A dazzlingly good Pinot Noir. Hard to exaggerate the precision of flavor and structure. Shows the massively ripe character of the vintage, with a starburst of raspberries, cherries, cola, minerals and spices, while the acidity and tannins are just about perfect. This crowd pleaser is just extraordinary now, and should develop in the bottle over the next six years. ——S.H.(3/1/2011)—— 95

Here’s a big, rich, thick Pinot that almost seems more like a southern Rhone wine, it’s that dark and full-bodied. The flavors are ripe and jammy, of pie-filling black cherries, black raspberries, cola, anise and smoky oak.——S.H.(3/1/2009)—— 88

Irresistible is the word that comes to mind to describe this Pinot, which is available only in magnums. The vintage was California’s finest ever, and the wine shows spectacularly ripe red currant, cherry, tangerine zest, licorice and beef jerky flavors, with just the right touch of smoky oak. Yet the structural balance of acidity and fine tannins gives it the perfect architecture. Best now in its flashy youth and for the next 4 or 5 years.——S.H.(9/1/2008)—— 96