Assembled, but prior to what will have been unfiltered bottling, the 2004 Pinot Noir’s blackberry and elderberry inform a plush, fat, glycerin-rich palate, whose sheer sweetness of fruit is complemented by pungent smoke and faintly bitter walnut accents. The tannin here is polished, and a hit of raw woodiness does not too much disturb the finish of deep low-toned black fruits, moss and humus.Like many growers along the Danube, Gerard Malat began harvesting already in mid-September to insure some light-weight wines appropriate to summer, 2008 consumption, and finished at the end of October. From three sites in the Hohlgraben,Importers: Morandell Imports, Los Angeles, CA; tel. (310) 328-5010 and Rosalie Sendelbach Imports, New York, NY; tel. (212) 260-1870.