Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 84

US NEW RELEASES
tions of Rita's Crown, is light and floral at
the outset, with scents of strawberry blossoms and a hint of spice. Five years on from
harvest, it's taken on a comfortable weight,
the secondary flavors sleek and composed,
with a shimmer of candied fruit on the finish.
(48 cases) -P.J.C.

516945

90 | Complant

$60

2017 Santa Lucia Highlands Soberanes
Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ Daniel Baron, whose
career has included stints at Dominus, Silver
Oak and Twomey, established Complant with
his son, Sam. Their first release includes this
pinot noir from eight rows of Pisoni clone
fruit at Soberanes, spontaneously fermented,
aged in neutral French oak barrels and bottled unfiltered. It channels the sunshine and
coastal warmth of the Santa Lucia Highlands
into a ripe and heady funkadelic energy, then
settles into a silkier mode, with savory herbal
notes, as it integrates with air. It's a new project worth following. -J.G.

90 | Montemar

$48

90 | Three Sticks

$65

2014 Sta. Rita Hills Radian Vineyard Pinot
Noir ^ This wine is quiet in its dark berry scent
and tobacco leaf savor. It's more seamless
and more concentrated than the other Montemar wines reviewed here, with an intensity
that's been softened in the bottle; ready for
an herbed cut of lamb. (99 cases) -P.J.C.
516804
2017 Sonoma Coast Price Family Estates
Pinot Noir ^ Bob Cabral makes this wine in
a project with Bill Price, selecting the fruit
from four of Price's vineyards. Most of it
comes from the 17 acres at Walala, a vineyard in the redwood forests at the northwestern reaches of Sonoma County; the balance
comes from Gap's Crown, Durell and One
Sky. It has the freshness of cool red cherries
and the savor of roast meats, the tannins ripe
and integrated while still lending shape to
the wine. (865 cases) -J.G.

516991

90 | Williams Selyem

517090

90 | Goldeneye

$125

2016 Anderson Valley Ten Degrees Pinot
Noir ^ This is a blend of the top lots from
Goldeneye's three estate vineyards in Anderson Valley, located along Route 128 from
Confluence in Philo to the Narrows, deeper
into the western end of the valley toward
Navarro. It's concentrated, cushioned, gentle
and harmonious, lasting on warm white-pepper spice, dark cherries and autumn leaves.
The influence of its time in oak is still apparent, though those wood tones will meld with
bottle age, or in the company of filet mignon.
(1,156 cases) -J.G.
516684

WINE & SPIRITS

AUGUST 2019

$39

2017 Central Coast Pinot Noir ^ When John
Dyson purchased Williams Selyem in 1998,
he already owned vineyards in San Benito
County. Today, the team at Williams Selyem
seems to be getting the most out of those
vines, growing a pinot noir that has an electric-purple color and a bright, juicy, crushedberry richness of fruit, with subtle violet
scents. It's a simple, sleek, balanced and satisfying wine for roast duck breast. -P.J.C.
517038

87 | Santa Barbara
Vineyards

$18

87 | Technique

$20

2017 Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir
(Best Buy) ^ Leading with a mossy scent
adorning dark fruit, this pinot's crushedberry aromas carry through to the flavors,
sweet and blunt; for chilling and quaffing in
the afternoon. (4,800 cases) -P.J.C.
517249
2017 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir (Best
Buy) ^ This wine's soft baked-fig flavors have
some rose and bay accents while the texture
is dense and full, making it a steakhouse
pour. (3,500 cases) -J.G.

RED BLENDS

516852

92 | Sketchbook

$18

90 | Tablas Creek

$28

2016 Mendocino County Artist's Red (Best
Buy) ^ Berries go wild in this effusive glou glou
from vineyards near Ukiah-mostly estate
fruit grown close to the Russian River. Bob
Swain blended this vintage from syrah and
petite sirah, along with a little zinfandel. He
aged it in a range of vessels, mostly neutral
French and American oak barrels, producing a clean, brisk and focused red, a wine
to open around the grill and enjoy all night
long. (1,000 cases) -J.G.
517104
2017 Paso Robles Patelin de Tablas ^
Blended from mostly syrah and grenache,
the rest mourvedre and counoise, this wine
leads with scents of fresh-cut tobacco and
dark plum. The flavors are dark, mildly
savory, bringing to mind muddled berries.
Chill it for barbecue. (3,580 cases) -P.J.C.

SYRAH
516865

91 | Falcone

$30

91 | Fess Parker

$54

2017 Paso Robles Syrah ^ Dark and concentrated, this smells like a mélange of crushed
black fruit, with flavors of blackberries and
tobacco. It's generous, forward and delicious,
if a bit low in acid. A barbecue wine. (860
cases) -P.J.C.
516619
2016 Santa Barbara County Rodney's
Vineyard Syrah ^ The syrah vines at Rodney's
Vineyard, Fess Parker's flagship site in the
Santa Ynez Valley, are now 31 years old, and
their fruit shows some of the dark complexity that old vines on a warm site can achieve.
Scents of sarsaparilla, carob and olive adorn
the succulent blackberry flavor, smoky and
a touch leathery, with elegant blueberry-skin
tannins. (487 cases) -P.J.C.

http://www.sketchbookwines.com/wines/ https://www.complantwine.com/complantwines/pinotnoir https://www.williamsselyem.com/wine/2017-central-coast-pinot-noir https://www.goldeneyewinery.com/product/2016-goldeneye-ten-degrees-anderson-valley-pinot-noir?productListName=Current%20Releases&position=9

Wine & Spirits - August 2019

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