2010 Sanguis Pinot Noir Loner R10 John Sebastiano Vineyard

There is considerable power and richness in the 2010 Loner Pinot Noir R10-A. Black fruit, smoke and licorice meld together nicely in this extroverted, super-ripe Pinot. This is nicely balanced within its style. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2016. These wines from Mattias Pippig are perplexing. There is no question Pippig is working with beautiful, high quality fruit. The whites and the young reds attest to that. While winemaking is in many ways complex and involves endless factors, I find the Sanguis reds more interesting when they are in barrel than after bottling, which suggests the wines may be spending too much time in oak. There is a trend in many parts of the world to give important red wines longer aging in barrel, but that is an approach that only works in a few select cases. This set of new releases also includes the Loner Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, which are single-variety wines rather than the blends favored at Sanguis. They are made in a similarly stripped down manner as the Sanguis wines, with no fining or filtration. Tel. (805) 686-3086

Showing beautiful, textbook Pinot Noir character, the 2010 Sanguis Loner Pinot Noir R10-a is 100% Pinot Noir, fermented with 30-40% whole cluster, that was aged all in neutral oak. Loaded with kirsch, white pepper, dried flowers, and underbrush aromas, this hits the palate with a medium-bodied, silky texture, juicy acidity, and a classically styled, focused and savory finish. While showing that California kiss of fruit and texture on the palate, this is borderline old aromatically. It should shine for a upwards of a decade.