2010 Pinot Noir Summa Vineyard
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Tasting notes
A ripe and moderately pitched nose of dark berry fruit, plum, dried flowers and spice nuances leads to rich, delicious and round medium-bodied flavors that possess fine depth on the succulent but focused and mouth coating finish. There is good mid-palate concentration and ample amounts of dry extract that imparts a real sense of volume to the backend. While there is already very solid complexity it seems reasonably clear that there is much more to come and though this presently suave and seductively textured effort could be drunk now with pleasure, I would advise cellaring it for at least 5 to 7 years first. *Outstanding*
Critic scores
The Wine Advocate
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
**Outstanding** Not surprisingly the nose is similar to that of the straight Summa cuvée though in this case it's a bit riper and more complex. There is excellent richness to the lush, even opulent flavors that possess the same outstanding depth as displayed by the nose. I very much admire the concentration as the mid-palate brims with dry extract that imparts a velvety texture to the impressively persistent finish. This clearly needs time to develop its full potential but it should be well worth the wait.
(10% whole clusters used here for the first time--for complexity, according to winemaker Thomas Brown): Good medium red. Wild spices, pepper and strawberry on the highly perfumed nose. Spicy on entry, then shows a distinct green edge that runs through to the slightly bitter finish. I don't find a lot of ripeness or texture here. Will the green element be absorbed with some time in bottle?
The 2010 Pinot Noir Summa Old Vines wraps around the palate with endless layers of dark red fruit, spices, licorice and leather. The 2010 boasts tons of depth and sheer richness, not to mention the muscle to age well in bottle for a number of years. I especially like the balance, inner perfume and texture on the finish. Incredibly, the fruit was harvested on October 20, very late by any standard. This is the first vintage that Rivers-Marie has owned Summa, but the site was purchased in September, so 2011 will be the first vintage the winery works the vineyard from the beginning of the year. (AG) 93+