California's grape glut is great news for most wine drinkers - except lovers of pinot noir. The surplus is expected to lower the once-soaring prices of most popular varietals. But there's no oversupply of pinot noir wine, at least not yet.

Pinot noir is known as the "heartbreak grape" for its irresistible charms when it is good, and its horrid nature when it's bad.

For many wineries, pinot noir is the ultimate challenge - the Holy Grail of wine-making. Unlike chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon and merlot, which adapt easily to a wide range of soils and climates, the finicky, thin-skinned pinot noir grape is a demanding mistress. It needs a cool climate to properly ripen and can tolerate only certain soils.

Pinot noir doesn't grow in Lodi, an area in California's Central Valley where many bulk wines are produced, said Dick Ward, co-owner of Napa-based Saintsbury Winery, a premium winery specializing in pinot noir.

"That's the reason the Central Valley doesn't go hog wild growing pinot noir," Ward said. In California, "it needs a coastal climate."

Those areas where pinot noir thrives (in addition to France's Burgundy region and Oregon) include California's Central Coast region - specifically, the Santa Maria and Santa Ynez Valleys in Santa Barbara County, as well as areas of San Luis Obispo County. The grapes also flourish in parts of Sonoma County - the Russian River Valley and the Sonoma Coast - and in the Carneros region, which straddles the southern end of Napa and Sonoma Counties.

Because of its thin skin, the pinot noir grape produces a delicate, nuanced wine that is less astringent and tannic than cabernet sauvignon and merlot. Pinot noirs have a distinctive raspberry-cherry flavor and an earthy character. They also are more versatile than many other wines, complementing a wider range of cuisines and contemporary eating styles.

Recently more Americans have been discovering pinot noirs. By volume, pinot noir sales grew by 30 percent in 2001. Sales totaled $200 million, up from $132 million in 2000, according to California wine consultants MKF Research.

Because the grape needs so much pampering, there are no inexpensive pinot noirs. MKF reports that more than half of the bottles of pinot noir sold in 2001 retailed for more than $15.

But there is hope.

In the next three years, wine-makers see the potential for the pinot noir crop doubling, especially in Sonoma County, where half of the pinot noir acreage was recently planted and so is not yet bearing fruit, Saintsbury's Ward said.

Meanwhile, the latest trend in California pinot noir is high-end, single-vineyard-designated pinot noir wines that sell for triple-digit prices and are nearly impossible to find and buy.

Saintsbury makes an ultra-premium, single-vineyard wine from its "Brown Ranch" estate vineyard.

"It's easy to make three barrels of a spectacular wine, [but] it's a lot harder to make 3,000 cases," Ward said. "We choose to make commercial quantities of these high-end wines so people can actually find them and enjoy them."

Saintsbury wines are available in Pennsylvania specialty wine shops and by special order. Other excellent pinot noir wines stocked or easily ordered at regular State Stores include Sterling's "Winery Lake" Carneros ($27) and, from California's Central Coast, Wild Horse ($22) and Sanford ($29).

Here are my impressions of Saintsbury's recent releases.

Rosé

2001 Saintsbury Vin Gris de Pinot Noir ($12):Dark and delicious, more like a pale red wine. Lots of berry flavor, full and fruity but bone-dry.

Whites

2001 Saintsbury Chardonnay ($22): Rich and intense, with sweet, ripe fruit. Tastes of peach and apricot. Nicely balanced.

2000 Saintsbury Chardonnay ($22): Spicier than the 2001, with bright, focused pearlike fruit. More mature and evolved.

1999 Saintsbury Reserve Chardonnay ($40): Smooth, rich and velvety. Aristocratic structure with a judicious use of oak.

Reds

2001 Saintsbury "Garnet" Pinot Noir ($19): Yummy, a jammy wine with rich berry fruit. Not as nuanced or complex as some pinots, but a pleasant, earthy wine and one of the best under-$20 pinots around.

2000 Saintsbury Carneros Pinot Noir ($27): Lush, aromatic and organic, with characteristic "barnyard" aromas and flavors and funky tastes of wild mushrooms and exotic spices.

1999 Saintsbury Reserve Pinot Noir ($45): More reserved and subtle, with a delicate perfume and restrained flavors that require aging to express the nuances.

1999 Saintsbury "Brown Ranch" Pinot Noir ($80):Complex and concentrated without being overpowering. An awe-inspiring wine with layers and dimensions of nuanced flavor.