Pinot Noir
YEAR    WINE/DESCRIPTION    PRICE
2009    Calera Central Coast Pinot
"It may well be the single finest value in American Pinot Noir," The Wine Advocate. WA 92 pts.
   $22.95
2009    Evening Land Seven Springs Vineyard Eola-Amity Hills Pinot Noir
WS 92 pts.
   $39.50
2009    Kosta Browne Koplen Russian River Valley Pinot Noir
WS 94 pts.
   $159.00
2009    Knez Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Peter Knez recently bought the Demuth and Cerise Vineyards and brought on Anthony Filiberti, of Ant Hill Farms, as the winemaker. Great vineyards combined with talented winemaking results in something very special in the bottle. This 2009 combines fruit from both Demuth and Cerise. Lovely floral and cranberry nose, medium-bodied, peaty, earthy, great fruit and intensity, very nice acid. If you are a Pinot lover on the lookout for that next hot Pinot producer, check out Knez. You could say you were ahead of the curve. Killer pricing on this as well.
   $29.95
2009    Rochioli Sweetwater Russian River Valley Pinot Noir
WS 95 pts.
   $155.00
2009    Sea Smoke Botella Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir
   $89.00
2009    Sojourn Cellars Gap's Crown Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
WA 93 pts, Pinot Report 95 pts.
   $47.95
2008    Brewer-Clifton Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir
RP 93 pts.
   $35.90
2008    Molnar Family Poseidon Vineyard Pinot Noir
RP 90 pts.
   $25.95
2008    Samsara Melville Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir
RP 94 pts.
   $44.95
2008    Sea Smoke Botella Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir
   $95.00
2008    Kosta Browne Koplen Russian River Valley Pinot Noir
WS 95 pts.
   $169.00
2008    Waterstone Carneros Pinot Noir
The 2008 Waterstone Carneros Pinot Noir lives up to the reputation of this fine brand, quality in the bottle at a tremendous price point. This wine has aromas of cherries and cocoa. There is a nice earthiness on the palate with a good attack. Red and black fruits abound, with hints of cola and nutmeg. The wine has good grip and will continue to improve in the bottle.
   $19.00
2007    Harrington Gap's Crown Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
Serendipity plays a large role in unearthing new wines. I dropped by a colleague's recently to find him in the middle of a wine tasting. He immediately whips out a glass and introduces me to Winemaker Bryan Harrington. I've been through this drill before and usually I have to make nice nice as I taste the wines and then slink out the door with a business card that I throw in the circular file. Not so on this day. Bryan Harrington has been producing Pinot Noir since the 2002 vintage, yet this was the first time I had run across these wines. He makes his wine right here in San Francisco. I was impressed by his vineyard selection, but wowed even more by what he poured in the glass.What a perfumed black cherry and cinnamon nose! I was seduced from the first swirl. Black cherries and sugar plums predominate with hints of allspice, cedar, and white flowers. This wine has terrific body with nice weight, complexity, and length. If Gap's Crown sounds familiar to you, it's because Kosta Browne makes a single-vineyard bottling from here. Pinot Report 92 pts, Connoisseurs' Guide 92 pts.
   $34.95
2007    Kosta Browne Koplen Russian River Valley Pinot Noir
WS 96 pts.
   $179.00
2006    Aubert UV Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
RP 94-96 pts.
   $289.95/magnum
2006    Marcassin Marcassin Vineyard Pinot Noir
RP 96 pts.
   $265.00
2006    Williams-Selyem Westside Road Neighbors Pinot Noir
IWC 93 pts.
   $95.00
2005    Kosta Browne Keefer Russian River Valley Pinot Noir
WS 95 pts.
   $180.00
2005    Martinelli Blue Slide Ridge Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
RP 95 pts.
   $199.00
2005    Rochioli Little Hill Pinot Noir
RP 93-95 pts.
   $139.00
2004    Kistler Cuvee Catherine Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
RP 94-96 pts.
   $179.95
2004    Kosta Browne Koplen Russian River Valley Pinot Noir
WS 96 pts.
   $194.95
2004    Martinelli Blue Slide Ridge Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
ST 93 pts.
   $199.00
2003    Kosta Browne Cohn Russian River Valley Pinot Noir
WS 92 pts.
   $148.95