 | Vivid red. Sexy, highly perfumed bouquet of strawberry, raspberry, potpourri and minerals. Impressively pure, with fresh red berry flavors and seductive sweetness. The finish strongly echoes the raspberry note and leaves a tangy trail of minerals and flowers behind. A super value for Pinot Noir.
Int'l Wine Cellar Rating: 90
[Issue: Jul/Aug 09]
Regular price: $20.00 Sale price: $16.00 |
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 | Aromas of smoke, mineral, black raspberry, and black cherry are enticing, leading to a smooth textured, elegant Pinot with a lengthy, fruit-filled finish. It is an excellent value in Pinot Noir. The owners of Leyda were the first to arrive in this up-and-coming cool-climate region and took its name as the name of their winery.
Wine Advocate Rating: 90
[Issue: #182 / April 09]
$18.00 |
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 | A delicate, silky and sensual Pinot Noir that shows real value. Firmed and toned by racy acidity, it shows polished flavors of cherries, raspberries, sassafras, cola and cinnamon spice.
Wine Enthusiast Rating: 90
[Issue: 09/01/09]
$21.00 |
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 | Floral scents mingled with this wine's black raspberry aroma and a fine cedary sheen from the oak. The fruit is more reticent on the palate, the wine still snug in its wood. Cellar time will allow the elements to knit.
Wine & Sprits Rating: 91
[Issue: Aug 09]
$22.00 |
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 | Polished and open-textured, with an airy feel to the red cherry, tobacco and spice flavors, floating easily over refined tannins and lingering on the finish. Drink now through 2013. 18,430 cases made.
Wine Spectator Rating: 90
[Issue: Dec 31/09]
$28.00 |
|
 | Intense and vibrant, with snappy blackberry, wild berry and black cherry fruit that's full-bodied, structured and pleasantly earthy, with mineral and sage. Drink now through 2013. 511 cases made.
Wine Spectator Rating: 90
[Issue: May 31/09]
$29.00 |
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 | Silky, elegant and appealing for its juicy raspberry, spice and cream flavors, lingering enticingly on the shapely finish. Drink now through 2014. 500 cases made.
Wine Spectator Rating: 90
[Issue: Web only 2009]
Regular price: $34.00 Sale price: $29.00 |
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 | The fruit for the 2008 Pinot Noir was sourced from a 15-acre parcel from the Adriana Vineyard made famous by Catena Zapata and aged in 30% new French oak. It displays lovely aromatics of raspberry and cherry, plenty of body, sweet, succulent flavors, a silky texture, and outstanding depth. It should drink well for another 8 years.
Wine Advocate Rating: 92
[Issue: #184 / Aug 09]
$29.00 |
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 | Delivers an expressive nose of rose petal, red cherry and raspberry that leaps from the glass. This leads to a velvety-textured, medium-bodied Pinot with ample sweet fruit, good depth, and a fruit-filled finish. It lacks only complexity. Drink this pleasurable wine over the next 4-5 years.
Wine Advocate Rating: 90
[Issue: #179 / Oct 08]
Regular price: $40.00 Sale price: $32.00 |
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 | In the Patz & Hall style, this is a richly oaked, ripe Pinot Noir. The blackness of the wine transitions to dark chocolate and strawberries in the end. The flavors last, with an emphasis on red fruit clarity and spice. Substantial enough for a grilled sirloin.
Wine & Spirits Rating: 91
[Issue: 02/01/10]
Regular price: $42.00 Sale price: $32.00 |
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 | A fabulous introduction, the generic cuvee, the 2007 Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills (just over 1,000 cases produced), possesses a deep plum/ruby hue as well as gorgeously sweet, sexy, plum, cherry, forest floor, and spring flower notes. Sensual and medium to full-bodied with great fruit, good acidity, and an incredible Burgundian-like character that suggests something from Morey-St.-Denis or further north, it should drink well for 7-8 years.
Wine Advocate Rating: 93
[Issue: #184 / Aug 09]
Regular price: $40.00 Sale price: $33.00 |
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 | Deliciously complex, with a rich range of flavors built around loamy currant, blackberry, plum and sassafras. Gets more interesting with every sip. Best from 2010 through 2015. 2,924 cases made.
