Pinot Noir Club

Spring 2021 Shipment

2018 Blue Farm Winery Pinot Noir Anne Katherine Vineyard, Carneros

NVWE Notes: Seamless follow through is a notable feature of the best Carneros Pinots and it is well on display here. The nose is a harmonious, slightly creamy perfume of dark cherry cobbler, wild cherry, blueberry, red plum jelly, sumac berry, baking-spice, sandalwood and star anise scents. In the mouth these same elements create a sleek, palate-coating impression and deliver a wave of flavor that lingers to elegantly suppress the tannins. More than appealing right now, it should steadily elevate in class and fruit expression for the next several years. 324 cases made.

2018 El Lugar Winery Pinot Noir Hilliard-Bruce Vineyard, Santa Rita Hills

NVWE Notes: If firmly coiled at opening, this wine unfolds beautifully with airing and layers bright, sharply focused aromas of sour red cherry, wild cherry, red raspberry, pomegranate, pink rose and pink peppercorn above notes of sassafras, star anise, hazelnut and mace. It is racy on the palate, where juicy rich fruit, piquant zest, and polished tannins create a distinctive impression of tension. The finish is spicy and lingering and it ends with a push of red fruits and star anise. If wonderfully food-friendly now, this beauty will reward several years of cellar time. 137 cases produced.

2017 MacRostie Winery Pinot Noir Wildcat Mountain Vineyard Sonoma Coast

NVWE Notes: This wine well reflects the uniquely harsh conditions of its windy, high altitude vineyard. The aromas are a coiled mix of piquant red boysenberry, dried cranberry, sour red cherry, pink peppercorn, pink rose and licorice root scents cut by hard-edged minerality. Zesty fruit teams with scalding mineral notes in counterpoint to concentrated flavors of boysenberry, red plum, blood orange, pink rose, pink peppercorn and Panetone on the palate. The finish is super-dry, super long and builds in intensity as the wine airs. Brilliantly food-worthy now, it will grow significantly more so over the next five years. 691 Cases Produced.

2017 Mount Eden Winery Pinot Noir “Estate”, Santa Cruz Mountains

NVWE Notes: Weighty Santa Cruz Mountain terroir notes and dense old vine fruit concentration identify this as textbook Mount Eden Pinot. The nose opens as a tightly-wound medley of dark cherry, strawberry preserve and dark red rose, wrapped in a blanket of dried herb, mushroom, dark pipe tobacco and forest earth scents. It is thick in texture and notably youthful on the palate, where piquant zest, mountain tannins and mineral undercurrents balance the sweet-natured core of fruit. Sweet cherry takes center-stage in the lingering finish and brings current appeal to a wine that is clearly five years from its full glory. It will be worth the wait. 1,138 cases made.

2019 Occidental Winery Pinot Noir “Freestone Occidental”, Occidental, Sonoma Coast

NVWE Notes: Both lavish in richness and vibrantly bright, the aromas of this bottling center on black cherry, black raspberry, pomegranate syrup and blood orange, wedded to notes of beet, root beer bark, sandalwood, mace, dark minerality and forest-floor spice. Mouth-coating flavors of blood orange zest, dark boysenberry, grenadine, cherry pit and pomegranate take center-stage on the mid-palate and linger through a focused, notably youthful finish of impressive richness. Delicious now for its blast of youthful intensity, it will grow in dimension over the next five years and well beyond. 2,100 cases made.

2016 Radio Coteau Winery Pinot Noir Dierke Vineyard, Sonoma Coast

NVWE Notes: Structured, yet focused, ideally ripe and gently creamy, the nose of this classy wine fans-out concentrated aromas of wild cherry, black cherry, red raspberry, baking-spice, toffee and hazelnut, which rise above a drying mineral undercurrent. These elements display the same chiseled focus on the mid-palate and through a lingering finish, where notes of sandalwood and mace join polished tannins to bring balance and a firming note of dryness. A notably food-worthy bottling already, it will be truly fine if allowed another three years of cellar time. Organically Grown. 200 cases produced.