Wine Each Week – 2017 Wrath Swan/828 Pinot Noir

Monterey Country excels at Pinot Noir. This fact is indisputable. Exactly what type of Pinot you prefer is another matter. And that’s because there are more clones of Pinot Noir than of any other wine grape variety, and, not surprisingly, most are from France. At present nearly 100 Pinot Noir clones are registered in California. Wrath has chosen wisely. This bottling of half Swan clone and half clone 828, results in bright expressive notes of black cherry, blueberry, boysenberry, with back notes of rose water, pomegranate, cola and Bing cherry compote. It is the Swan that provides the floral component, which is one of the reasons Swan can be so compelling as it is here, offering a richness in the mid palate. They used French oak - 40% of that was new – and the wine was aged for 11 months, then bottle aged another year. Truly an astounding price for a wine of this quality, I highly recommend this. Just 500 cases were produced.

ORIGIN: Monterey, California

ALCOHOL: 14.3%

PRICE: $35/ 750ML

SCORE: 94 POINTS

WRATH

One Niner Niner!

I love Syrah. I make no apologies about that - it can make a terrific wine. It is however often grown in the areas that do not suit it best, typically for me warmer climates, which tend to produce thin, watery wines with too much acidity and tepid fruit. Syrah is known in the wine industry as “vigorous” (which means it grows quickly and produces a bunch of fruit, actually too much) which if you’re looking for yield, you've got it. But the best Syrah’s tend to be farmed by dutifully controlling the vines and pruning, lots of pruning, to maximize the flavors in fewer clusters. The 2012 Niner Wine Estates Syrah from Paso Robles has beautiful nose notes of blackberry, rich raspberry, black cherry and blueberry components flanked by my old friend oak and a sweet vanilla, the fruit coming from, surprisingly, the Westside of Paso Robles. It’s been aged in barrel for 19 months (70% French oak, 20% Hungarian and 10% American so it’s a student of the world, if you will), which some may decry as being too heavy-handed since the oak treatment is quite obvious here. But this one works for just the sheer unadulterated joy and pleasure of drinking wine, and isn’t that the point anyhow? The voluminous flavors and scents on this will not only surprise you, but you’ll end of drinking this so quickly because it tastes so damn superb. Therefore, you should consider getting at least two bottles. NINER WINE

ORIGIN: Paso Robles, California

PRICE: $30 - 750/ml

ALCOHOL: 14.8%

BOOZEHOUNDZ SCORE: 89 POINTS