im and Rae Lee Lester stopped in to see us recently during one of their promotional visits to Day-twah, and they brought along samples of their latest bottlings. We've been very enthusiastic about the wines of Wyncroft since we first tasted them last winter, so we were geeked to see what their new bottlings were like. As always, Jim and Rae Lee are very upbeat about their mission to produce world class wines in southwestern Michigan, and once again, they've succeeded admirably. As Jim explained, "We have this gorgeous Michigan fruit. People have to understand, Michigan doesn't have to take a back seat to anyplace on this planet for the quality of fruit that we can grow. We've got the terroir, we've got everything."

The three wines we tasted with them are young and tight, but even so, their quality and potential is unmistakable. We started off with the Chardonnay.

2000 Wyncroft Lake Michigan Shore Chardonnay Avonlea, $30, 14.6% alc.: As Jim poured glasses of this greenish gold Chardonnay, he remarked that it had been uncorked for about two hours and had needed the time to open up. It exudes a lovely, effusive bouquet of spicy, toasty oak over honeyed tropical fruit, with flavors to match. Well chilled, the flavors run more in the tropical - pineapple spectrum, but as it warms in the glass, sweet apple, pear and praline come to the fore; Jim mentions buttered toast and fresh baked cookies from the malolactic fermentation. The wine is well structured (Jim says it'll age ten years and more from the vintage date), exhibiting a deep, rich viscosity, and some mineral emerges on the long, lingering finish. Barrel fermented, using native Burgundy yeast, in Allier forest, medium - plus - toasted barrels (25% new, 25% one - year old and 50% older), it went through full malolactic fermentation, with battonage every two weeks, then remained on the lees for two years. (Jim remarked, "I think leaving it on the lees for a long time creates harmoniousness in all of the flavors that is hard to get if you're in a rush.") Its best days are ahead of it, but unfortunately, it's sold out at the winery; however, you can enjoy this delicious Chardonnay at some of Michigan's finest restaurants, including the Five Lakes Grill (recently awarded Restaurant of the Year by the Detroit Free Press) in Milford, The Rattlesnake Club, in Downtown Detroit and the Unique Restaurant Group. I found it to be an excellent accompaniment to chicken shwarma sandwiches from the Pita Café‚ in Oak Park.

"The alcohol in this wine is fourteen six, but there again, you've got the balanced fruit," Jim told us. "If it's grown in the right place, and everything is there, and you're not overcropping, the grape balances itself as it matures. The acids are present because we've low-cropped, and the ripening is actually sped up a bit, so our sugar accumulation is keeping pace with the acid drop. I think there's a magic point where our Chardonnay goes from tasting ordinary to tasting great, and there's a sugar level where that happens. If we picked at 21 (Brix), it'd still be a pretty wine, but it wouldn't have this deep richness. Notice how long the flavors stay in your mouth.

"We've had a couple of our '98s recently that were just spectacular, and I've got a number of magnums and a big 3 liter downstairs, and we've put up a dozen magnums of this (2000) Chardonnay and two 3 liters. The '98 is mature, but it'll hold, it's not going to fall apart. And we can taste the '87, the '88 and '89 that we made a long time ago, and the winemaking obviously wasn't as sophisticated, because we were learning, but you can see what the wine does over time."

2002 Wyncroft Lake Michigan Shore Pinot Noir Avonlea, $45, 14.3% alc.: A smoky ruby garnet in color, fading at the rim, this shows sweet, smoky black cherry and Asian five spice on the nose, with like flavors that gain a note of rhubarb, along with what Jim describes as "a little bit of tree bark flavor that's typical of young Pinot tannins." This has a good dose of those fine tannins to take it well down the road (although the Lesters feel that it should be hitting its stride in about a year), and as it warms in the glass, some brown spice emerges to add complexity and charm. The wine paints a broad swath across the palate, with no holes in the middle, and shows very fine potential indeed. It was made from a mix of Hanzell, Joseph Swan, Chalone and Mahoney clones, along with a majority of Dijon clone 777; after three weeks maceration, it spent two years in barrel, half new, and half in one - year old Alliers, then very recently was bottled unfined and unfiltered. Only two barrels (55 cases) were produced.

"When those tannins melt, they'll add to the feeling of the liquid," Jim said. "The wine fleshes out with bottle age; they go in very linear and hard, but as they mature in the bottle, they get very fleshy and full and silky. In another year, these tannins will turn to butter. Pinot tannins behave differently in the aging process. They start off with a slightly more biting, bitter edge to them, almost a green taste, but they melt so much faster. Cab tannins are just different. Getting the tannin balance in Pinot Noir right is a critical aspect of age - worthiness, and that's why the Burgundians have very few clusters per vine."

The Lesters plan new additional plantings of Pinot Noir to augment the existing vines. "It's going to be close spaced, like Burgundy," Jim stated, "although we'll probably have to have wide rows, because we don't have one of those cute little stilt tractors."

"It's very expensive equipment," Rae Lee added.

"We're going to have the vines every three feet instead of every six feet," offered Jim. "I think we'll get increased tonnage AND increased quality doing it that way, which is the winemaker's dream."

As Rae Lee put it, "We're excited about the future of Pinot Noir in this area," and judging from what they've already been able to produce, they have every right to be.

2002 Wyncroft Lake Michigan Shore Shou Red Table Wine, 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, $45, 13% alc.: The tight, youthful character of this Bordeaux blend was obvious from the first sip, but then, it was bottled just two weeks before we tasted it. Showing a deep, dark garnet color, fading at the rim, it offers up a lovely perfume of sweet oak, balsa, cassis, blackberry and black cherry that echoes beautifully in the flavors with some added sweet spice, and hints of mint. Jim noted chocolate and cocoa powder on the finish, and as the wine opens dramatically in the glass, something like a wild, brambly blueberry and even a little raspberry emerge. It needs a year or so to come together, but promises to be every bit as good as the previous model. Fermented with Bordeaux yeast, macerated for more than three weeks to extract fine tannins according to classical French technique, then gently pressed and aged in new Nevers medium - plus toasted barrels for 26 months.

Jim and Rae Lee are fun to hang out with; their enthusiasm is infectious, and their commitment to Wyncroft is unwavering. It's never easy for a winery of this size that strives for (and achieves) the kind of quality that they do, and money is always tight. As Jim put it, "It's very expensive to do the way we do it. These are not cheap wines."

For instance, French barrels went from $650 to $800 this year, because of the Euro. Jim and Rae Lee have tried the barrels that are shipped over and constructed in this country, and found that they're not as good, so they take the bite and buy the best.

The Lesters know that by increasing their plantings, they'll also increase their production down the road. As it stands now, they sell out of almost everything they produce, although prospective customers can get on their mailing list by purchasing at least one of the 50 or so cases of the delicious 2002 Reisling that are still available. We're looking forward to following the progress of these three new wines, not to mention trying some of their older vintages of various bottlings. Stay tuned for more on both accounts.