like the burly, Syrah-like styles.

So what do these wines have in common? Everyone one of these wines is outstanding!

Taste and enjoy them all if you're fortunate enough to have the opportunity. Let Pinot Noir become your passion if it isn’t already. There is no better wine to enjoy with food. Keep buying your old favorites but try new ones too. When you find a style you like, try other wines that are similar. Do you like this wine as much? See if you can determine the similarities in the wines you like be. Is it appellation? Winemaking style? Winemaker?

Hopefully, you have a retailer at can help to guide you. Let the wine shop know the Pinot Noirs you have enjoyed and the ones at have been less to your liking. A good retailer can help you make appropriate selections for your palate.

If you have difficulty finding any of these wines at your local retailer, feel free to email Affairs of the Vine. We will be happy to put you in touch with someone at the winery who can help you acquire the wines that entice you.

Our Mantra...Trust Your Own Palate

Read reviews but remember it's your palate at counts. Try to find a wine critic who commends wines at you like. Don't feel at you have to like e wines at wine critics praise. Don't be intimidated! If a movie reviewer gives 5 stars to a film, do you feel at you're unsophisticated if you don't like it too? Wine is no different. Personal preference is what counts. So drink and enjoy what you like. At Affairs of the Vine we say, "If you like the way it looks and you like the way it smells and you like the way it tastes...its good wine. So use our recommendations as a guide but you are the authority of what provides "Love at First Sip" for you.

If you see anything in these results which you think is of interest or noteworthy, we would love to hear from you and we will put as many comments up on our website as possible. And remember, trust your own palate. It's the only one at matters.

The top forty wines range in price from $12.00 to $65.00 per bottle.
Check out the "Bang for Your Buck Pinot Noirs" thirty-four wines which were awarded or and selling for under $20. There are three wines priced at under $20 that made our final 40!

Why would anyone want to taste that many Pinot Noirs? You’d be surprised! With some of our other panels, I have to contact people over and over and to get them to commit to joining us. With our Pinot Noir panel, I have a waiting list. Pinot is so elusive and inviting, constantly evolving in the bottle and the glass...and may I say again, sexy!

Begin an Affair with these great wines tonight!