Summa Vineyard Pinot Noir

First Summa Vineyard from my allocation. It is quite nice. Still needs a few years.

The body feels thicker than other Pinots I’ve had. Plum pudding, dry cranberries, poached strawberries, blackberries, black raspberries, highlights of pomegranate & blueberries, mix berry cola, licorice nibs, dry herbs, moist volcanic clay, limestone marl, dry twig, dry crushed rocks, some grilled meats, dry tobacco, used leather, barrel shavings, nutmeg, clove, cinnamon & vanillin, fresh & withering, dark, red, flowers, excellent round acidity and a well balanced, tensioned, structured with a well polished finish that lasts a minute.

Drinking really well at the moment. I popped and poured this, and while it could have used a 30min-1hr decant, it really came alive out of the bottle after the first glass.

My main thought here is how elegant this is. Not overpowering with fruit but certainly not thin in structure. Black cherries, plum, spiced rhubarb and some chamomile on the nose. The palate is open for business with a vein of acidity down the middle alongside underripe red and black fruits, herbal spice, black tea and some mint. I didn’t necessarily find some of that RM signature orange zest, but blood orange had its profile all over this in a restrained way. The way this bottle is trending, I could see this maybe showing a slight uptick in integration, but I’m hard pressed to say this will get better…just different. The only other 2016 RM Pinot I’ve had was Silver Eagle (darker, more rich than this Summa), so I wonder how the other Pinots are drinking…

Everything you expect, with an extra pop of acid and mint.

Not my favorite of the RM Pinot lineup - QPR goes to the Sonoma, IMO.. Plenty of red fruits but a bit dustier on the palate than I would prefer.

More lean and fruit backward than the typical RM. Still quite enjoyable.

Tremendous. What else can I say?

Best young Pinot I have popped in a long time. Maybe ever.

Over a 3.5 hour period on May 29, my wife and I (along with three kids in tow) had the pleasure of sitting down with Will Segui of Rivers-Marie and winemaker of his personal label William & Mary at the Mending Wall facilities in St. Helena to taste through seven wines from bottle. Will also graciously provided tastings of his 2016 and 2017 William & Mary varietals from barrel.

Drank after the 2016 Occidental Ridge; very different nose and palate; this is much more herbal and not quite as rich and powerful; the dark cherry fruit is more in-line with a nice herbal/stem/pine forest floor note as opposed to being the primary driver; this seems to be more heavily structured than the Occidental; still, a very smooth drinker right now; give it a couple of years

Excellent Pinot that gets better the longer it is allowed to open up. Love Rivers-Marie wines and this one lives up to the following this boutique winery has fostered.

Missed out on acquiring this wine in 15, and damn sure didn't want to miss out on the 16's. But, perhaps my desire for this one to be an extra year in the bottle deceived me a little. This wine has excellent structure and balance. The start is a medicinal, herbal dirty black cherry with a nice, balanced middle and acidic finish. But umm....yeah, this one isn't really ready to go yet. Still VERY drinkable. The Coravin found its way to the first glass, and then I asked myself just WTF I was thinking and opened the rest of the bottle (who am I kidding??). Hindsight? Leave this one alone for 2 years. Since I obviously won't be able to hold the other 2 for as long as they should, I'll have to stalk people who have this wine and beg for a pour.