Wine & Spirits - April 2021 - 74

Year's Best US Pinot Noirs
clean. Braised quail would match its sumptuous texture. -J.G. §
522411

91 | Gloria Ferrer

$50

2017 Carneros Rust Rock Vineyard Pinot
Noir ^ Oak takes on an earthy presence in this
wine, pointing up mushroom and underbrush scents. As the wine builds out from
the oak, it reveals floral notes of a forest
in bloom, with a firm structure and lasting
savor that will bring you back for another sip.
(512 cases) -J.G. §
524222

90 | Cuvaison

$80

90 | Hartford Court

$70

2018 Los Carneros Adda Pinot Noir ^
Treated to 16 months in French oak barrels,
half of them new, this wine's estate-grown
fruit shines through the rich satin of those
oak tannins, brisk, cool and dark red. It's a
steakhouse pinot noir, needing char-grilled
beef to show its best. (88 cases) §
522409
2018 Carneros Sevens Bench Pinot Noir ^
Plush and supple, this wine focuses on textural pleasures when first poured. As it opens
over the course of a day, the notes of cherry
liqueur feel increasingly grounded in mineral-edged tannins. Decant it for shredded
duck with bamboo shoots.-J.G. §(170 cases) §

HU M B O L DT C OU N T Y
520347

92 | Joseph Jewell

$39

2017 Humboldt County Ryan Vineyard
Pinot Noir ^ Adrian Jewell Manspeaker
knew this site when he was a kid and it was
a meadow above the Eel River. He returned
there after it had been planted with vines
and now makes this crunchy pinot from its
fruit. It's a cold, green mountain wine and,
at first, the oak influence of its aging gets in
the way of the cool-climate scents of raspberry and rose petals. As the oak recedes with
a day of air, the fresh red-cherry flavors feel
tart and intense; they would be refreshing
with una-ju-grilled eel over rice, traditionally served in a lacquered box.-J.G. (W&S
6/20; 75 cases) §

M A RI N C O U N T Y
524227

91 | Hartford Court

$70

2018 Marin County Pinot Noir ^ (f you look
to Hartford for rich Russian River pinot
noirs, you'll find this to be a departure-a
bright, oceanic red with the umami brininess
of seaweed and salt-cured olives. There's a
light cherry sweetness to check the saltiness,
setting up an appetite for pasta tossed with
sea urchin. (220 cases) §
74

WINE & SPIRITS

APRIL 2021

92 | Cobb

M E N DOC INO C OUNT Y
ANDERSON VALLEY
520546

95 | Drew

$70

2018 Anderson Valley Wendling Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ Spend some time with this
wine and you may begin to daydream about
a walk in the forest, the rich scent of pine,
mushrooms and humus rising up from the
ground. That forest might as well be at the far
northwestern corner of the Anderson Valley,
surrounding the hillside vines at Wendling,
where Dijon clones and suitcase selections
from France meet an environment that's
cool enough to accommodate their genetics.
I tasted two bottles of this wine on two separate occasions for this issue and loved them
both. The first was clean and clear as a bell,
its satin textures and delicate berry-scented
fruit revealing itself slowly over time in a
controlled seduction. The second bottle was
equally transporting, again to a forest, this
time the fruit carrying floral notes of sour
cherries in an explosive burst of flavor. This
is a dynamic wine, offering up its pleasures
now as it will continue to do for years. -J.G.
(W&S 10/20; 135 cases) §
522811

93 | The Donum Estate

$85

93 | Long Meadow Ranch

$45

2018 Anderson Valley Estate Pinot Noir ^
Dan Fishman makes this wine from the
Angel Camp Vineyard, farmed under longterm contract by Donum, in Carneros. It's
generous and sleek, fuller bodied than you
might expect from the Deep End of Anderson Valley. The wine handles its depth of
flavor with grace, lasting on floral notes of
cherry skins, clean black cherry fruit and tannins that carry the scent of roses and stems.
The firm, lasting impression is delicious red
fruit. -J.G. §
519968
2017 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir ^ Stéphane
Vivier, a Burgundian who had been making
the wines at Hyde de Villaine, now works at
Long Meadow Ranch's organically farmed
estate in the Deep End of Anderson Valley
(certified CCOF as of the 2017 vintage). This
pinot noir comes mostly from vines planted
in 1996 and 2000. It feels healthy and fresh,
as tight as a rosebud when it's just about to
burst. There's a sunny warmth to the wine's
tart pomegranate flavors, and though oak
diminishes some of the fruit expression now
(25 percent of the barrels were new), the delicacy and spring-water clarity of the flavors
suggests unfettered development ahead.
-J.G. (W&S 6/20; 2,555 cases) §
521278

$75

2017 Anderson Valley Wendling Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ The wild-berry freshness of
Anderson Valley completely fills this wine's
rich web of fruit and tannins, grounded in
earthy mushroom coolness. It grows at a
vineyard in the Deep End of the valley, where
the fruit ripened to gentle, silken depths.
-J.G. (W&S 10/20; 125 cases) §

522814

92 | Domaine Anderson

$39

2017 Anderson Valley Estate Pinot Noir
(Best Buy) ^ Darrin Low makes the wines at
Roederer's still-wine project in the Anderson
Valley, blending this pinot noir from three
vineyards farmed by the Roederer team. The
majority (80 percent) comes from Dach, the
vineyard surrounding the winery in Philo,
farmed under biodynamics. It's a savory
style of pinot noir with earthy tannins layered under vibrant red cherry and cherry pit
flavors. There's gaminess in those tannins,
adding depth as the flavors follow an elegant
line. -J.G. § §

522819

92 | Goldeneye

$58

2017 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir ^ Katey
Larwood ages this wine in French oak barrels, 60 percent of which are new, and yet the
fruit is substantial enough to sustain the cool,
vibrant feel of the Anderson Valley. The oak
empowers that ripe, plummy fruit, providing
a strong structure to frame its unabashedly
juicy fruit. Clean and fresh, this wine smells
like Anderson Valley. -J.G. §
520545

Wine & Spirits - April 2021

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