These two are about as polar opposite as you can get in a Pinot. Opposite ends of California wine country, for sure, and both very *California*: rich and full and ripe showing more decadent rubust-ness than gritty Burgundian spirit.

The Loring is clear amber garnet, the nose so rich with concentrated cherry it feels almost sweet, tar and burnt rubber taking the nuance-reins behind a thick, almost syrupy gloss of Santa Barbara lip-smacking goodness.

The Humbolt murky pink with a clear rim. Reeking of carbonic, it manages considerably more match-head and briary spice, a tincture of much lighter and brighter fruits, dead-serious in an almost playful way.

Tasting them produces more opposing juxtapositions. The Deux Punx washes thin and light over the tongue, fruit clear and streamlined: a sliver of pie-cherry and pomegranate taut over a full, glycerin-y mouthfeel still managing to rage deliciously bitter and acidic. The startling fruit is a pinpoint of light in a raspy roller-coaster, the finish dry and tannic. The Santa Rita Hills continues its dance with decadence onto the palate. Polished and ripe, the cherry headed maraschino and liqueur, the acid stoic and mature, the tannin a classic sophisticated tea-leaf linen drape instead of a rusty truck-bearing screaming.

Wrap-up: The Loring is not my favorite, but it fits FAR more into an alignment of marketability. I could sell ENDCAPS of this stuff. People will feel this wine is gorgeous–and it quite is–it’s just a little too TOO for my personal tastes. It feels sweet. There’s beautiful oak inter-twined. It’s soft, while thick and decadent. It feels contrived. The Deux Punx is also not my favorite. The fruit is obscured by the process and feels rushed. Odd nuances cloud the overall projection of Pinot. It feels contrived. But again, there’s a ton of consumers out there to embrace this.

If you’re over 40, buy the Loring. If you’re under 30, grab the Deux Punx.

2018 LORING WINE CO Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills Santa Barbara Co. 14.3
https://www.loringwinecompany.com/home-holiday2020.php

2018 DEUX PUNX Pinot Noir Humbolt Co. California 12.5
http://www.deuxpunx.com/