Wine & Spirits - April 2021 - 73

Year's Best US Pinot Noirs
91 | Samsara

$58

91 | Samsara

$58

planted Coast Grade in 2008, the vines facing
southwest from Bonny Doon toward Monterey Bay 1,200 feet below. This wine feels
like a cold-climate pinot, the fruit crunchy
with strawberry and blueberry freshness and
a sweet scent of cedar fronds. It's an oceanic
red to pour with grilled mackerel. -J.G. §
522851

2018 Sta. Rita Hills Rancho La Viña Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ Polished and at a bit of a
remove, there's a subtle cherry and red-plum
aroma that opens with air, the texture all velvety cherry, with a finish that's firm. Decant
to serve its grippy tannins against something
rich, like duck confit. -P.J.C. (192 cases) §
523150
2018 Sta. Rita Hills Kessler-Haak Vineyard
Pinot Noir ^ This wine starts off reductive in
its struck rock minerality. It opens with air,
showing a bright raspberry edge with light
tannins and lively acids. Give it some cellar
time to come together. -P.J.C. (136 cases) §
523017

90 | Foxen

$56

2017 Sta. Rita Hills John Sebastiano Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ Lean with a candied redcherry scent and deeper red-plum flavors,
this wine's oak brings it into line with a
mildly bitter back note. It will benefit from
some cellar time before serving with turkey
meatballs. -P.J.C. (577 cases) §
523086

90 | Melville

$38

2019 Sta. Rita Hills Estate Melville Vineyard Pinot Noir (Best Buy) ^ Young and as
lively as a cru Beaujolais, there's a scent of
crushed berries and cut herbs (a whole-cluster effect) to go along with the vibrant flavors
of freshly picked, freshly crushed fruit. Generous in its texture, this finishes with a note
of bergamot blossoms. § -P.J.C.
523007

88 | Foley Estates

$40

2018 Sta. Rita Hills Rancho Santa Rosa
Pinot Noir (Best Buy) ^ Scents of plum and
black cherry have a darker frame, like carob
and plum skin. Those who like pinots on
the dark side will appreciate this wine; it's
marked by firm tannins and a modest acidity. -P.J.C. (2,000 cases) §

S A N TA C RUZ MOUN TA IN S
522857

94 | Big Basin Vineyards

$65

2018 Santa Cruz Mountains Ferrari Family Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ This dry-farmed
vineyard in Corralitos was planted around
1980, the old vines producing concentrated
low yields. In 2018, they delivered a tough
young wine showing structural strength without weight or any perception of alcohol. This
is aromatic and savory, layered in scents of
earthy bitter greens, mushrooms and wild
strawberries. That red fruit peeks out in the
end, the wine silken and rich, reticent now
but built to last. -J.G. §

522855

93 | Hamdog Wine Co.

$36

2018 Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir
(Best Buy) ^ This is the first release of a personal project by Jason Robideaux, who in
his day job oversees winemaking at Clos
LaChance. He purchased the fruit from Pescadero Creek Vineyards, and the stems were
ripe enough that he was able to include ten
percent whole bunches in the fermentation.
Half of it aged in new French oak barrels, the
other half in neutral oak for 24 months. The
high-altitude site provided a tense and floral
wine. Initially, it seems to have more savory
length to its flavor than to its delicate strawberry notes of fruit. The tannins and acidity
buzz with energy, and that energy eventually
drives the red fruit into the earthy detail of
the tannins. Intriguing and well worth checking out. -J.G. §
522854

92 | Big Basin Vineyards

$55

2018 Santa Cruz Mountains Lester Family Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ Prudy Foxx farms
this vineyard in the hills of Corralitos, a parcel planted in 1999 three miles from Monterey Bay. Bradley Brown encouraged the
wine's cool ripeness in his 2018, a pinot noir
that takes time in the glass to show itself. At
first earthy, dense and floral, its lively energy
begins to take off, like a run along a forest
trail, the ground soft with pine needles, the
air lively with woodlands in bloom. Decant it
for wild mushroom risotto. -J.G. §
522893

91 | Assiduous

$35

2019 Santa Cruz Mountains Lilo Vineyard Pinot Noir (Best Buy) ^ This wine has a
savory, foresty feel to its youthful flavors. It's
all spiced plum and pine tips in the aroma,
but becomes more complex with air, the
spice, like amaro or mostarda, adorning cool
strawberry fruit. It's showing promise; let it
rest in the cellar six months before opening
with grilled squid. -P.J.C. (50 cases) §
522848

91 | Beauregard Vineyards $60

2018 Santa Cruz Mountains Coast Grade
Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ Jim Beauregard

90 | Big Basin Vineyards

$65

90 | Birichino

$40

88 | Domaine Eden

$40

2018 Santa Cruz Mountains Old Corral Pinot Noir ^ From three steep and rocky
estate parcels, including the Old Corral
block, this pinot noir has the delicate richness of chanterelles, while the grape skins
give the wine a yin character, like the dark
skin of eggplant. The flavors are transparent,
cool and spicy, light enough for batter-fried
fish. -J.G. §
522852
2018 Santa Cruz Mountains Lilo Vineyard
Pinot Noir (Best Buy) ^ Between the steep,
south-facing slope, the schist and sandstone
soils and the 1,000-foot elevation overlooking Monterey Bay, Lilo is a marginal site for
ripening pinot noir. It delivered a tight 2018,
a narrow line of floral strawberry and strawberry-leaf scents modulated by the prickle of
tannins and complex earthy intensity. -J.G. §
522858
2018 Santa Cruz Mountains Domaine
Eden Pinot Noir (Best Buy) ^ There's a gentle sweetness in this wine's flavors of stewed
red plums. It's soft, peppery and ripe, a pinot
noir to serve with roast lamb. §-J.G.

NORTH C OAST
CARNEROS
522837

93 | Etude

$85

92 | Etude

$48

2018 Carneros Deer Camp Grace Benoist Ranch Pinot Noir ^ Deer Camp is made
from two southwest-facing blocks on rocky
soil, planted mostly to the Martini clone. The
cool, windy site produced a 2018 with elegant cherry freshness, its tannins resonant in
their dark, sparkly mineral depths. The wine
is brisk and compact, and yet its flavors last,
the structure suggesting this will develop well
over the next several years. -J.G. §
522836
2018 Carneros Grace Benoist Ranch Pinot
Noir ^ Jon Priest blends this wine from the
varied volcanic soils at Etude's estate vineyard in northwestern Carneros. A contrast of
bright spice and dark savor, the wine's berryscented fruit buzzes with honeyed energy, a
kind of sweet earthiness that feels cool and
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APRIL 2021

Wine & Spirits - April 2021

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