Two from the road: Wines I loved at the High Museum Wine Auction Trade Tasting

ROCO 2009 Private Stash Pinot Noir

  Corby Stonebraker-Soles is a delightful brand ambassador for this Oregon vineyard - she and her husband, Rollin, own the property and Rollin is the wine maker.

I was particularly enamored by Private Stash, an estate grown Pinot Noir from ROCO's Wits' End Vineyard in the Chehalem Mountains.

  The wine is full and rich with hints of blackberry and spicy cinnamon and pepper - the flavors release over time, bringing complexity that reveals a treat with each sip. The wine finishes rich, pleasantly long and layered. This is a wine that is so good that words fall short of expressing just exactly how good it drinks. It's depth and complexity should continue to develop for another couple of years.

  This is silky, exquisite, premium Pinot Noir - a real hallmark expression of Oregon Pinot. With less than 150 cases made it's a rare, annual taste of wine making at its best. MSRP $70.

98 points: "A near perfect expression of Oregon Pinot at its very best - silky, complex and succulent!"

Elizabeth Spencer 2009 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

  Spencer Graham is the winemaker behind the labels that bear a combination of his and his wife's name -- Elizabeth Spencer. This is truly a partnership of a couple who grew up in the wine industry and now fulfill their dream by making classic Napa wines from their Rutherford-based tasting room.

  Spencer whet his wine palate as a boy growing up in South America. Such a long-standing affinity for wine has produced a wine maker whose skills and attention to details allow minimal interference with the natural process of fermenting wine from premium grapes.

  This '09 Cab from the Napa Valley is genuinely traditional mountainside fruit that benefited from one of the last good weather years in the valley. Yields had just begun to drop from previous vintages, due to weather, but the fruit sustained the challenge. 60 barrels were produced.
  The hand-crafted blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot, and 1% Cabernet Franc has fruit from first-rate growers in St. Helena, Howell Mountain, Yountville, Oakville, Rutherford and Mount Veeder, some of Napa Valley's most prestigious districts.  

  Inhale deeply, yeah, that's violets and ripe berry fruit. Flavors of a market basket of red fruit washes across the plate and - bang! - explodes on the mid-palate. The finish is lingering, tempting a rush to another sip. Be patient, this big Cab will evolve in the glass as you savor its gentle giant character.
   Give this wine plenty of air - and expect more development in the bottle over the next three-to-four years. I would certainly anticipate this wine drinkable through 2019. MSRP $37.

98 points: "A bodacious Napa Cab that expresses the natural beauty of the grape - luxurious, classic and perfectly balanced."

Read the definitions of my scoring standards here.