One of the many great things about the world of wine is all of the new things to try. There are literally hundreds of wines we get introduced to that are fun and delicious in their own way. Periodically though weather by chance or design you get to revisit some of your favorites from an earlier time in your scope of enjoying wine.

In the last two weeks we have been fortunate to taste with winery representatives from two wineries that date back to our early years of drinking wine; Storybook Mountain Vineyards and Talbott Winery from Napa and Monterey respectively. And what great visits they were!

We have enjoyed the Zinfandels from Storybook Mountain Vineyards since the epic vintage of 1997 and have known they were distributed in North Idaho since we opened the shop nearly four years ago. We also knew from our experience that it is a very vintage specific winery. Their vines are high in the Mayacamas Mountain Range which is the mountain range that separates Napa and Sonoma counties, and therefore in cold years they struggle at times to get the fruit to ripen properly causing some of the wines to be not as good. What we learned when tasting with Rick Williams though, is that the estate has planted more vineyards with both east and west facing exposure that ripen at different paces. Also clonal selection has been varied for the same reasons.

It remains to be seen when we taste the wines from years like 2010 and 2011, but the ones we tasted from 2006 through 2008 were spectacular. We have always been most fond of their Mayacamas Range Zin ($33) and that held true again in this tasting. The nose was loaded with dark berry notes while the palate followed with flavors of blueberries and a hint of cobbler crust that brought us to a long lush finish. A real joy to drink and would be a great pairing with Thanksgiving dinner. The Zin is also made in magnum and half bottles with the magnums being especially fun for a large crowd like many of us have at the holidays.

The real surprise of the tasting though was the 2006 Seps Estate Cabernet ($35); the Sep family bottles their non-Zinfandel varietals under the family name saving Storybook for their Zinfandel portfolio. The aromatics are of plums, violets and spice box, while the palate delivers grippy tannins that hold the "package" together through an elegant finish that is loaded with dark stone fruits. The wine is handsomely packaged too making it a great gift for the Cabernet enthusiast on your gift list.

Just last week we had lunch with Marc Cutino of Talbott winery. We have always been fond of the Talbott Chardonnays, in the late '90s they were the consummate California Chards loaded with butter, oak and richness. We frankly had lost track of the winery as our tastes changed in Chardonnay and since we had no idea they were distributed here. The Talbott family recently hired Dan Carlson from Dehlinger winery as their winemaker and the changes have been hugely positive.

Dehlinger in the Russian River Valley has always been one of our favorite producers of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, but they make their wines in infinitesimal amounts so they are not distributed. The good news though is that Dan is working his magic now at Talbott where he produces three different Chardonnays and three different Pinot Noirs. The Chardonnay, ranging from the Kali Hart ($16) that is 90 percent stainless steel fermented to the full/oak full malolactic Sleepy Hollow ($31), show elegance and restraint under Dan's guidance and are delicious examples of what California Chardonnay can be.

The Talbott Pinot Noirs had always left us a bit underwhelmed, however Dan's skill with this fussiest of varietals really shines. The wines range in price from $18 up to $31 and show lovely notes of cherry and earth on the nose and palates that range from the most crisp new crop cherries to the rich ripe cherry pie flavors of mid-summer and are simply some of the best Pinots we have tried in some time - a real improvement. Pinot too is one of the great fall wines out there as they pair so well with all kinds of gamey birds including turkey.

It was a delicious journey down memory lane tasting with these two storied wineries and we encourage you as wine consumers to make the trip as well.

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The vintage grading chart from last week's article was not formatted properly during printing so we have reprinted it in the correct format below. We apologize for the error.

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If there is a topic you would like to read about or questions on wine you can email George@thedinnerpartyshop.com or make suggestions by contacting the Healthy Community section at the Coeur d'Alene Press.

George Balling is co-owner with his wife Mary Lancaster of the dinner party - a wine and table top decor shop in Coeur d'Alene by Costco. George is also the managing judge of The North Idaho Wine Rodeo and writes frequently for the online version of Coeur d'Alene Magazine at www.cdamagazine.com. His articles can also be found on the blog at www.thedinnerpartyshop.com.