The 2024 Estate Pinot belongs with steak or pork tenderloin, grilled game birds, and hard cheeses. Loin of lamb, Lamb chops, Filet Mignon, veal chop, veal scallopini with mushroom sauce, pasta with Bolognese sauce, charcuterie, hamburger, Kalbi, Bulgogi. Teriyaki, Vietnamese shaking beef, Morel or Porcini risotto. Rack of Lamb with Provençale herbs. Venison, boar and antelope steaks or in a Bourguignon-type stew. Experimentation is welcome!

The fruit was sorted in the vineyard, hand-picked, then wild-yeast fermented in medium sized concrete and stainless-steel tanks. The Estate Pinot 2023 has no whole cluster for the first time since we began. The grapes are sorted first in the vineyard and then by hand and machine at the crushpad, with only whole berries being selected for fermentation. Bins of destemmed whole berries are carried by forklift to the fermenters. Fermentation is spontaneous with wild yeasts as is malolactic. Primarily the cap is maintained by pumpovers, but one or two punch downs are done by traditional pigeage towards the end of primary fermentation, as needed. After fermentation, the Estate Pinot Noir 2024 is aged in a combination of 26% new and 74% old French oak barriques for 12 months and six in tank, prior to bottling.

94 pts. A really nice balance of earth and fruit on the nose. Lots of savory, herbal, forest aromas mixed with wild berries, rose petals, slate and minerals. Medium-bodied with flavors of tart blackberries, raspberries and tangerine rind. Drink or hold. Courtney Humiston, JamesSuckling.com