2012 Peter Michael Pinot Noir Le Caprice

(50% new oak): Saturated ruby. Black raspberry, incense, rose oil and Asian spices on the nose, with a note of cola gaining strength with air. Sappy and concentrated, with sweet red and dark berry flavors becoming spicier with air. Finishes with impressive energy and lingering red fruit and floral pastille qualities that are unencumbered by tannins.

The deep ruby/plum-colored 2012 Pinot Noir La Caprice (1,440 cases) reveals aromas of rose petals, strawberries, raspberries, black currants and a hint of blueberries. This gorgeously rich, potentially complex Pinot Noir should drink well for 10-15 years. The Peter Michael estate has grown considerably with their vineyards in the Fort Ross-Seaview region of the Sonoma Coast region producing some remarkable Pinot Noirs, and their Chardonnay vineyards in Knights Valley having been at the top of the qualitative hierarchy for many years. Add to that their proprietary Bordeaux blend called Les Pavots, their remarkable Sauvignon Blanc and their Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blend. Additionally, they have purchased a great parcel of vines in the Oakville Corridor near the well-known Dalla Valle property. Owned by Sir Peter Michael, this estate has employed a bevy of brilliant winemakers over the years, the current being the two Morlet brothers from the Champagne district in France. Nick Morlet is employed full-time as the main winemaker, and his brother, Luc, consults at Peter Michael. Both have brought French savoir-faire and applied it to extraordinary vineyard sites to produce world-class wines of extraordinary richness, intensity and complexity. Readers looking for some of the best Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, Sauvignon Blancs, Sauvignon/Semillon blends, and Bordeaux proprietary red blends can do no better than the wines from the Peter Michael Winery. Since I had not visited this estate in several years, I asked to do a complete retrospective of the last three vintages of Chardonnay and the last four vintages of Pinot Noir. The result was one of the most remarkable tastings I experienced over the last several years. First, Nick and Luc Morlet gave me a summary of their vintages. They were staggered by the quality of 2013 after what was clearly a great vintage in 2012. The three previous years were among the most challenging in recent years. Following one of the hottest years they had ever experienced, 2008, 2009 produced a small crop because of a cool year, 2010 was another small crop because of some rain issues, and 2011 was the most difficult vintage since 1998. Extremely cool, with no heat spikes, the 2011's microscopic crop had to be harvested extremely late, with many vineyards not finished with their harvest until the end of October or early November. The brilliance and flexibility exhibited by the winemaking team at Peter Michael has brought in a treasure trove of wines that readers will adore. All of the following Chardonnays are bottled without fining or filtration. From the hillside stony soils of La Carriere, the three Chardonnay vintages I tasted have a kinship to a great Burgundy grand cru from Chevalier-Montrachet or Corton-Charlemagne because of the wines- minerality. I hope these notes persuade a lot of readers of just what an extraordinary winery owned by the visionary Englishman, Sir Peter Michael, sits up in Knights Valley. From the beginning, Peter Michael has made Pinot Noir from grapes purchased from the Pisoni Vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands, south of San Francisco. They also planted three manually cultivated parcels on incredibly steep sites on the second ridge in from the Pacific Ocean in the Fort Ross-Seaview area. These were planted with clonal material taken from famous vineyards in Vosne-Romanee as well as with the Calera clone from California-s Central Coast. Peter Michael has invested millions of dollars in this Pinot Noir project, and it appears to have finally reached pay dirt as these are some of not only California's, but the world-s greatest Pinot Noirs. Tasting through four vintages of the Pisoni Vineyard proves that this site seems to have far more irregularity and crop size variations than the Sonoma Coast sites. Tel. (707) 942-3200

Lusher, more expansive and savory, the 2012 Pinot Noir La Caprice (1,485 cases) possesses stunning richness, and is more approachable and exuberant than the 2013 with the vintage’s boisterousness and heady, intense fruit well-displayed. The color is a dense ruby/plum/purple, and the wine exhibits lots of red and blackcurrant, dark cherry and foresty notes. It, too, should drink well for 10-15 years.|||If one considers the total production of all the Peter Michael cuvées (which must be approaching 30,000 cases) and the diversity of their wines, including six cuvées of Chardonnay, four of Pinot Noir, three Bordeaux blends, and lastly Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, Peter Michael Winery may be the best-run winery of its size for world-class quality. There has been a succession of brilliant minds and craftspeople who have gone through these doors, from the early days with Helen Turley and Mark Aubert, to Luc Morlet and now his brother, Nicolas Morlet. Having followed these wines for nearly two decades, they seem to go from strength to strength, and the 2012s and 2013s may be the finest group of wines Peter Michael has ever produced. This is indeed high praise!|By the way, kudos to Sir Peter Michael for making the cover of The Wine Spectator, a long overdue recognition of his accomplishments.|| eRobertParker.com.December, 2014