Just gorgeous now, and should age for a while. Shows the clarity and articulation of most Pinot Noirs from this vineyard, with massive flavors of cherries, raspberries, oranges, vanilla and cinnamon spice. Yet rich acidity and finely ground tannins provide the structure for balance. Drink now through 2012.
— S.H.
(10/1/2009)
This is an amazing Pinot Noir. It showcases its classic vintage, yielding massive flavors of cherries and raspberries that are so rich and ripe, they approach liqueur. Yet the wine maintains a perfect balance of coastal acidity and fine tannins. Gorgeously oaked and smoky, it’s a beauty now, and should slide through the next 4–5 years.
— S.H.
(12/15/2009)
Rich and flamboyant, with strong flavors of lemondrop candy, pineapple crème brûlée, vanilla, buttered toast and cinnamon spices. The texture is rich in buttercream, yet enlivened with crisp acidity. A delicious, exotic Chardonnay ready for drinking now.
— S.H.
(12/15/2009)
The reason why this winery scores so well, year after year, in Chardonnay is because the production team knows how to get maximum ripeness out of the grapes, while maintaining an integrity of structure. The ’09 Hyde exhibits this quality. It’s fantastically rich in oranges, apricots, pears and pineapples, yet possesses a bracing minerality and fine Carneros acidity.
— S.H.
(2/1/2012)
What a price, but what a wine. For starters, it’s huge in cherry compote flavors, drizzled with sweet mocha, vanilla and powdered sugar. That makes it sound like a dessert wine, but it’s dry, with rich, ripe tannins and firm acids. What it lacks in subtlety it more than makes up for in sheer decadence.
— S.H.
(4/1/2004)
This is one of the most successful Pinots the winery has produced, and I have no doubt it’s because the vintage was so cool. The wine is absolutely dry and has bracing acidity, with extraordinarily long, deep flavors of grapes that achieved maximum ripeness but remain balanced. Cherries, raspberries and blackberries flood the palate, enriched with earthier notes of…
— S.H.
(12/15/2007)
Anyone who doesn’t love this Pinot just doesn’t understand California’s approach. It’s a fantastically delicious wine, completely satisfying in raspberry, cherry, persimmon, toast, spice and vanilla flavors, and balanced with bright, coastal acidity. Just beautiful, and it grows better as it warms in the glass. Probably not an ager, but wonderful now and through 2013.
— S.H.
(3/1/2011)
The winery’s ’09 Jenkins Ranch is as good as their spectacular 2007, after a small lapse in 2008. It’s made in the Patz & Hall style of succulent, ripe red berry and cherry fruit and sweet oak. The alcohol is quite high, nearly 16%, but the wine doesn’t feels hot or unbalanced.
— S.H.
(2/1/2012)