2012 Horseshoe Vineyard Pinot Noir
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Tasting notes
A ripe, layered effort that took plenty of air time to come together (I followed all of these wines over two days), the 2012 Pinot Noir Horseshoe Vineyard offers gorgeous cherry and raspberry-like notes to go with ample spice-box, dried flowers and smoky characteristics on the nose. Medium to full-bodied, seamless and elegant, it has solid mid-palate density, bright acidity and a big finish. This seemed slightly soft right on opening, but when I came back to the bottle a few hours later, it has come together brilliantly. This beauty should be at it's best from 2017-2027+.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
400 m from Alpine Vineyard but very different – protected from ocean winds and on a ridge of sedimentary shale called Monterey formation . Very intense and bold yet tightly laced. Almost fizzy. Great excitement and richness. (JR)
Once again there is an all but invisible touch of wood setting off the cool, elegant and complex nose that is composed of dark cherry, raspberry, floral, tea and spice nuances. There is a lovely sense of energy to the well-delineated and beautifully refined flavors that possess a dusty mouth feel before terminating in a balanced and delicious finish that is subtly persistent. Here too there is a subtle hint of warmth but it is sufficiently slight that is does not affect the overall sense of harmony. *Outstanding*
Ruby-red. Explosively perfumed cherry-cola, dark berry liqueur, incense and mineral aromas show superb clarity and depth, with a sexy floral quality building with air. Offers palate-staining black raspberry and spicecake flavors that become sweeter and deeper with air. This rich but strikingly lithe and tensile pinot deftly plays power and depth off of vivacity and finishes sweet, youthfully tannic and extremely long. One of the most impressive pinots I've tasted from the New World, or Burgundy for that matter, in quite a while.