Styring Vineyards "Wit" Reserve Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2003

i actually opened all three wines at the same time, pouring a glass of each, smelling and then leaving them site for about 20 minutes, then going back and swirling smelling and tasting them in order. the first one i will write about is the 2003, from the dundee hills region of willamette valley. the nose was very nice, with an immediate earthy tone of wet forest floor, followed by some black cherry, plum and spice notes. i am a big fan of earthy nosed wines and this came through nicely on that front. on the palate, the wine had a spicy wood and blackberry quality. the spice was a little stronger than i remembered it being the first time a tried this wine, but this is not a delicate flower. it had a very nice mouth feel and medium tannins. i sampled the wine again after a day and the tannins had mellowed quite a bit, allowing the blackberry fruit to shine through more and there was a nice earthy and mocha notes in the finish that i didn't get the first day. overall a very nice pinot. this vintage is no longer available, but sold for about $38.