2011 Pinot Noir, La Crema, Anderson Valley, Mendocino

Upon pouring the wine displays the signature, delicate, pale-ruby colour which many will identify as fine pinot noir. There's a lovely note of maturity on the nose manifesting itself as aromas of leather, tea leaf and wood-smoke wrapped around a core of red berry fruit.

The palate offers a swathe of delicate, sweet blackberry, with a hint of blueberry and spice, the fruit is punctuated by a notes of sweet oak which rounds off the finish. The tannins are fine, perfectly integrated and sit on the mid-palate allowing the a medley, akin to a summer fruit compote, laced with elegant, exotic spice to hang on the palate for an obscene amount of time.

Perfectly mature and ready to deliver much drinking pleasure, but with the structure and complexity to develop further in the bottle, I have no doubt that those gamey, earthy nuances that lovers of pinot noir crave will emerge in the coming years but it's just so pleasurable as-is that I really don't see it lasting that long.