Wine Spectator Rating: 92
[Issue: Aug 31/09]
$34.00 |
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 | From Shea Vineyard, where the vines in sedimentary soil over fractured sandstone produce some of Oregon's finest pinots, this wine is both forward and elegant. Scents of forest floor and a wisp of smoke surround the black cherry flavors, all held in suspension by fine cherry-skin tannins. It's built for the long haul, and it will reward tea-smoked duck with wild mushrooms if you open it along the way.
Wine & Spirits Rating: 94
[Issue: Aug 09]
Regular price: $49.00 Sale price: $38.00 |
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 | The dark ruby/purple-tinged 2007 Pinot Noir Reserve offers elegant floral, black cherry, and raspberry notes interwoven with subtle oak, earth, and forest floor. Pure, rich, deep, and full-bodied, this big, Pinot will be even better with another 1-2 years of bottle age, and it should drink well for a decade.
Wine Advocate Rating: 90+
[Issue: #184 / Aug 09]
$38.00 |
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 | A floral and pure nose that reflects vegetal hints that are more in the character of adding complexity than actual greenness introduces delineated and vibrant middle weight flavors that possess a dusty and moderately structured finish that delivers lovely persistence. This is a classically styled effort of elegance and finesse and has little in common with the high ripeness and ultra rich school of pinot. Drink 2014+.
Burghound Rating: 91
[Issue: 07/01/09]
$38.00 |
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 | The 2007 Pinot Noir Ana Vineyard is expressive aromatically featuring notes of cherry and raspberry. It sports a suave personality, ripe fruit, excellent balance, and a lengthy finish. It, too, will drink well over the next eight years.
Wine Advocate Rating: 91
[Issue: #185 / Oct 09]
$38.00 |
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 | The 2007 Pinot Noir Deux Vert was made with 70% whole clusters and 37% new oak. It is more deeply colored as well as more structured. Black cherry and black raspberry notes dominate the palate with the oak nicely integrated. This cuvee will benefit from 1-2 years of additional cellaring.
Wine Advocate Rating: 90+
[Issue: #185 / Oct 09]
$38.00 |
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 | From Dijon clone 777, the 2007 Pinot Noir South Slope is from the highest elevation of any of the Hansel vineyards (and there are 80 acres). It has deep plum and pomegranate notes with hints of sassafras and wood spice. The wine displays a nice, subtle smokiness, medium to full body, good acidity, and a long finish. Unfortunately, there is very little made. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2016.
Wine Advocate Rating: (91-93)
[Issue: #180 / Dec 08]
$39.00 |
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 | By a very thin hair, my personal favorite in this impressive lineup is the 2007 Winemakers Cuvee, a selection of the finest barrels in the cellar. Deep crimson-colored, it has a fragrant, alluring nose of smoke, spice box, incense, floral notes, and red fruits. Dense, sweet, layered, and complex, this rich effort will evolve for several years and drink well through 2022 making it one of the potentially longest-lived Pinot Noirs of the vintage.
Wine Advocate Rating: 93
[Issue: #185 / Oct 09]
$39.00 |
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 | The 2007 Pinot Noir Stoller Vineyard is medium ruby-colored with a complex aromatic array of toast, mineral, spice box, cherry, and raspberry. Velvety and succulent on the palate, the wine has excellent density, balance, and length. It is the prototypical style of what the vintage permitted in 2007, complete in every way.
Wine Advocate Rating: 91
[Issue: #185 / Oct 09]
$43.00 |
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 | Bright red. Wild strawberry and raspberry on the nose, with suave floral and spice notes adding vivacity. Extremely fresh, nervy red berry flavors pack a serious punch but seem weightless and betray no edges or obvious tannins. This silky, seductive pinot finishes with mineral-laced red fruits and excellent clarity.
Int'l Wine Cellar Rating: 91
[Issue: May/June 09]
$43.00 |
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 | The 2006 Pinot Noir is endowed with a fabulous, mineral-rich nose, superbly defined with touches of strawberry and boysenberry, the palate very concentrated yet very well-defined with vibrant acidity, ebullient red-berried fruits and a svelte, silky, sophisticated finish. Its quality shines through this lovely wine that should drink over 3-5 years.
