2019 Joseph Phelps Vineyards Freestone Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, USA (750ml)

WINEMAKER’S NOTES:

The 2019 Pinot Noir opens with intensely floral aromatics of red fruit, dried savory herbs and violets. A viscous, layered wine with balanced acid and tannin structure, jammy boysenberry, baking spice, and sour cherry notes linger to a complex finish.

TASTING NOTES:

The 2019 Pinot Noir Freestone Vineyards takes time to open, metamorphosing from iron and woodsmoke to raspberries, dried flowers, dark spices and aniseed. The medium-bodied palate is silky and seamlessly fresh, loaded with perfectly ripe, earth-laced fruits whose flavors linger for a very long time in the mouth. This has the fruit intensity and structure to age very well in bottle.

– Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, 96 pts.

Blueberry and spice with lightly toasted notes and some nuts. Full, yet very tight, with refined tannins and polish. Linear and long. Intense and vivid. A beauty. This needs time to open. Try after 2022.

– James Suckling, 95 pts.

Lastly, the 2019 Pinot Noir Freestone Vineyards reveals a medium ruby, semi-opaque hue to go with stunning notes of ripe black cherries, black tea, spice, and a distinct, racy, reductive, mineral nuance that builds with time in the glass. Beautifully textured, nicely structured, and balanced, it’s going to cruise for 5-7 years, if not over a decade, in cold cellars.

– Jeb Dunnuck, 94 pts.