Showing items 1
through 8 of
18
Freestone 2006 Chardonnay (Sonoma Coast)
- $75
Joseph Phelps, of Napa Valley fame, has been working this cool-climate vineyard for years. Now it’s paying off, in this acidic Chardonnay with a tang of the sea. Rich in Meyer lemon, lime, guava and spice flavors, its coating of smoky oak adds exotic levels of buttered toast and crème brûlée. Fascinating and tremendous.
— S.H.
(2/1/2009)
Freestone 2007 Pastorale Vineyard Chardonnay (Sonoma Coast)
- $100
A massively constructed Chardonnay that’s opulent and concentrated and bursts in the mouth with pineapple, lemon drop candy, Asian pear and white peach flavors of enormous ripeness. The entire production of 108 cases was aged in new oak, so there’s a lavish veneer of sweet, smoky buttered toast. Sur lie aging is evident in the creaminess and ever so slight…
— S.H.
(3/1/2010)
Freestone 2006 Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast)
- Cellar Selection
- $75
A very fine, ageable Pinot that shows a feral, exotic quality that is rare, but always welcome. Grown on the true, cool coastal strip of the appellation, it’s dry and crisp in citrusy acids, with intricate flavors of wild cherries, balsam, maple syrup, teriyaki-grilled beef, licorice, cola and Asian spices. Such is the tannic structure that it should evolve over…
— S.H.
(3/1/2009)
Freestone 2008 Quarter Moon Vineyard Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast)
- Cellar Selection
- Online Exclusive
- $100
This is a Pinot Noir meant to be aged. No question about it, from the citrusy acids to the sandy tannins to the somewhat awkward primary fruit flavors that desperately want to resolve with the oak. Packed with raspberries and cherries, the wine is completely dry and firm in minerals, and seems easily able to age for at least six years. Only 120 cases were produced.
— S.H.
(3/1/2011)
Freestone 2007 Pastorale Vineyard Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast)
- Cellar Selection
- Online Exclusive
- $100
The first thing you notice is the complexity of flavor, carrying waves of wild forest raspberries and cherries, framboise and other liqueury, extracted tastes, sprinkled with rose petal, Dr. Pepper cola and exotic spices, and rounded off with smoky sandalwood. Then the tannins and acids kick in, emphasizing extreme dryness. There are dozens of Pinot Noirs that are…
— S.H.
(3/1/2010)
Freestone 2009 Pastorale Vineyard Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast)
- Cellar Selection
- $80
It will be fascinating to taste this wine in six, eight, ten years. Right now, it’s big, thick, dry and powerful. So sweet is the cherry fruit and so silky is the texture that the wine could almost be a young Grenache. Seems to have what it takes to age, so try after 2015.
— S.H.
(12/31/2011)
Freestone 2008 Pastorale Vineyard Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast)
- Online Exclusive
- $100
Another terrific wine from this vineyard, following the superb ’07. May be a bit less flamboyant, but with better structure, and equally ageable. Dry and full bodied and fairly tannic, it shows powerful cherry and raspberry fruit, smoked meat, sautéed wild mushroom and sandalwood flavors, liberally spiced. Drinkable now, and should develop through 2014, at least.
— S.H.
(3/1/2011)
Freestone 2008 Pastorale Vineyard Chardonnay (Sonoma Coast)
- $100
The best thing about this Chardonnay is the acidity. It’s brisk and clean, and gives a zesty finish to the extraordinarily rich pineapple, papaya, lime and Meyer lemon flavors that are almost sweet, but aren’t. A firm scour of minerals adds the necessary grounding to this complex wine. Drink now–2013, but not too cold.
— S.H.
(3/1/2011)
Showing items 1
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18
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