This wine looked very light. The color was that bright hued purple I find in almost all of Loring’s Pinots. The color became almost translucent towards the edges. The nose is dominated by this red raspberry fruit, moderate alcohol, good and plenty, and wood. On the palate this wine is thin and acidic. The fruit is high-toned red cherry. The tannins are present in the first half of the palate and I find them to be green, astringent, and cheek sucking. This wine tastes watered down and the finish is a short one. I think I committed infanticide and that this wine is disjointed and in a bad unruly place based on past efforts of Beringer’s SVD Cabernet. I bought this guy on winebid for $30 and for that price it I find it disappointing but appropriate for Napa. For its release price of $90 I think this to be a HUGE pass. I have a few more of these along with some 2007 Marstons, and Ranchos I cannot imagine them being worse than this. I will check back in two years. If you have some keep your paws off if you are thinking of buying some SVDs from the Big B this is an automatic pass.
You’ve inspired me to open a 2001 sometime soon. That wine has definitely shown quite differently based on bottle age/variation at different times.