Wine & Spirits - October 2019 - 85

US NEW RELEASES
wild strawberries lighten it up, the red fruit
shining through the spicy tannins. Still tight,
this needs age to yield its complexities. -J.G.
517455

91 | MacRostie

$58

2017 Anderson Valley Donnelly Creek
Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ Catch this wine now
for its pretty scent of roses and its gentle, peppery grip. It's the color of a red rose petal and
just about as delicate, with muddled-cherry
flavors in the middle, ending clean and
refreshing. Pour it with pan-roasted salmon
and wild mushrooms. (318 cases) -J.G.
517965

91 | Melville

$36

2016 Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir ^ Dark and
spicy, this has scents of oak and strawberry,
the fruit growing lush with air. A briny savor
brings the fruit into focus, and sumptuous
oak frames the finish. -P.J.C.
517942

90 | Anthill Farms

$48

2017 Sonoma Coast Hawk Hill Vineyard
Pinot Noir ^ From the Goldridge hills west of
Sebastopol, close to the town of Freestone,
this vineyard produced a ripe and concentrated 2017. Its black fruit carries plenty of
new oak richness and warm, tannic power.
Straight-on satisfaction to serve now with a
grilled steak. (700 cases) -J.G.
517872

90 | Big Basin Vineyards

$65

2016 Santa Cruz Mountains Old Corral
Pinot Noir ^ Brisk, light and airy, this wine has
a coastal-woodlands character in its flavors
of wild plum and bosky sour cherry. Give it
a chill to point up its vertical structure, and
serve it with Peking duck. (205 cases) -J.G.
517328

90 | Drew

$60

2017 Anderson Valley Morning Dew
Ranch Pinot Noir ^ When Burt Williams sold
his Morning Dew Ranch to V. Sattui, Jason
Drew's contract with detailed specifications
for the fruit came to an end. So there was no
Drew Morning Dew in 2016. The Sattui team
offered Drew a new contract under the same
terms in 2017, so he is now back at this vineyard in the Deep End of the valley-working
with one block planted to a Rochioli selec-

from a warm patch of Santa Maria Valley-
which it does-leading with scents of sarsaparilla, plum and pleasing pine spice. It's
dark and juicy, the pillowy fruit riding modest, pulsating acidity. (150 cases) -P.J.C.
517376

90 | Storm

$40

89 | Stateland Cellars

$27

88 | Anthill Farms

$38

2016 Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir ^
Scents of cinnamon bark and walnut skin
give this wine a savory feel. The flavors are
as earthy as dried mushrooms, with accents
of black tea and mild smoke; for pistachiocrusted pork. (375 cases) -P.J.C.
517330

$60

2017 Sta. Rita Hills Block M Pinot Noir ^
Block M lies on a mesa surrounded by terraced vineyards at the western end of Melville's estate. This pinot leads with a bloodorange scent, flavors of brambly red fruit
emerging out from under the oak veneer
with air. It's got a foresty savor delivered with
firm tannins and lacy acidity, and a sleek,
windswept feel. (347 cases) -P.J.C.
517964

91 | Melville

tion and another to 828, said to have been
propagated with cuttings from La Tâche in
Burgundy. In 2017, it's a ripe wine with redfruit sweetness ranging from strawberry to
bright, light cherry. The flavors last with
spicy warmth. -J.G.

517702

90 | J. Lohr

$35

2016 Santa Lucia Highlands Highlands
Bench Pinot Noir ^ J. Lohr's vineyards are
just west of Gonzales, roughly the midway
point of the Santa Lucia Highlands Bench.
This wine has plenty of ripe strawberry
and plum flavors but avoids the mass and
weight of many wines from the area. Instead
there's grip and contour, a whiff of umami
and smoke, with a succulence offset by brisk
acids. (2,338 cases) -P.J.C.
517509

90 | Ladera

$60

2016 Russian River Valley Pillow Road
Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ Focused on full-bore
cherry fruit, this fleshy pinot has a light
touch for all that juicy richness. It's gentle
and cherry-simple, a wine to pour with rare
roast beef. (1,244 cases) -J.G.
517969

90 | Lioco

$56

90 | Radio-Coteau

$68

2017 Santa Cruz Mountains Saveria Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ Matt and Sara Licklider
buy the fruit for this wine from Prudy Foxx,
who farms this sandy site in Corralitos. The
wine is round and sappy, then it turns a corner toward a breezy and cool briskness, with
simple, crunchy strawberry flavor that will
meld into a veggie burger. -J.G.
517773
2017 Russian River Valley Alberigi Pinot
Noir ^ Eric Sussman purchases this fruit from
an organically farmed vineyard on Vine Hill
Road. It produced a rich and creamy pinot
noir in 2017, with tart, strawberry-scented
fruit. There some gentle tension to its dusty
tannins, giving the wine the stamina to
evolve with age, though it's easy to enjoy now
with roast salmon. (220 cases) -J.G.
517373

90 | Storm

$55

2016 Santa Maria Valley Presqu'ile Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ This smells like it comes

2017 Santa Barbara County Reserve Pinot
Noir (Best Buy) ^ Deep, smoky oak notes give
way to seductive dark-berry flavor. The wine
tastes and feels ripe, with the roundness for
pork loin. (2,000 cases) -P.J.C.
517939
2017 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir (Best
Buy) ^ Dark and smoky, with tart cherry and
pomegranate flavors, this wine heads into a
mist of mineral-rich tannins. The fruit has
staying power, needing time in a decanter
and something as meaty as duck sausages to
bring it forward. (2,200 cases) -J.G.

RED BLENDS
518048

93 | Ridge

$36

2017 Sonoma County Rockpile Botticelli
Vineyard (Best Buy) ^ Ulises Valdez manages
this vineyard, on a hillside rising from 1,000
to 1,240 feet toward Rockpile Peak. He farms
zinfandel and petite sirah that John Olney
makes into this fresh and juicy blend. It layers
floral, zinny-red fruit over the darker tones
of petite's fruit-skin blackness. Remarkably
light and airy for all its spice and fruit richness, this is quaffable as a young wine yet has
the staying power to age. (1,200 cases) -J.G.

517474

92 | Kunde

$100

2015 Sonoma Valley Moon Mountain Red ^
Grown in the upper reaches of the Kunde
Estate, this is a blend of cabernet sauvignon
with cabernet franc and petit verdot. Its dark
fruit has bay-leaf and hay-like accents, lastWINE & SPIRITS

OCTOBER 2019

https://www.jlohr.com/wines/2016-highlands-bench-pinot-noir https://www.kunde.com/product/2015-Red-Wine---Moon-Mountain1?pageID=2D1B23CD-9C79-BABC-9956-82776370E96F&sortBy=DisplayOrder&maxRows=28&

Wine & Spirits - October 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - October 2019