If you go to your local wine shop and look through the domestic Pinot Noir the Benton-Lane Winery label is sure to get your attention. The postage stamp image is eye catching and has a classic look. I recall it grabbing my eye years ago. After reading a bit about the wine I ended up picking up a bottle the next time I ran across it. Benton-Lane Winery is a Willamette Valley Oregon producer that makes mostly Pinot Noir. There were founded by Steve and Carol Girard in 1988 and their first vintage was 1992. They have 138 acres under vine which are sustainably farmed. Benton-Lane Winery produces around 30,000 cases per year. Today during The 12 Days of Pinot Noir I’ll look at one of their small production Pinot Noirs.

The 2006 Benton-Lane Pinot Noir – First Class is made only in vintages where a particular lot of wine stands out. This offering is of course 100% Pinot Noir with 4 clones represented (Pommard, 114, 115, and 777). All the fruit is from the Benton-Lane Estate Vineyard. Barrel aging was accomplished over 16 months in French oak. This offering also spent 6 months in bottle prior to release. 684 6 bottle cases of this selection were produced and the suggested retail price is $60.

Cherry, plum, and hints of earthy, meaty mushroom fill the generous nose of this Pinot Noir. Wild Strawberry, rhubarb, cherry, raspberry and blackberry are all prominent parts of the palate along with subtle dark plum and leather notes. Dusty cocoa and sour cherry lead the finish followed by tremendous earth, chicory notes and an absolutely terrific (gloriously so) mineral component. The finish is impressively lengthy and echoes on your taste buds long enough to make it seem like it never wants to let go. This wine has terrific overall structure and bracing acidity.

First Class is a great name for what amounts to a reserve style Pinot Noir. This is an excellent wine that drinks quite well now, particularly after an hour in the decanter, and will evolve nicely over the next 3-4 years and drink well for at least 5 after that. This offering is well worth making an extra effort to acquire.

Benton-Lane Winery also makes a larger production Estate Pinot Noir which retails for $26. I’ll be taking a look at it in one of my upcoming columns at Bullz-Eye.com.

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Over the last few years I’ve become very fond in general of the wines from Clos LaChance. Their focus on high quality fruit, combined with a multi-tiered approach that offers cuvée style wines as well as single vineyard and sometimes block designates is conceptually appealing. But more importantly they execute very well on that idea and are an excellent producer for a wine lover who wants multiple options at different price points. This is fun for comparative tasting as well as it is for those who may start drinking at a general tier and eventually move on to higher end wines. Having a reliable producer you know to purchase a bottle aimed at a special occasion or gift is also important. Taking that into account, it certainly made sense for me to taste some wines from Clos LaChance for The 12 Days of Pinot Noir.

The first selection is the Clos LaChance 2007 Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir. This wine is produced exclusively from Santa Cruz Mountains fruit. Barrel aging was accomplished over 14 months in French oak; 40% was new, 60 % was used. 1,960 cases of this offering were produced and the suggested retail price is $32.

A lovely black cherry hue makes an impression when this wine is poured. The nose is loaded with aromas of wild strawberry and vanilla gelato. Crushed red and black fruit along with light mushroom and nutmeg spice notes make up the palate. Black tea leaves, sour cherry, dusty earth, light espresso notes, cinnamon, cardamom and touches of cola make up the generous finish of this Pinot Noir. Fine tannins and firm acidity frame this offering. It drinks quite well on its own and will pair with roast pork loin, grilled chorizo or a host of other foods.

The second selection is the 2006 Biagini Vineyard Pinot Noir. The fruit for this selection comes from Ted Biagini’s 11 acre vineyard. 4 clones of Pinot were planted there in 1998. Barrel aging was accomplished over 14 months in French oak. The suggested retail price for this selection is $50.

Dark fruit notes waft invitingly from the nose of this single vineyard Pinot Noir. Strawberry, raspberry and black cherry characteristics are all apparent in the palate along with an underlying hint of cranberry. White pepper, black tea, hints of licorice, cherry cola and chicory are all part of a long, lingering finish punctuated by spice notes until the very end. This Pinot has excellent structure and firm acidity.

What I really like about these wines is that they are each full flavored and balanced. This has been a hallmark of the Clos LaChance wines I’ve had and one of the things I look for and count on in their wines. Both of these selections will drink well for a number of years. The Biagini is particularly suited to aging and I expect it will improve over 6-7 years and drink well for several more after that. Clos LaChance has become a go to producer of fine wine for me. I hope you too give them a chance and I suspect you’ll find a winery that consistently produces lovely wines at a fair price.

