1999 Siduri Pisoni Vineyard Pinot Noir

[wondersofwine]

Well, you warned me that this was a heavily extracted wine. It was a bit too much for the baked ham with pineapple and brown sugar for our Easter dinner. It went better with the Cheshire (cheddar-type) aged cheese. I could even see it with wild game such as rabbit or wild boar although I don't cook those at home.
14.4% alcohol, dark purple color
I picked out dark plum on the nose and plum and brambleberries on the palate (the Wine Spectator description says ripe plums, black cherries and blackberries, spice and cedar) I thought it had a lengthy finish. It seemed to be more Burgundian in style than most California pinot noirs I've had. It was a balanced wine, tasty now but may have some aging potential.
I paid just under $50 each for the two bottles I bought, breaking my rule of not paying over $30 for a domestic wine. I really liked it a lot and will enjoy the second bottle (possibly with epoisse or boursin herb-coated cheese as Randy suggested) but I'm not sure I would buy again at that price (maybe on sale). I can buy a nice premier cru burgundy from Morey-St.-Denis region for $35-$50 so might prefer to spend my wine budget there.
Bucko mentioned some green, stemmy p.n. from Siduri in the past. I noted on the winery website that they admitted a problem with green stems and seeds in the 1999 harvest so compensated by destemming most of the grapes before vinifying. Seems to have worked with the Pisoni wine. In their notes on the 2000 harvest they say the stems and seeds were more mature at harvest and that flavors bode well for the 2000 wines. Ah, I may be tempted to try the 2000's despite the high price! Such is the seduction power of a good wine!
P.S. Forgot to mention that the Pisoni Vineyard is in Monterey's Santa Lucia region.

[This message has been edited by wondersofwine (edited 04-02-2002).]