2014 Estate Pinot Noir - La Encantada

Tart cherry, blooming lavender, barely ripe pomegranate. Fresh cranberry, fallen pine cone, fragrant orange zest. Chinese five spice and ground cardamom, damp leaves and brown mushroom. Young strawberry and tart rhubarb harmonize flawlessly with undergrowth, tobacco leaf, and soy sauce in an aromatic marvel of umami-driven complexity. Cherry blossom and delicate florals interject to provide beautiful perfume while forest floor, pine needle, and stemmy spice bring a natural edge. Cumin and nutmeg subtly interrupt along with saline ocean air and savory exotic spice ethereally wafting and wisping with the wind. Restrained, elegant, and remarkably Burgundian in character; bone dry and merely medium in body with soft tannin and nicely balanced acidity. This 2014 La Encantada Estate Pinot Noir is an amazingly classic, complex, and terroir-driven single vineyard red from Santa Barbara County.

Many terrific producers make absolutely incredible Pinot Noir from the La Encantada Vineyard, but perhaps the most important example comes from the estate itself. This bottling, crafted by La Encantada Estate using Pinot Noir sourced from their famed home vineyard, is an extraordinary example of how one of the best vineyard sites in the entire central coast expresses brilliant Santa Rita Hills terroir. While subtle, restrained, and a bit reticent upon opening this bottle absolutely explodes with life after about an hour of air. Its soil-driven charm and complex forest notes play perfectly with tart crunchy fruit, and it is put together in such a classic way that even the most experienced taster likely would not guess it as a California wine. Truly an outstanding bottle shaped from a genuine Santa Barbara Grand Cru