Holdredge Russian River Pinot Noir

The personality of Pinot is a bit of a chameleon: it can show certain aspects one day, and the next day seems a completely different wine. I’ve lost count of the number of times I tasted a wine from barrel and had to check to confirm I wasn’t mistaken about what I was tasting because it was so different than the last time through. It’s not at all uncommon for me to love a wine one day, and a few days later hate it (although Carri might suggest the personality in play is just as much mine as the wine’s). A running joke is that we hope to bottle on a day I like the wine. Usually, our blending trials for this wine are done by early March – and though we may tweak it slightly, later on, the blend is pretty much set. But as March gave way to April and then May, I felt the wines had changed dramatically, so much that for the first time in our history, we literally started over with new blending trials. And we kept doing trials, literally until we finally reached consensus about two weeks before we bottled. No matter what approval Carri gives (and hers is the one that counts), I’m almost always left wondering what we could do to make it even better. Not in 2018; I never had another doubt about it. Unsurprisingly, the final blend reflects the story of place. It is very much Russian River Pinot Noir – red and black fruits, floral and spice notes, a balance between showing richness and keeping focus, nice mid-palate weight, and the overall elegance I expect from this wine. As always, it’s very versatile with food – and paired with grilled pork tenderloin and Moroccan spices a few nights ago it was amazing. The 2018 reminds me quite a bit of the 2004; which we opened a week ago, and is still youthful and very nuanced. I think this is going to be a wine that can be enjoyed for the next 7-9 years, and quite likely well beyond that time. 93 Points- Jeb Dunnuck