La Crema Winery
Pinot Noir
Sonoma Coast
Healdsburg, California
2004
13.5%
$19.95 -- Total Wine, Durham, NC
Color: Medium strawberry
Nose: Cherry, cassis
Body: Medium
Front: Cassis
Middle: Smoke
Back: Blueberry and cognac, cedar sawdust
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork
I've been spoiled lately, by virtue of drinking two of the best American Pinot Noirs I've ever had: Red Car's Amour Fou and Daedalus's Labyrinth. But this isn't bad--it's got earthy notes in it, a little smoky in the middle, which tempers the fruitiness beautifully. I like a little imbalance in my pinot, apparently, and this is as even-tempered as an IBM service representative. But it's also just as competent. I have a feeling that, like good service representatives, it's benefited from age; it certainly got better with about a half-hour of air.
