2017 Pinot Noir, Buena Tierra Vineyard, Clone 115, Block E, RRV

The 2022 Great American International Wine Competition awarded this wine a Platinum medal. 2017 was marked by a generous vintage, with incredible Pinot Noirs produced in the Russian River Valley. Colors of medium bright red rubies. Perfume of cherry blossoms, musk rose, plums, spicy cherry pie, some nutmeg, and toasty oak, with sort of a Russian River wildness to it. The smell of the river environment at dusk when it’s still, a kind of herbal vegetal greenness that is the Riparian zone. So much going on here—yum! The palate bursts forth with a richness of black cherries, cola, rhubarb, green tea, and juiciness. All with a touch of forest floor, which is a kind of sensory bridge between aromatics and taste. Beautifully laced together with toasty oak and supple tannin interplay on the tongue. Just plain ol’ delicious. I can’t think of all the descriptions there are—each to their own on this. Complex is the word, changes minute by minute. Divinity’s creation. Ready to drink now or cellar for a few more years. Goes well with Chinese spiced foods, or just drink it on its own.