OMG!!! You have to try some. I HIGHLY recommend Windy Oaks Proprieters Reserve or Whole Cluster. Wonderful wines. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
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One of only two āclubsā Iām in. The other is another fantastic Pinot house - Joseph Swan.
Had a 2006 Wild Yeast the other day for my birthday. Delicious.
I still havenāt worked out how long the Proprieters Reserve needs before opening.
My cellar only goes back as far as 2005, and I think thatās a way off being ready.
Dave- The Reserve pretty much utilizes a ābest barrelsā approach, along with a longer oak regimen (a few months). Otherwise, it should be a similar flavor profile to the ones you have tried. I would suggest a double decant and ācellar tempā (for me, 15 mins in the fridge) before serving.
My response is Santa Rita Hills, but it sounds like I need to be seeking out more stuff from St Cruz Mtns
interesting lack of correlation between this and the best domestic pinot thread. By far, the largest number of votes there went to Russian River producers (WS/Rochioli) with a lot of Son Coast (Marcassin, Littorai. RM) votes as well. Yet, here, SCM carries the day, but the Rhys/ME votes on the other thread donāt exceed just the WS votes alone there (I threw out those that didnāt name a single best and hemmed and hawed about multiple producers).
If that thread makes sense (and those folks voted) youād think that RR would be first, and certainly RR and the Son Coast would exceed all others by a wide margin.
Lots of way to skin this cat (or explain it if you have a soft spot for furry rodents and dislike that term) so Iām not saying āflawedā, just interesting the two threads are inconsistent with each other.
RRV for me. If True Sonoma Coast had been a choice that is where Iād have gone. As it lies Sonoma Coast is not a consideration. AV, SCM and SRH also strongly considered.
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The other thread weights the track record heavily, while this one perhaps shows the enthusiasm for the potential of the AVA? I have had several SCM pinots over the past 10 years that were mediocreā¦dare I say that the majority of winemakers and chief growers in the SCM would not hold the same positions in the RRV or Son coast.
I think thatās fair, not piling on. Thereās a lot of outdated growing and winemaking going on and we are plagued by vineyards installed on quads with a single catch (California Sprawl). The list of āmodernā growers and winemakers is pretty small and I think the only ones Iād add that havenāt been mentioned here are Alfaro and Blackridge.
Iāve done a lot of work with Bradley Brown and Ian Brand and people ask me alot : āDonāt you worry about competing with those guys?ā My answer is always: āI donāt compete with Ian and Bradley, we compete together against the wineries churning out cheap hooch for tourists that brings down the name of the AVA.ā
Regaleās estate Pinot is worth keeping an eye on. Heart oā the Mountain isnāt bad either.
I noticed this as well. SCM might be the best but we are a long way from knowing that.
Well I voted in that thread and this one. The problem with comparing the two is that this calls for the best AVA which could mean a lot of different producers while the other thread simply asked for just āoneā single Pinot.
Like Cris said SCM might be the best, but time will tell. Right now it looks pretty good.
The other side of the coin is I think many of the great winemakers from other areas would make even better wines with SCM fruit.*
I have a lot of love for RRV expression, but for my preferences, most of what Iāve tried over the last decade have been fād up over-ripe messes, trying too hard to compete with their Napa Cult Cab equivalents.
*A couple recent interlopers: From what Iāve read, Wind Gap made an excellent and very un-Pax-like PN from Corralitos fruit. On the other hand, Verve made hot, sickly, disgusting cough syrup out of Klein Family Vyd. fruit.
Understood- but if your ābest everā Pinot came from a certain place, its kind of hard to imagine thinking a different place is the best for Pinot- regardless of numbers.
If my ābestā domestic Pinot (how I could ever make that call is beyond me- I have drank far too many) was the WS 93 Allen, then Iād be hard pressed to say a different place than RRV was the best for Pinot- even if there were a bunch of great pinots from that other place.
Talk about flawed poll:
WHERE IS CARNEROS, YOUāVE GOT A ZILLION APPELLATIONS THAT DONāT GROW PINOT (OR SHOULDNāT) AND ONE OF THE VERY BEST ISNāT EVEN THERE!
Dan Kravitz
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Itās listed as āLos Carnerosā.
No disrespect (by which I really mean no disrespect!) but if āmostā of them fit that description, youāve been tasting a pretty narrow sample. There are some amazingly lithe, pretty, expressive, high toned bright fruit, nimble etc etc etc made here- year in and year out- far more than wines which fit the description you offeredā¦
Maybe that one great Pinot I had was the only one that iāve liked from the AVA 
I would hate to only have to drink wine from one region or variety for that matter.
I totally agree on the second point, but as to the first (and recognizing your good nature in making it), if a place was capable of producing the single greatest Pinot you ever had, until a wine, any wine, from a different place eclipsed that for you, how could another place be ābestā?
Say the Russian River was the source of your numero uno Pinot- but your next 3 were from Arroyo Grande. Is Arroyo Grande ābetterā for having made more, but lesser wines? Perhaps if the question is where do most of your favorite Pinots come from AG would fit, but if a place has made your personal ābestā, I really donāt see how any other place could be ābetterā.