2006 Saintsbury Carneros Pinot Noir

[dananne]

An acquaintance at Saintbury gave us a wonderful personal tour and tasting when we visited the winery last summer. At the time, we put together a mixed case for later shipment. In it, there are some staggeringly good single-vineyard Pinots, such as the Stanly Ranch and Brown Ranch from Carneros and the Cerise from Anderson Valley. However, those need some serious resting time for them to become what they will become (frankly, they'll probably need more bottle age than the typical domestic PN). While we're waiting on those, we filled out the case with several wines that could be enjoyed sooner, such as the Garnet Pinot and this regular Carneros bottling.

This one shows a bright, translucent ruby color. Bright aromas of a basket of freshly-picked red berries. Bouncy, lively, juicy raspberry and strawberry on the entry, with a ringing acidity that makes it seem light and refreshing. Very subtle dusting of vanilla and earthy, loamy notes on the finish, but this is a fruit wine, not an earth wine. It actually seemed sort of like a hefty Beaujolais, perhaps somewhat like a Chiroubles. Given a few years, this would likely mellow, the acidity will tone down, and it'll become more silky and Pinot-like. However, that doesn't mean it can't be enjoyed right now. Indeed, it was a fun drink. Alc. 13.5%. Would usually run about $34, though we got it with an industry discount (sweet!).