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Day 4 finds The 12 Days of Pinot Noir making another stop in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Cinnabar Winery has a history there that dates to 1983. The name of the winery comes from the belief of 14th century alchemists that they could use the mineral Cinnabar to transform everyday metals into gold. Cinnabar Winery founder Tom Mudd applied that magical thought to winemaking. In total Cinnabar Winery produces approximately 17,000 cases per year. Incorporated in that are three lines or tiers of wines. Today I’ll look at two of their Pinot Noirs.

The Cinnabar Winery 2007 Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir is 100% varietal. The fruit for this selection was sourced at Sleepy Hollow Vineyard. This vineyard sits 400 feet above sea level and was planted in 1973. This wine was aged in small French oak barrels for 11 months; 40% of them were new. The suggested retail price for this selection is $35.

Dark cherry, raspberry and violets are all part of the nose of this Pinot; saddle bag aromas underpin the nose. The palate is loaded with a cornucopia of dark berry fruit throughout. Cherry, raspberry, blackberry and hints of prune abound. These are joined by flourishes of smoked meat. The lengthy finish is highlighted by truffle, charred oak and lingering mineral notes. This Pinot has tremendous acidity and excellent overall structure. Mushroom based dishes and lighter stews will be a perfect match for this wine.

The Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot from Cinnabar really opens up with some time in the glass or better yet a decanter. Time really allows it to express some of the subtler charms and layers that are hidden at first. A delicious Pinot that I would drink over the next 6 or 7 years.

The 2006 Cinnabar Winery Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir is also 100% varietal. All the fruit which was hand harvested is from Dijon clones. Oak aging was accomplished over a year in French oak; 50% of the barrels were new. Only 400 cases of this wine were produced and the suggested retail price is $36.

The first thing that was striking about the Santa Cruz Pinot is the nose being a bit brighter than the Santa Lucia Highlands selection. It’s still loaded with dark fruit notes, but a bit of candied cherry wafts through and makes it presence known. Cedar aromas also come out relatively prominently. Cherry, plum, raspberry and wild mushroom are all part of the solid core of flavor that makes up this Pinots palate. Hints of graphite, flint and earth emerge on the finish along with lingering spice such as nutmeg and cinnamon. firm tannins and excellent acidity frame this Pinot. Grilled lamb kebabs and similar mediterranean cuisine would be an excellent match for this Pinot.

The Santa Cruz Pinot is a bit bigger and a touch bolder than the Santa Lucia selection. Each of them is marked by excellent varietal character and both have tremendous, racy acidity making them classic choices to pair with a wide array of foods. They do drink nicely on their own, but these are food wines. Both will also perform quite well for a number of years and they represent fine values in a category (Pinot Noir) that has a lot of misses. These however are hits.

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A couple of years ago when I travelled to Willamette Valley in Oregon for the firs time there were several Wineries I had in mind to visit. Some were due to exceptional wines I’d had in the past and a few were based on reputation. As I made my way around for a week the recommendations started to pile up. One that was mentioned to me by several folks was The Four Graces. So towards the end of my week I made it over to visit them and was impressed with the quality of the wines. Thus they seemed like a natural to consider for The 12 Days of Pinot Noir.

Steve and Paula Black founded The Four Graces; they selected the name to honor their four daughters. They own two distinct vineyard sites, one in the Yamhill-Carlton District and the other in the Red Hills of Dundee. From these they craft Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and of course Pinot Noir. Today for The 12 Days of Pinot Noir I’ll look at two of their releases.

The Four Graces 2007 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir was produced mostly from fruit sourced at a combination of their Dundee Hills and Yamhill-Carlton vineyards. Aging was accomplished over 10 months in French oak barrels. 11,000 cases of this wine were produced and the suggested retail price is $29.

Wild blackberry, mushrooms and rhubarb are all part of the inviting, almost intoxicating nose of this Willamette Valley Pinot from The Four Graces. Blackberry is a continued standout through the rich palate where it takes on a savory edge. Forest floor, hints of pine and touches of graphite emerge and shine in the finish of this selection. This wine has lovely tannic structure and terrific acidity.

What stands out most to me about this Pinot is its overall combination of medium bodied, full flavored elegance. This is a fine example of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir which will pair well with a host of foods. I matched it up with Beef Stroganoff and thought it worked wonderfully.

