Wine & Spirits - April 2020 - 79

YEAR'S BEST US PINOT NOIRS
the fruit growing lush with air. A briny savor
brings the fruit into focus, and sumptuous
oak frames the finish. (W&S 10/19) -P.J.C.
517965

91 | Melville

$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. (W&S 10/19; 347 cases) -P.J.C.
519364

90 | Fess Parker

$60

90 | Fess Parker

$60

2017 Sta. Rita Hills Older Barrels Pinot
Noir ^ With its forward strawberry fruit and
cinnamon-stick oak spice, this wine is irresistibly Californian in its sunny, fruit-forward
disposition. It's simple and crowd-pleasing,
for a pork loin dinner. (301 cases) -P.J.C.
519367
2017 Sta. Rita Hills Pommard Clone Pinot
Noir ^ All chocolate and caramel at first pass,
this has a savory fruit note, like slightly
underripe plums, that gives the wine its edge.
The tarry tannins point to a match with barbecued beef. (299 cases) -P.J.C.
519363

90 | Fess Parker

$60

2017 Sta. Rita Hills Sanford & Benedict
Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ Dark and blocky when
first poured, this is a powerful wine through
which the red-fruited, floral Sanford & Benedict imprint is articulated, despite its ripeness. It's got flavors of cinnamon and a touch
of paprika to go with the dark strawberry
fruit, the wine concentrated and rich, with
the stuffing to age. (338 cases) -P.J.C.
519715

90 | Foley

519975

94 | Trail Marker

$45

2018 Santa Cruz Mountains Saveria Vineyard Pinot Noir (Best Buy) ^ Drew Huffine
purchases fruit from two blocks at Saveria,
a vineyard farmed by Prudy Foxx. Huffine's
parcels are planted in loam that looks like
beach sand, the cool site rising to 800 feet elevation, surrounded by redwoods. He allows
the wine to ferment spontaneously, with a
significant proportion of whole clusters-66
percent in 2018. Open a bottle and you'll find
a clean, simple pinot in a straight-up fruity
style. Then sit with it awhile as the spice
develops, a light red note that brings to mind
allspice and the skins of ripe cherry tomatoes
in August. By the next day, the wine is meatier and rich, holding onto the coastal cool of
the vineyard in its bright and zesty feel while
building depths of flavor that would match a
spicy Moroccan lamb dish. Or you could take
it in an oceanic direction, emphasizing the
wine's red-apple-skin flavors with shellfish
doused in Old Bay. (99 cases) -J.G.
517875

93 | Big Basin Vineyards

$60

2016 Santa Cruz Mountains Alfaro Family
Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ This grows on a southfacing slope in Corralitos, close to the Monterey Bay, where the vines gained enough
ripeness in 2016 for Bradley Brown to put
the whole bunches, stems and all, in a fermenter and do little more than tread them by
foot. It turned into a transparent pinot with
touches of brown in the color, the flavor all
about salted plums and red currants. Rose
scents develop with air, as does a nautilusshell echo of the sea. Built for any fresh catch.
(W&S 10/19; 155 cases) -J.G.

$55

2016 Sta. Rita Hills JA Ranch Pinot Noir ^
This wine leads with spicy red-fruit scents,
and flavors to match, like strawberry
mostarda and crusty bread. It's substantial,
but a rumbling of acidity on the finish gives
the wine persistence and delivers a brushy,
foresty finish. (680 cases) -P.J.C.
516684

90 | Montemar

S A N TA C RUZ MOUNTAINS

$48

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 concentrated than the other Montemar
wine reviewed here, with an intensity that's
been softened in the bottle; ready for herbed
leg of lamb. (W&S 8/19; 99 cases) -P.J.C.

518703

92 | Thomas Fogarty

$62

2016 Santa Cruz Mountains Mindego
Ridge Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ This grows near
La Honda, at a young vineyard planted in
2009 on a south-facing hill to catch as much
sun as possible at an otherwise cool site. The
wine smells like the oxygen-rich air of a Santa
Cruz Mountains redwood forest, its deep red
fruit delivered in woodsy scents of raspberries and cranberries. Fresh and lively. (W&S
2/20; 245 cases) -J.G.
519989

92 | Lioco

$56

91 | Apriori

$60

91 | Trail Marker

$32

90 | Big Basin Vineyards

$65

90 | Lioco

$56

2018 Santa Cruz Mountains Saveria Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ Prudy Foxx farms this vineyard near Aptos, less than five miles from
the Pacific. The cool site and the sandy, welldrained calcareous soil at Lioco's blocks produced a fresh, roseate pinot noir in 2018, a
light wine with meaty raspberry fruit to flesh
out its structure. The presence of whole clusters in the fermentation (30 percent) adds to
the wine's foresty spice. -J.G.
517125
2015 Santa Cruz Mountains Hicks Family Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ From a vineyard
in Corralitos, in the lower elevations at the
southern end of the Santa Cruz Mountains,
this wine has the supple, generous texture
you might expect from the work of a noted
consulting winemaker like Philippe Melka. It
feels comfortable and intriguing, with coastal
conifer scents. Serve it with grilled salmon.
(W&S 8/19; 73 cases) -J.G.
519977
2018 Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir
(Best Buy) ^ An intriguing wine, this is presented in a style that plays off the warm-cool
mix of contemporary coastal climates in California. The fruit character is ripe, its tropical notes reminding one taster of riesling.
Underneath, there's a foresty side, a quiet
freshness that holds the fruit ripeness to a
gentle misty rain of flavor. You might find
woodland mushroom and herb scents, suggesting a place next to an herb-stuffed roast
fish in a red-wine reduction. (99 cases) -J.G.
517872
2016 Santa Cruz Mountains Old Corral
Pinot Noir ^ Brisk and airy, this wine has a
coastal-woodlands character in its flavors of
wild plum and sour cherry. Chill it to point
up its vertical structure, and serve it with
Peking duck. (W&S 10/19; 205 cases) -J.G.
517969
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 toward
a breezy and cool briskness, with simple,
crunchy strawberry flavor that will meld into
a veggie burger. (W&S 10/19) -J.G.

C ENTRAL C OAST AVA
519625

91 | Birichino

$25

2018 Central Coast Saint Georges Pinot
Noir (Best Buy) ^ Composed mostly from
WINE & SPIRITS

APRIL 2020

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Wine & Spirits - April 2020

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