The most powerful leader in the free world, it turns out, has impeccable taste.

President Obama, along with the First Lady, entertains with some of Wine Country’s best, including our recent wine-of-the-week winner — the Siduri, 2012 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir.

Daniel Shank, the wine steward at the White House, took a trip to Sonoma and tasted through Siduri wines, picking this bottling because of its taste profile and because of its budget- savvy price at $28.

During the holiday parties at the White House, both the State Dining Room and the East Room of the White House offered a handful of wines, but the Siduri was the only Sonoma County wine offered. Napa Valley bottlings included Domaine Chandon sparklers and Hagafen, 2011 Napa Valley Merlot.

“I believe (Daniel) mentioned being ‘wowed by the wine,’ ” said Adam Lee, co-vintner of Santa Rosa’s Siduri Wines. “The price point was also important. We’ve always tried to keep our wines at reasonable prices, and the White House seems to be very conscientious about making sure the wines are good values.”

As for this bottling, it’s a standout, a pinot with depth and complexity. It has aromas and flavors of rich dark cherry, berry, herbs and pepper. It also has an impressive, lingering finish, and at $28 it’s a steal for pinot noir of this quality.

Lee, along with his wife, Dianna, are producers of a hefty line-up of pinots; their winery is essentially a house of pinot noir with bottlings from the Santa Rita Hills in Santa Barbara County, up through the Santa Lucia Highlands in Monterey, to Sonoma County and then all the way to Oregon’s Willamette Valley.

“In our experience, pinot noir has a fascinating ability to be both complex and terroir-oriented and also just wonderful to drink,” Lee said.