The second selection I’m looking at from The Four Graces is the 2006 Dundee Hills Reserve Pinot Noir. This selection is produced from fruit sourced at their Black Family Estate in the Dundee Hills AVA. They craft the Reserve by selecting the best fruit from specific rows and blocks based on studying their vineyard from vintage to vintage. After 13 months in French oak of which 46% was new they put this wine together by selecting individual barrels. 7 months of additional bottle aging occurred prior to release. 2,755 6 bottle cases of this wine were produced and the suggested retail price is $42.

Lavender, blackberry and violets are prominent in the nose of this Reserve Pinot Noir. Taking the first sip it’s apparent this selection is a little tight out of the bottle. I decanted and let it breathe for about an hour which worked out perfectly. A combination of sweet and savory cherry, blackberry and plum are prominent throughout the intensely flavorful palate. A veritable potpourri of spice notes emerge at about mid-palate and continue forward through the finish; cinnamon, nutmeg and mocha are all part of the mix. Cherry cola and subtle ginger character emerges in the lengthy finish. Supple, velvety tannins and firm acidity are part of this wines excellent structure.

This Reserve Pinot is both powerful and elegant. That and the lengthy finish are the two most impressive hallmarks to me. This is an excellent value in Dundee Hills Pinot Noir. It’s delicious now but will certainly improve over the next 3-4 years and drink well for 4-5 after that.

Both of these Pinot Noirs are fine examples of the generally wonderful things being done with Pinot Noir in Willamette Valley. Look for more selections from this region as The 12 Days of Pinot Noir continues.

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The Santa Cruz Mountains figures prominently in the next stop for The 12 Days of Pinot Noir. While the current site of the Bargetto Winery has been in the family since 1918, the family had already been in the business for several years in the San Francisco area. Currently the third generation is at the helm making wine and running the operation. That makes them the oldest continually run winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Their 40 acre Regan Estate Vineyards is sustainably farmed. Sustainable practices continue outside of the vineyard and all the way through production. Pinot Noir plays a serious role at Bargetto Winery and I’m going to look at three of their Pinots. Two are consecutive vintages of their Santa Cruz Mountains, and the third their current release Reserve Pinot Noir.

The 2006 Bargetto Winery Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir has 5%Petite Sirah blended in. Fruit was sourced from five Santa Cruz Mountains vineyard sources; over 59% was from their Regan Estate Vineyard. The Petite Sirah was sourced in Lodi. This wine spent 10 months in French and American oak of which 20% was new. The suggested retail price for this wine is $25.

The 2006 Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot from Bargetto has a classic cherry red hue. Violets, vanilla and lots of cherry fill out the nose. Copious wild strawberries, nutmeg and subtle rhubarb are all part of the medium bodied palate. Sour cherry, continued nutmeg, and white pepper are all part of the lovely finish to this wine. Soft, yielding tannins are framed by solid acidity.

This is a delicious Pinot Noir which strikes me as a text book example of well made Pinot from Santa Cruz. Quite delicious on its own this wine would be a great one to serve with the varied foods at Thanksgiving.

The 2007 Bargetto Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir was just released to the public last week. The suggested retail price is $25.

From the outset everything about this wine is a bit bigger than the 2006. That starts with a darker, black cherry hue. Dark cherry, cocoa and cinnamon fill the nose. The palate is a bit heftier with slightly sweeter and significantly darker fruit notes. Black tea and mineral notes lead the finish which has savory elements to it as well. Compared to the 2006 this doesn’t have the sour cherry that one did. The tannic structure is tighter and firmer. The age difference is a factor but more than that I’m sure vintage variation plays a role.

If you’re going to drink this wine now, I’d decant it for an hour. It’ll be an excellent match for lamb chops or grilled Mediterranean cuisine in general. I’m impressed with the quality of both of these Pinot’s and the distinctions between them. In this price category wineries often follow a formula and shoot for a flavor profile instead of letting the grapes speak. It’s clear to me Bargetto is letting the land and the fruit speak in these releases. Tasting them side by side is a fascinating comparison that I highly recommend.

The final wine I’m looking at from Bargetto Winery is the 2006 Santa Cruz Mountains Reserve Pinot Noir. This selection is 85.1% Pinot Noir and the balance other varietals. Approximately 85% of the fruit is from Santa Cruz with the balance from Monterey County. Over 62% of the Pinot is from the Regan Estate. This wine was aged for 12 months in French, American and Hungarian Oak; 20% of it was new. Just 254 cases of this selection were produced and the suggested retail price is $40.

