Fairly dark, not-crystal-clear garnet. Smoky green smoldering leaf-pit, mosh-pit, and gravel-pit, heavy on the sweetened fabric of uncured olive, mushroom bedding, and roasted almond liqueur with plenty of raw meat dripping soy sauce under a sage and rosemary flog.

You’ve never smelled a pinot like this produced in California. Period end of conversation. Name one. Details are a little vague, website barely existent, maybe 100 cases a year from a couple acres of DRC cuttings in SCM. Sound like a match made in heaven? It did to me.

In the mouth, a shrill mineral acid cuts the concentrated fruit short, scraping everything with its sharp rasp. Everything goes immediately water-thin for the mid-clean-wash, before gobs of Comstock Cherry filling and powerful tannin vie for dominance in the leather, sawdust and weedy finish.

I’m not sure where this wine is going. It is either THE most brilliant take on New World Pinot Noir ever produced, an unbalanced trainwreck, or a 10-year-old $60 Oregon. It definitely is an experience every Pinot lover should search out.

2013 CLOS TITA Pinot Noir Santa Cruz Mountains California 13.5

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