Wine Advocate Rating: 93
[Issue: #176 / Apr 08]
$44.00 |
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 | An ultra pure, airy and cool nose of extract of red pinot fruit trimmed in overt floral nuances a hint of vegetal that, like the Ryan, adds depth rather than any sense of greenness. The purity of the nose continues onto the detailed, intense and delicious yet entirely serious medium-bodied flavors that possess fine depth and excellent length. This is an impeccably balanced wine of elegance and understatement that is classically styled.
Burghound Rating: 92
[Issue: 07/01/09]
$45.00 |
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 | Shows wonderful richness, density, depth and concentration, with pure, ripe, sharply focused wild berry, blackberry and black cherry fruit that has great structure. Best from 2010 through 2016. 1,463 cases made.
Wine Spectator Rating: 93
[Issue: Aug 31/09]
$45.00 |
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 | The Pinot Noirs begin with the 2007 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley. Medium ruby-colored, it offers an enticing bouquet of smoke, spice box, cherry, and raspberry. Medium-bodied, on the palate it has a solid acid backbone, light tannin, plenty of savory red fruit, and an overall elegant personality. Another 1-2 years of bottle age should round it out although it can be enjoyed now.
Wine Advocate Rating: 90
[Issue: #185 / Oct 09]
$48.00 |
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 | A highly floral and high-toned red pinot fruit nose gives way gracefully to rich, round and naturally sweet flavors that possess good vibrancy and depth on the balanced, intense and lingering finish where the only nit is a hint of backend warmth. Note that if a cool serving temperature is maintained, the warmth is virtually a non-issue.
Burghound Rating: 91
[Issue: 07/01/09]
$49.00 |
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 | The 2006 Ata Rangi Pinot Noir (tasted twice) includes fruit from some of the 27-year-old home block vines and was matured for 12 months using 25% new oak. It displays a vibrant, slightly leafy nose with cranberry and a touch of forest floor, the palate -economical- i.e. no frills, but clean, crisp, vibrant fruit; brilliant focus with supreme poise on the finish. It gains intensity in the glass, a mercurial Pinot Noir as compelling as many a top Burgundy.
Wine Advocate Rating: 91
[Issue: #176 / April 2008]
$49.00 |
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 | Medium garnet-crimson hue. Lovely bouquet of black fruit compote, forest floor and smoke. Very expressive on the palate with cola and soft black and red fruit flavors accented by a bit of mocha in a lush, silky texture with a long finish.
Wine News Rating: 91
[Issue: October 2009]
$52.00 |
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 | This distinctive Pinot Noir’s source is a tiny vineyard in cool Green Valley; the winegrower is James MacPhail, whose own MacPhail Pinot Noirs are so good. The wine itself is totally dry and silky and firm in acidity, yet soft in fine tannins. You might call it noble. It’s eruptive in cherries, sweet smoky bacon, raspberry granola and oaky sandalwood. Gorgeous, seductive and brilliant, a truly great Pinot Noir that’s impeccable now.
Wine Enthusiast Rating: 97
[Issue: 10/01/09]
$53.00 |
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 | Offers broad flavors, mixing ripe plum, black cherry and blackberry fruit that's pure, rich and complex, turning elegant and supple. Full-bodied, this is long and persistent on the finish. Drink now through 2015. 437 cases made.
Wine Spectator Rating: 92
[Issue: March 31/09]
$55.00 |
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 | The 2006 Pinot Noir Reserve is a barrel selection of the best in the cellar. It was aged for 11 months in 50% new French oak. Toast, earth notes, raspberry preserves and cherry pie compose a formidable bouquet leading to a rich, layered, nearly opulent wine with excellent balance and a long, fruit-filled finish. Drink it from 2010 to 2018.
Wine Advocate Rating: 92
[Issue: #179 / Oct 08]
$55.00 |
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 | The 2006 Pinot Noir Mineral Springs has an especially expressive bouquet with floral notes, pain grille, damp earth, black raspberry, and blueberry. On the palate, the wine is layered, bordering on opulent. The savory, ripe, spicy dark fruit flavors persist into a lengthy, velvety textured finish. Give it 2-3 years and drink it from 2011 to 2020.
