2016 Halcon Vineyards Pinot Noir Oppenlander Vineyard, USA, California, Mendocino, Wine Review

This is the first Pinot I have tried from Halcon, one of my favorite Rhone varietal producers. This is excellent. On the worldwide scale of Pinots it is on the larger size but certainly not for California. Purple in color with some ruby swirls. The nose has black cherries and sour cherries. Very nice. On the palate, this has a wonderful texture. The sour cherries carry thru to the palate with some baking spice. Lively acidity. Nice finish. This worked well with a Spanish Pasta dish and indeed, most pasta dishes would be great. My guess is this doesn't get better but should mature and drink well until 2030.

Grade:

A-

Score:

Vintage:

2016

Current Price:

$30.00USD

Top California Pinot Noir: Which California Wine Producers Make the Best Pinot Noir?

California has actually been making outstanding wines from the Pinot Noir grape for a long time. Sure, not long in the Burgundian sense but going back at least to the middle of the last century there were good bottles of Pinot Noir being produced in California. Not many to be sure, but there were some. Starting slowly, in the 1990’s, and then exploding when the movie Sideways came out, there are now more and more offerings of good to excellent Pinot Noir being produced in California.

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Sonoma's Must Try Pinot Noirs - 2015 Best of Sonoma

For the 2015 Best of Sonoma Lists we surveyed hundreds of local vintners asking for their inside perspective of the best wines, tasting rooms, and restaurants in Sonoma. Sonoma offers a wide range of pinot noir options—but some are simply too outstanding to miss. To help develop a list of the top of the top, we asked over a hundred of the top vintners in Sonoma for their own personal choice for the top Pinot Noir under $100 in the area, and the list is to die for.

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2016 Halcon Vineyards Pinot Noir Oppenlander Vineyard, USA, California, Mendocino, Wine Review

Vintage:

2016

Score:

Grade:

A-

Current Price:

$34.00USD

Nice to revisit this again. It has done nicely in the last couple of years. Purple in color with ruby swirls. The nose has black cherries and sour cherries with a bit of earthiness. Wonderful texture. On the palate, lots of cherries and black cherries and some sour cherries. This still has a bit more maturing until peak. Drink over the next ten to twelve years. Nice on its own, this would work well with roasted chicken.

Wines to Go Buy This Week: Sonoma Pinot Noir by La Follette, MacPhail, and Freeman

Since I wrote last week about how much I (used to) hate chardonnay , this week I am turning attention to the varietal I love: pinot noir. Friends and acquaintances frequently ask me for my favorite wine producers -and the list is long- so I am going to focus this week on my favorite Sonoma pinot noir producers. There are numerous producers of fantastic pinot in Sonoma so I'm sure I will get plenty of emails from people wondering how I could leave out so and so or who are incredulous that my recommendations exclude "less expensive" options. So let me respond in advance: The threshold for inclusion on this list is that the wine must be in regular rotation in my house and be the "go to" bottle of Sonoma Pinot Noir to serve to guests or to uncork to celebrate small victories (a concept I enthusiastically embrace..... life is too short not to celebrate good days with a fantastic bottle of wine. Who wants to die with a huge collection of great wine aging in the basement?). Must a good Sonoma pinot noir cost $40+? Of course not, though so often they do. With that said, the three wines to go buy this week are:

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2016 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Occidental Ridge Vineyard, USA, California, Sonoma Coast, Wine Review

Vintage:

2016

Score:

Grade:

B+

Current Price:

$80.00USD

This is a bigger wine than many of the Sonoma Coast Pinots, as such, it will perhaps, take a bit longer to mature. Purple in color with ruby swirls, mostly opaque and bright. The nose is very tight. Spice. With air, black cherries and slight sour cherries emerge. Great, lush texture. On the palate, cherries, coffee and slight sour cherries. This is either ripe or has a bit of residual sugar as it does come off almost sweet. Nice finish. These needs another seven to ten years in the cellar and it should come together beautifully. Right now, this is a Pinot for those who like them t

2016 Halcon Vineyards Pinot Noir Oppenlander Vineyard, USA, California, Mendocino, Wine Review

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Top California Pinot Noir: Which California Wine Producers Make the Best Pinot Noir?

Sonoma's Must Try Pinot Noirs - 2015 Best of Sonoma

2016 Halcon Vineyards Pinot Noir Oppenlander Vineyard, USA, California, Mendocino, Wine Review

Wines to Go Buy This Week: Sonoma Pinot Noir by La Follette, MacPhail, and Freeman

2016 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Occidental Ridge Vineyard, USA, California, Sonoma Coast, Wine Review