2009 Estate Pinot Noir - Zotovich Vineyards & Winery

Spiced dark cherry, fallen leaves, dried orange peel. Tart cranberry, shaved black truffle, bruised strawberry. Forest floor and fleshy mushroom, wilted lavender and potpourri. Reduced pomegranate, wild raspberry, and seasoned red plum lead a hauntingly ethereal and expansive attack filled with equal parts pretty fruit and gorgeous tertiary development. Dried flowers, tree bark, and pine cone contribute beautiful natural tones while curry, cumin, and briny green olive add a substantial dousing of umami. Iron, copper penny, and salt flakes chime in with brilliant earth rusticity that plays magically with old leather and gamy animale. Extraordinarily fresh, tart, and lively at 10 years of age, still bursting with bright acidity and some subtle tannin within its medium plus bodied frame. This 2009 Estate Pinot Noir by Zotovich Vineyards & Winery is an amazingly complex and tremendously interesting Santa Barbara Pinot with a bit of age.

While California Pinot Noir is often thought of as a wine to drink young history proves that many of the best examples can age and improve for decades. This bottling, crafted by Zotovich Vineyards & Winery using Pinot Noir sourced from their estate vineyard in the Santa Rita Hills, is an extremely compelling example of the merits of aging good California Pinot. At 10 years old this wine still contains plenty of deep and complex California fruit, yet that fruit is now seamlessly intertwined with fascinating earth and dazzling exotic spice. Age has done wonders here in creating an endlessly layered and unquestionably magical experience that should continue to morph and develop for at least another 10 years or more. An absolutely amazing and extremely impressive bottle.