Strangely, various Failla bottlings have been showing up at our local Whole Foods, at attractive prices. These appear to be intended for tasting room or mailing list sales, as there is no UPC code, and checking out was vexing. To wit: the WFM cashier just accepted my word for what the shelf price was, and did an override / manual adjustment. So I opened the 2022 Failla Pinot Noir [Sonoma Coast] to go with our mitsommer slab of broiled lemony steelhead, steamed red creamers, and green beans.
It was delicious! I’ve heard good comments about Ehren Jordan’s wines before but had not tasted them, and even this basic AVA blend was lovely. 13.8% abv, closed under Vinc composite, light bodied, with great AFWE attributes. It’s bright, zippy, food friendly and shows summer red berries. Would have been fun to contrast to a typical big/cola RRV pinot, but just great by itself. There was some cloudiness in the last third of the bottle. Overall, an A- on my card but I doubt it’ll be readily available on local shelves.
The rest of the family always goes crazy decorating & baking for Mitsommer, usually having elderflower cocktails as their indulgence. (Herring was involved too, but the icy akvavit was never allowed out of its freezer)
