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2009 Manchester Ridge Mendocino Pinot Noir

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As I write this I am sitting in a house on the North Umpqua River in central Oregon. I have just tasted about a dozen Pinot Noir wines from Oregon, California, Chile, Burgundy. This in the company of some fellow winemakers and grape growers, all in the interest of educating ourselves. And, as always, the question arises—what is the truest expression of Pinot Noir? I have argued until I am blue in the face that not everyone in California makes Pinot Noir that tastes like Syrah, and this wine demonstrates what an honest California Pinot can taste like. Yes, we get ripe grapes. This wine is over 14% alcohol, at 14.3%. And yes, the color is pretty dark. Not Cabernet dark, but definitely darker than rose. But the aromatic expression is pure and fresh and the wine, as I wrote a couple of years ago about the 2007 Manchester Ridge, dances across the tongue. It shares some traits with Anderson Valley Pinot, with some dark fruit, earth and spice notes, lively on the palate. Nobody would be likely to mistake it for Burgundy, but I think it is balanced, aromatic, and true. Comfortable in its own skin, you might say, and very much a product of place, not “winemaking.” In wine, as in life, I have always believed that honesty is the best policy. May it always be so.

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