Papapietro Perry - Dry Creek Region - Sonoma

During a visit to the San Francisco Bay area, this past weekend, we had occasion to visit Papapietro Perry Winery on the recommendation of some friends who had been there recently. My friend (the male half of the couple) is a real California Cab kindof guy, so this winery's specialization in Pinot Noir made it an interesting place for him to suggest. After tasting it was even more interesting.

They are on Dry Creek Road, North of Healdsburg. We tasted 3 Pinots and a ZIn. All three Pinots (2003 Russian River Valley, 2003 Leras Vineyard, and

2003 Peters Vineyard) were extremely soft textured, very smooth and quite light (compared with many California Pinots I've tasted recently... many of which have been a bit peppery for me). Much more of a cherry nose than anything else. Possibly more like those from Oregon??? I enjoyed them all, but just couldn't see my friend, the Caymus Select fan, really liking them. Must have been his wife and the other couple they were with. US$38 and $45 at the winery. Any of you familiar with this winery? I hadn't been aware of it, and apparently the tasting room has been open only a few months.

The Zin (Russian River Valley '03) was tasted after the Pinots, so it was definitely a contrast. Not as big as many Sonoma Zins... more delicate but, again, very smooth. Bought this one.

I've also just found out about Kasta-Browne (near Sebastopol, also Sonoma area, but South end). This seems to be one of those sortof cult places worth looking into. Didn't know ahead of time so it will have to wait for the next trip. Any feedback on them?