2009 Sea Smoke "One Barrel" Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir
From the winery: "Each year we select the best barrel of our estate-grown Pinot Noir; every bottle of ‘One Barrel’ produced is from that single, special barrel. It is a unique combination of vintage, vineyard location, Pinot Noir clone and barrel cooper —never to be repeated. Two hundred and eighty prized bottles, from One Barrel."
A friend opened this wine for me. I had tasted Sea Smoke Pinot before, mostly “Ten”’s I think, but I had never even heard of this one. I believe it’s offered only to certain members of the mailing list, and then only one bottle at that. Nose is dominated by notes of eucalyptus and menthol with some fresh herbs tossed in for good measure. Pleasant enough palate of black cherry and cola. Decent finish. Not bad, but I can think of better Pinot to acquire for $150 a bottle (Marcassin, CIRQ and Boar’s View come to mind), and several that I would consider better for half that price (see Ferren and Kosta Browne for example). A well made wine. Simply not worth the price of admission for me.
2009 Sea Smoke "One Barrel" Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir
From the winery: "Each year we select the best barrel of our estate-grown Pinot Noir; every bottle of ‘One Barrel’ produced is from that single, special barrel. It is a unique combination of vintage, vineyard location, Pinot Noir clone and barrel cooper —never to be repeated. Two hundred and eighty prized bottles, from One Barrel."
A friend opened this wine for me. I had tasted Sea Smoke Pinot before, mostly “Ten”’s I think, but I had never even heard of this one. I believe it’s offered only to certain members of the mailing list, and then only one bottle at that. Nose is dominated by notes of eucalyptus and menthol with some fresh herbs tossed in for good measure. Pleasant enough palate of black cherry and cola. Decent finish. Not bad, but I can think of better Pinot to acquire for $150 a bottle (Marcassin, CIRQ and Boar’s View come to mind), and several that I would consider better for half that price (see Ferren and Kosta Browne for example). A well made wine. Simply not worth the price of admission for me.
May 4th, 2018
Sta. Rita Hills, Central Coast, California, USA
