The medium-to-dark ruby-colored 1996 Winemaker's Cuvee has intriguing cherry syrup, cookie dough, dark plum, floral, and perfume aromas. This well-balanced, medium-to-full-bodied, lively, and velvety-textured offering has flavors reminiscent of Dr. Brown's black cherry cola blended with fresh strawberries and blueberries. It is concentrated, well-extracted, and has a tannic finish. Anticipated maturity: 2000-2005.Panther Creek's 1996s were sampled twice, once at the winery and later at a blind tasting in Washington, DC (I retasted the Freedom Hill a third and fourth time at home). At my winery tasting, serious rock and roll was being played in the background. Unbeknownst to Michael Stevenson, Panther Creek's Assistant Winemaker and Head Disc Jockey, he had selected music from my favorite rock group, The Band. As I contemplated the wines I could hear Levon Helm belting out "Don't do it". Want to know what goes great with Pinot Noir? Great rock and roll!The harvest began on the 9th of October, and finished as heavy rains began at 2pm on Saturday, October 12 - "we were luckier than smart" was owner Ron Kaplan's comment. Yields averaged 2 plus tons with a low of 2.01 tons per acre in Freedom Hill and a high of 2.4 tons in Shea (even though the latter vineyard was thinned three times). Kaplan says he is pleased with the vintage, and that "the grapes came in clean, without any traces of rot." He went on to say that the wines had "very pronounced aromatics, atypical for newborn wine."Tel. (503) 472-8080.