2004 Patz & Hall Pisoni Vineyard Pinot Noir

[dananne]

Santa Lucia Highlands.

This was the wine that garnered so much press recently. Totally unwarranted. Heat from the utterly ridiculous 15.8% alc. completely blows away any positive characteristics this might have. Totally overblown and out of balance, and Parker is a wack job if he thinks this is "Burgundian-styled." WS is no better, giving this a 95, and showing the value in critic's ratings. And, it's not like I feel that, given a few years, this would round into something decent. It's so out-of-whack right now that it couldn't possibly age well. If it didn't set me back $70, I'd pour it down the drain. I'd like to think it's just me, and that others must see something that my uneducated palate is missing, but I drink quite a bit of Pinot Noir, and (if I might say so myself) pretty well regarded Pinot at that. This stunk. Anne felt largely the same about it, BTW. When asked for comment, she said, "It's too &%#@* hot."

Ugh. Not a good way to start off the new year.