Completely transparent light ruby with an ambering beige far out into the wide clear edges. Ridiculous barnyard flies in your face fresh in the pour, blowing off quickly to sharp egg white, lemon zest and olive oil combining to help the brilliant pie cherry maintain an upper hand on the horse manure and sawdust tempered with black briar. It’s a sweltering nose of chocolate frosting and peat see-sawing through an astonishingly delicate visual.

In the mouth, light soothing cool water with a lemon slice waved over it. Refreshing and delicate, letting your guard down momentarily for the locomotive belching coal and diesel and hot grease, dragging mountains of smoky rock, tar and singed leather off into the Bing cherry abyss.

Fresh swirls crank out more barnyard, new sips inject more fruit, everything so calmy complicated you are left in the middle of the road just staring. Bright, energetic fruit just begging to be danced with, a Vegemite grip just begging to be spread, stalls getting hosed out, and the prickly pepper bite turning to dry tannins lingering on and on–still draped in the warm embrace of berry and lollipop.

I set this bottle down on the table at a bottle-share in Healdsburg and Christopher Sawyer got all quiet for a moment. I’m like, What? and he starts waxing poetic about these people. Check it out: their flagship stuff is a crazy bargain in today’s Pinot prices, and this is the cheapest one they sell, and I’m telling you what: at $35 you’ll have a hard time matching the quality.

2017 WAITS-MAST Pinot Noir Mendocino County California 13.6

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