Deep garnet, hazy and bricking. Big funky nose, a barnyard stench wonderful and earthy, breathing off to deep root-beer pie-spice and ripe cherry fruit. Toe-jam and BO coupled with sincere mascarpone and that high bretty nut of aged new-world pinot. Crisp menthol over-score base cherry nuances along cellar-floor ideals–a tinge of alcohol burn doing a Sharpie punctuation of wet cardboard along somewhat flabby glycerine toasted-almond lines.
In the mouth, a bitter green briar helps bring the slight burn back to pinot reality, but fruit is burnt and fading. Light miso brings the umami core into a realm of dried cranberry and still-vibrant tannins. This wine is doing the classic California/ripe-Oregon almost-ten-years-old thang. It is still so ripe, so decadent–but not in a Belle Glos, Twomey, En Route sorta way–a pure Santa Lucia Highlands, ridiculously fruit-driven sorta way. Still the kombucha/dried spit elevations run hot and heavy, making this a Pinot most California producers shy away from. Get it if you can find it.
2009 TUDOR Pinot Noir “Tondre Reserve’ Santa Lucia Highlands Monterey County 14.0
Stephen McConnell 