The nose of this Reserve Pinot is loaded with a combination of cherries and strawberries which are underpinned by violets and white pepper. The palate brings to mind a bowl of fresh sweet cherries. The fruit flavors lean dark with flourishes of red fruit peeking through from time to time. Leather, cigar box and sour cherry all emerge on the finish which is of significant length and shows off tingly spice and solid acidity. This Pinot has firm tannins which yield with some air.

What I like about this Reserve Pinot is that it’s a notch or two up the scale in both complexity and length from the non-reserve releases. That said when tasting these it’s possible to see the collective thread between them as well.

I must admit that it’s rare that I like a Pinot Noir that has other varietals blended in. Pinot seems like it most often expresses itself best on its own; I find the other varietals often detract from true Pinot character. However in these three examples from Bargetto Winery I must admit that the Pinot Noir shines through and the other varietals do not in any way detract. Each of these wines is delicious, distinct and also appropriately priced. I heartily recommend all three.

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The next stop for The 12 Days of Pinot Noir is one of several to the Santa Cruz Mountains. I’ve been sampling and ultimately drinking more and more wines from this region over the last few years. I’m happy to report that there are quite a number of wineries turning out excellent wine in this area. The common thread that sticks out for me in the better Santa Cruz Mountains selections I have tried is an outstanding purity of fruit.

The first selection I’m looking at from Santa Cruz Mountains during The 12 Days of Pinot Noir is 2006 release from Beauregard Vineyards. While Beauregard Vineyards wasn’t officially launched as a winery until 1999, the family has farmed the area for four generations. Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah are amongst the varietals they produce in addition to Pinot Noir.

The 2006 Beauregard Vineyards Pinot Noir is made from fruit sourced at Bald Mountain. This 38 acre parcel is their largest vineyard and has 9 acres planted to Pinot Noir. The suggested retail price for this wine is $45.

Vanilla and dark cherry that’s coated with a slight candied edge fill the nose of this Mountain Pinot Noir. Cranberries and pomegranate are prominent throughout the palate along with layers of raspberry and light flourish of forest floor. Hints of dusty baker’s chocolate and subtle but emerging earth notes lead the lengthy finish along with sour cherry, white pepper, and light cola notes. The tannins are generous and silky, framed by good acidity.

I found this selection from Beauregard Vineyards to be a beautiful expression of mountain grown Pinot Noir. Along the lines of my previous Santa Cruz experiences this wine has a purity of fruit that shines through. This wine is delicious now and will evolve nicely with some additional bottle age. My recommendation would be to lay it down for 2-3 years and drink it in the 5 years after that.

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So here it is after some anticipation, The 12 Days of Pinot Noir has arrived to welcome in October. Over the next 12 Days quite a few Pinots will be covered and recommended  here. But where to start? Back in July I was out at the Wine Blogger’s Conference and had the opportunity to taste a Chardonnay from an urban San Francisco Winery. That Chardonnay from Foggy Bridge made an impression and when I was rounding up wines to taste for possible inclusion in the 12 Days of Pinot Noir, I checked to see if they made a Pinot, and sure enough they do. So theirs will be the inaugural selection for this 12 Day Pinot Fest.

The 2006 Foggy Bridge Pinot Noir is made from fruit sourced at the well known Bien Nacido vineyard in Santa Maria Valley. This wine is 100% Santa Maria Valley fruit and all Pinot Noir. Oak aging was accomplished over 12 months in French (90%), and American (10%) oak. 426 cases of this selection were produced and the suggested retail price is $38.

Wild strawberries and bing cherry fill the nose of this wine along with touches of crème fraiche and vanilla bean. The palate which gently coats your taste buds is loaded with medium dark fruit; cherries dominate. These are joined by subtler mushroom and earth characteristics. Light chicory notes lead a lingering finish that also has cinnamon, chocolate and solid flourishes of sour cherry. Soft, supple tannins and good acidity round out this wine.

This Pinot Noir provides a ton of varietal character which is particularly important to note when there are a lot of examples out there that don’t. This wine is a classic case of a Pinot that will pair well with a wide array of food. Don’t hesitate to drink it on it’s own though as it’s delicious solo too.

If you want to read more about Foggy Bridge head over to my other site Drink Dry Creek where we recently wrote about their 2007 Zinfandel.

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