My favorite of the two Pinots, the 2012 Pinot Noir Radian Vineyard comes from miniscule yields of 0.57-0.88 tons per acre and was completely destemmed and aged 15 months in 22% new French oak. Bottled un-fined and unfiltered, it’s a smoking effort that offers fabulous concentration and richness to go with earthy blackberry fruit, ground herbs, crushed rock and tinges of sweet oak. Medium to full-bodied as well as thrillingly textured and layered, it stays classy and focused from the start to the finish. It’s hard to resist now, but will evolve gracefully through 2022.
This is a beautiful set of new releases from Dragonette, and they excelled with both their Pinot Noirs and Rhone blends.
Tel. (805) 737-0200; www.dragonettecellars.com