I love getting excited by wine and, since I have a lot
of wine in my life as a professional wine writer and wine judge, I don’t get excited
by a lot of what I sample (sadly). But then I stumbled across a cool little
number, in this case the 2012 Solomon
Hills Pinot Noir from Rusack
Vineyards, in Santa Barbara - one of those wines that stopped me in my
tracks. There are beautiful mature fruits of blackberry, black cherry,
pomegranate and plum with a slight cola and a mild acidity. Seamlessly it
pervades the palate and is as gentle as the Solomon Hills themselves (that you can see from Highway 101 in
Santa Maria), which I have actually harvested under the tutelage of Norm Yost
of Flying Goat Cellars, (another terrific
Pinot Noir producer) yet with an under-carriage of strength and firmness. This
wine offers one of those great treats; it’s so good you drink too much of it
too quickly and too late to realize the bottle is empty. It also has that
indescribable element - that can’t put your finger on why something is so
compelling. Aged for just 11 months and limited to a mere 240 cases, this is a
keeper, a wine to enjoy throughout the year, one that will remind you why Pinot
Noir can be so elusive, enjoyable, and enigmatic. RUSACK
ORIGIN: Solomon Hills, Santa
Maria Valley, Santa Barbara
PRICE: $45 / 750/ml
ALCOHOL: 14.1%
BOOZEHOUNDZ SCORE: 91
POINTS
No comments:
Post a Comment