The 2010 Pinot Noir Sierra Mar wafts from the glass with sweet dark cherries, flowers, mint and sweet herbs. The Sierra Mar impresses for its delicate, sensual texture and sweet inner perfume, but at the same time, it doesn’t quite have enough pure depth to balance some of the more herbal notes. The wine does flesh out a bit on the finish with time in the glass. This is a strong effort in a challenging vintage for third-leaf fruit in a newly developed site. I have high hopes for the future for this bottling. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2015.
Roar is another small, family-owned winery in the Santa Lucia Highlands turning out gorgeous Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs. Headed by Gary and Rosella Franscioni, Roar makes a number of intense, perfumed wines that stand out for the purity of their fruit. The 2010 Pinots can’t quite match the seductiveness of the 2009s, but they are solid efforts within the context of the vintage. The Franscionis planted their first vineyard in 1996, and what they have been able to accomplish since then is truly remarkable.
Tel. (831) 675-1681; www.roarwines.com