This is a truly great wine, one of those rare wines with both power and elegance. I wanted to pop one early even though my past experience with Failla single vineyard PN has shown them to get most interesting with at least eight years. I’m not very good at describing great PN but I’ll say it was very open from the get go with cherry, cinnamon, mint, menthol and a slew of other things. A little short mid-palate on opening but with just a little time it expanded out greatly. Really elevated aromatics backed up by richness on the palate but at the same time elegant and lithe. I’ve had a lot of CA Central Coast PN but not much from Sonoma and certainly not ones of this type. 4+ (out of 5).
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Thanks for the note Steve. I’ve been itching to try since getting last year. I think I’ll open one this week for the festivities.
American PN is my go to for Thanksgiving. Enjoy.
Steve I had this bottle of wine on Saturday evening and am happy to have another 5 left. This was truly exceptional with just impeccable balance. A generous kaleidescope of red fruits without heaviness, balanced with fine acidity and an incredible spice and incense note with wonderful lift. Refined and suave. Something special, and in my top 2 domestic pinot noir this year, with a 2012 Arterberry Maresh Winderlea Vineyard as its only competitor.
I’m glad it’s held up, thanks for the note! I don’t have any more of that particular one but my inventory shows I’ve got the whole cluster version of the 2018 Occidental Ridge. I tend to only put notes on Wineberserkers for excellent or exemplary wines which makes me wonder sometimes if people think I’m one of those indiscriminate like-everything or overly enthusiastic tasters so it’s good to see when others share my appreciation for something really terrific. Cheers.