This spectacular Pinot, which defines its South Coast terroir, is a great wine. The extracted fruit is massive, flooding the palate with cherries and raspberries, and the wine is well-oaked. Yet it combines its power with regal grace, which is what Pinot is supposed to do. Finishes with a silky, velvety harmony. Really an eye-opening wine, superb in every respect.
— S.H.
(5/1/2005)
Following on the heels of the last vintage, this Pinot is right up there in complexity and deliciousness. It’s a big, young wine, dark and full-bodied, with complex fruit, herb, spice and oak flavors that are impressive for their length and depth. It’s also very dry. Fine now despite its youth, it should gain in power and subtlety through 2008.
— S.H.
(12/1/2005)
One sip, and all you want to do is sit back and reflect on this beautiful Pinot Noir. It’s so dry and elegant, with crisp acids providing a silky balance to the wealth of cherry, pomegranate, tea, cola, mushroom, spice and balsam flavors. Great now and should develop for at least six years.
— S.H.
(11/1/2007)
The best of Belle Glos’s 2008 Pinots. It’s notable for the extreme richness of the raspberries and cherries, which have a jammy intensity with even more succulent notes of vanilla cream and smoky butter. But the finish is dry, while acidity and tannins bring the wine to earth. Delicious now and through 2014.
— S.H.
(12/1/2010)
Just luscious, such a good, complete wine. Perfectly structured, its intricate acid-tannin-oak architecture captures delicate cherry, plum, pomegranate and cola flavors. Not a power-packed ager, just a gorgeous Pinot to drink now.
— S.H.
(11/1/2007)
Delicious from the get go, a Pinot Noir that impresses for sheer flamboyance. The vineyard is in a cooler part of the Santa Maria Valley, and the wine shows fine acidity and ripe, long hangtime flavors of raspberries and cherries, with a rich coating of oak and the exotic crushed spices of its terroir. So good now, it’s hard to resist, but try cellaring for up to…
— S.H.
(12/15/2011)
A big, rich, full-bodied wine, flashy and dramatic. Floods the mouth with cherry-berry flavors, yet somehow feels light and elegant despite the weight and tannins, which is a kind of magic. You’ll find all kinds of raspberries, cherries, sandalwood and exotic spices, but the wine isn’t really ready. Give it 3–4 years in the cellar.
— S.H.
(12/15/2011)
Here’s a dark, big, rich, dry, oaky Pinot Noir. It’s huge in black cherry, cocoa, cola, vanilla and spice flavors that dramatically swamp the palate. It’s a complex, elegant, silky wine now, delicious on its own, and likely to intensify for four or five years. From Caymus.
— S.H.
(12/1/2005)