1998 Casa Carneros Los Carneros P.N.

[wondersofwine]

14.2% alcohol Forms legs on the glass. Purple with crimson glints. Not opaque but still somewhat dense. Nose of black cherries and other dark fruits. Invades the nasal passages as a welcome guest.
Chewy and rich mid-palate with black cherry and boysenberry flavors. Just delicious on its own but could be paired with duck or Cornish hen or rabbit. I did try it with Cheshire cheese and lightly breaded lemon chicken. It worked better with the chicken than with the cheese. 4+-lapper finish.
Definitely one of my favorite CA Pinot Noirs ever. Will have to compare the 2000 vintage of this with a 2004 Williams Selyem Russian River Valley P.N., perhaps in 2008.
Small production using eight different clones. Label proclaims extraction but this is still a balanced wine that shows no signs of fading at age eight. Winemaker is Melissa Moravec.
I have two bottles each left of the '98, '99 and '00. Will probably open another '98 Memorial Day weekend.

[TheEngineer]

Thanks for the notes! Starting to appreciate stuff coming out of this area more and more though I've got a long way to go to try them all.