Brilliant clear garnet with bricking edges.  Big mint and licorice, oak and sweet cherry with extremely mild minerality.  Just a touch of briar–eucalyptus maybe–and more mellow polished perfectly balanced richness.  Damn I love this Pinot.  An absolutely quintessential American Pinot Noir with a decade of polish under its belt.  And showing no signs of slowing down.  In the mouth, a zesty salsa storm bitter and brackish and lively and syrupy all at once.  A certain acrid highnote carries all the super-ripe fruit through while the nose provides all the barnyard and funk.  Thin and still on the palate but with elegance hard to beat with a Burgundy stick.  Pale dreary sharp tannins STILL frequent the finish.  You would be hard-pressed to find a better example of 30-dollar CA pinot at ten years.  I drink a ton of 30 dollar pinots and a fair amount under the duress of age.  THIS is the bargain of the decade.  I wish I had another case.  14-7!!!  ♦♦