Benton-Lane First Class Pinot Noir

91 Points (JS) | 91 Points (WW) Before you taste this wine, check out the incredible color. It's a beautiful dark ruby red with a slight hint of blue - It reminds me of the beautiful tail light lenses on 1940's vintage cars. The aromas swirl around in the glass and blend together. The fruit notes are candied cranberry and cassis, then rich vanilla from the toasted white oak, and a rich earth or mushroom aroma. The wine is definitely full flavored, but without imposing tannins. The predominant flavors are cranberry and fig fruit notes on a mocha framework. The rose petal notes, sweet rich earth and fresh cracked pepper flavors seem to get along beautifully. Not the flash of tangerine in the finish. This is a youngster of a wine that will keep on showing us new stuff for a long, long time.