Wine Advocate Rating: 93
[Issue: #179 / Oct 08]
$56.00 |
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 | Smooth and round, with a lovely polished feel to the dark berry, cherry, licorice and spice flavors, flowing easily over finely tuned tannins, persisting expressively. Drink now through 2016. 9,000 cases made.
Wine Spectator Rating: 92
[Issue: May 31/09]
$56.00 |
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 | Good bright red with ruby highlights. Deep, brooding aromas of black cherry, spices and black tea, lifted by a violet nuance. Dense and sweet-even a bit muscular-yet somehow light on its feet thanks to firm acidity. This is impressively sappy and chewy for a pinot with just 13.8% alcohol. Finishes with very good grip and lift.
Int'l Wine Cellar Rating: 92
[Issue: May/June 09]
$59.00 |
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 | Good fresh dark red. Captivating aromas of strawberry, raspberry, flowers, incense, mocha and loam, with some Burgundian funk and blood orange emerging as the wine opens in the glass. Quite supple, even creamy, in the middle palate, with musky red berry, earth and spice flavors nicely framed by harmonious acidity. As round and seamless as this is in the middle, and as silky and lush as it is on the aftertaste, there's no shortage of structure. Some whole-cluster and whole-berry fermentation has contributed both an intriguing floral/spicy quality and a creamy sweetness. I've been following this venture since the Phelps family purchased this cool-climate Sonoma Coast property in 1999, and this second release of the estate's flagship pinot is a knockout.
Int'l Wine Cellar Rating: 93
[Issue: Dec 08]
Regular price: $75.00 Sale price: $59.00 |
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 | This required several hours of aeration to reluctantly emerge from its youthful shell but when it did the elegant and very pure aromas of floral, red berry and spice hints formed the perfect complement to the intense, detailed, complex and refined medium-bodied flavors that possess lovely precision and excellent inner mouth perfume that lingers and lingers. Moreover, this appears to be allowing only glimpses as to the ultimate quality as this is very much a baby. Great potential.
Burghound Rating: 92
[Issue: 07/01/09]
$59.00 |
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 | The 2007 Pinot Noir Lindsay Estate exhibits a distinctive nose of chocolate, cocoa, black cherries, plums, earth, and pomegranate. Displaying terrific fruit as well as an expansive, full-bodied mouthfeel, the wine has filled out considerably since last year.
Wine Advocate Rating: 94
[Issue: #187 / Feb 10] Regular price: $85.00 Sale price: $63.00 |
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 | The 2006 Pinot Noir Winery Hill Vineyard is sourced from Dijon clones planted in 2000 and 2001. It was fermented with 3.5% stems for additional spiciness. Dark ruby-colored, it offers up a spicy, cigar box perfume along with expressive blue and black fruits. On the palate it is quite dense and weighty with layers of savory dark fruit flavors bordering on opulence. This rich wine has a finish lasting for nearly a minute. Drink it from 2012 to 2020. Domaine Serene has turned out its most successful set of Pinot Noirs in several vintages.
Wine Advocate Rating: 94
[Issue: #179 / Oct 08]
$69.00 |
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 | A strikingly elegant, pure and complex nose that is restrained and understated offers floral, red berry, spice and an herbal hint that merges seamlessly into concentrated and rich medium-bodied flavors that possess excellent mid-palate fat and superb length. It's rare to find a 2006 that has both richness and delineation all while retaining the fine balance that great wines have. This should be really impressive in 8 years or so, in fact, it's already impressive but there is more to come.
Burghound Rating: 94
[Issue: 07/01/09]
$69.00 |
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 | The 2006 Pinot Noir Grace Vineyard is medium/dark ruby with spicy cherry and raspberry aromas, complex flavors, and a sense of elegance. This nicely balanced wine has excellent depth, concentration, and length with enough structure to evolve for 3-4 years. Drink it from 2010 to 2020.
Wine Advocate Rating: 93
[Issue: #179 / Oct 08]
$119.00 |
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