There are just so many wines out there… It’s easy, as you try to explore uncharted, unusual, or just new-to-you wines, to let years go by without tasting some easily accessible, “usual” wines.

Such was the case with me and Matanzas Creek. They’ve been around since the 1970s (as, I might add, have I — and then some — though not quite drinking wine in the 1970s…), and I was familiar enough with their wines to somehow forget about tasting them lately. So when a few samples arrived recently, I had one of those “hey, how are you?!” moments like you do when you hear from a friend you somehow haven’t talked to in a year or so.

And it was a nice reunion, indeed. These are well made, appealing wines from Sonoma County. Mostly estate vineyards, with some of the grapes coming from Carneros, and much of them coming from Bennett Valley — a distinctly cooler enclave surrounded on three sides by mountains that trap and hold the cooling Pacific fog and breezes. Here are my notes on the wines:

Matanzas Creek 2007 Sauvignon Blanc Sonoma County ($24). Delicious! Intense, beautifully balanced — with concentrated melon supported by crisp citrus and accented with a savory note that’s slightly spicy, very slightly earthy. With a long, generous finish. Ready to drink now and over the next couple of years. Locate this wine online or in your area. (2009-06-06)

Matanzas Creek 2007 Pinot Noir Bennett Valley Sonoma County ($35). Balanced, silky and easy to enjoy, offering aromatic blackberry and black cherry fruit laced with generous brown spices, light tobacco and toast notes, and an appealing underlying mineral character. Long, plush finish. Ready to drink now and over the next three of four years. Locate this wine online or in your area.

Matanzas Creek 2005 Merlot Sonoma County Bennett Valley ($35). Rich and smooth, offering spice-laced blackberry and cherry flavors, with smoky, toasty oak and brown spices lingering on the supple finish. Ready to drink now and over the next three or four years. Locate this wine online or in your area. (2009-09-07)