Damn near perfection in a Pinot Noir. Ethereal and light, so elegantly perfumed, crispy green stemminess and dirty baby diaper mingling perfectly in the nose alongside raspy berry, neutral oak, graphite, cedar, rusty steel–an abrasiveness titillating and invigorating over layers of ripe fruit.
The color is not the lightest Pinot you’ve had, and there is barely any garnet to speak of. It’s all ruby-purple, with a nearly-imaginary hint of orange in the clearing edge. The bouquet is so captivating and pure, it really is second-thought to even taste it, but you NEED to know if all that earthy wonder and charismatic fruit translates to the tongue. