Thin garnet–practically orange.  Big gobs of decadent sweet caramel and coffee, cream cheese, dulce de leche, marzipan slathered on fat slabs of oak.  Tarnished silver in a bath and a little *inside of Harbor Freight* add a peppery edge to the nose.  I know nothing about this winery or wine, but I run probably better than .500 on Monterey Co Pinots–a bit higher with SLH of course, but this is just a general “Monterey Co”.  However, at this P-P, there SHOULD be some fairly serious quality built in to it.  Easily one of the thinnest PN’s I’ve opened in a while–and the whole package is concentrated and jammy and… well… YUMMY.  Not a syrah-like yummy though–this is no Belle Glos–this is pure Pinot through-and-through, with great little funky earth and root touches–just no Euro-funk, no green, no barnyard.  Everything is warm and full and round–and the oak keeps piling off it.  In the mouth, just as warm and round as you expected, rich deep and round but still not crazy-extracted.  Vanilla icing on cherry cake but tempered with more silver-spoon, some eucalyptus and a nice peppery bite like good Olive Oil mid-late.  A beautiful wine–not completely MY style of Pinot–I like a little more ‘shit’, some issues–but certainly something a LOT of wine-drinkers and even Pinot fans can certainly get behind.  Soft tannins–really just  a little heat carries you off and away.
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2011 METZ ROAD Pinot Noir Monterey Co Riverview  13-8