McIntyre Vineyards Winemaker Series Pinot Noir by Don Van Staaveran 2021
McIntyre Vineyards Winemaker Series Pinot Noir by Don Van Staaveran 2021
14.4% alcohol, cork, Santa Lucia Highlands, California.
This was grown on a Pinot Noir vineyard that is now over 50 years old, which is remarkable in both New World terms (in general) and in Santa Lucia Highlands AVA terms in particular
It’s a powerful Pinot Noir offering woodsmoke, reductive notes, layers of macerated cherries, chicory and woodsy spice characters. The firm, spicy, smoky tannin has a genuine flex to it, and at all points this wine feels polished, not to mention impressive. I tasted this at dinner, which is an ideal/not ideal way to assess wine, particularly when there’s a number of wines on the table. My final words, in my notes, were “clarity of vision” which, in the cold light of day, don’t entirely make sense to me. The score I wrote was 92-93 points.
