Wine & Spirits - October 2020 - 95

US NEW RELEASES
90 | Calera

$50

90 | Williams Selyem

$39

Sebastopol that stands out for me). This wine
comes from a parcel planted in the 1980s, at
the base of a hill where the cold air settles,
making it the last spot to ripen in the vineyard. Their 2018 comes alive the moment it's
poured into the glass, glowing red in color
and flavor, gentle and secure in its transparent elegance. The strawberry and tart cranberry flavors feel cool, and the wine itself is
cooling as it lasts with dynamic complexity.
-J.G. (500 cases) §
521274

2017 Santa Cruz Mountains Muns Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ One of Calera's new ventures outside of its usual regional haunts, this
is simple and delicious, with notes of black
plum and brown bread. It needs some cellar
time to integrate. -P.J.C. (250 cases) §
521423
2018 San Benito County Pinot Noir ^ This
has a kind of signature Williams Selyem
purity of expression: The red-cherry flavors
are seamless, juicy and bright, the texture
balanced and satisfying, with spicy tannins;
for roast chicken thighs. -P.J.C. §

PINOT NOIR: NORTH COAST

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 berryscented 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. (135 cases) §

520548

95 | Drew

$60

2017 Mendocino Ridge Estate Field Selections Pinot Noir ^ Jason and Molly Drew
planted seven acres of pinot noir on their
home ranch, 3.3 miles from the Pacific and
1,250 feet above it. It's a marginal climate
that works with the mix of heritage and suitcase selections providing the fruit for this
bottling-one that argues for their having
discovered, in this former apple orchard, a
great California terroir. In 2017, it's a majestic, beautifully layered wine, with energy
pouring out of the glass as if emitting what
sun was stored in the grapes. There's a density to its rooted tannins and a floral sweetness to its fruit-a contrast of grilled-mushroom savor and smashed woodland berries,
with the constant refreshing sweep of the
coastal winds. A lasting blue-sky wine. -J.G.
(250 cases) §
521280

94 | Cobb

$120

2017 Sonoma Coast Diane Cobb Coastlands Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ When Diane
Cobb planted this nursery block in 1989, it
was as an experiment to test which clones
and selections of pinot noir might thrive at
this marginal site near the coast in Occidental. The family planted more selections in
1996, and now farm 20 of them, which Ross
Cobb harvests for this wine. The idiosyncrasies of each one combine to form an intricate
and dynamic pinot noir, with the herbal complexity of a meadow in full summer bloom.
The texture of the wine is as gracious as the
flavors are bold, a waterfall of dark mushroom fruitiness and black-currant savor.
If you open it now, have some roast duck
nearby. Things will happen. -J.G. (175 cases) §
521273

93 | Anthill Farms

$48

2018 Sonoma Coast Peters Vineyard Pinot
Noir ^ For the second vintage in a row, the Anthill team-winemakers Anthony Filiberti,
David Low and Webster Marquez-seem
to have caught their Peters Vineyard pinot
noir at the exact right moment of ripeness.
(Usually, it's their tiny production of syrah
from Randy Peters's vines in the hills west of

93 | Anthill Farms

$40

93 | Cobb

$80

92 | Anthill Farms

$48

2018 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir (Best Buy) ^
The Anthill team makes several single-vineyard wines from sites in the coastal Sebastopol Hills and in Annapolis, on Sonoma's
far north coast. This bottling is a blend of
fruit from those sites, and while it may be less
distinctive than the solo bottlings, it doesn't
feel like a lesser selection. The brightness
of the wine evokes the Pacific wind, kicking
the fruit's sunny glow into high-toned strawberry, mint and Bing cherry flavors while the
tannins act like crystals refracting the bright
fruit. -J.G. (1,800 cases) §
521281
2017 Sonoma Coast Doc's Ranch Pommard & 114 Selection Pinot Noir ^ This
wine's floral black-raspberry notes seem a
little austere at first, tightened around a salty,
oceanic tension. The wine seems to break
free with air, keeping its shape and focus but
expanding on its fragrance, in cushioned
scents of roses and dark cherries, building on
its vertical architecture with oak tannins and
fruit-skin power directed upwards. Grown on
a leeward-facing hillside on Occidental's redwood coast, farmed into wine by Ross Cobb,
this has the structural integration to sustain
it for long aging. -J.G. (425 cases) §
521272
2018 Sonoma Coast Campbell Ranch
Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ Steve Campbell farms
this vineyard in Annapolis, at the northwestern corner of the far Sonoma coast, where
the vines grow under the direct influence of
the Pacific. You can taste the cold coastal sun
in the brisk tannins of this wine, a kind of
baked tart-plum character with a spicy chill
running through it. This wine is incipient in
flavor development, youthfully green and
red, with tension that needs a year or two to
resolve in bottle before it begins to deliver on
its promise for years after. -J.G. (400 cases) §
521278

WINE & SPIRITS

OCTOBER 2020

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Wine & Spirits - October 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - October 2020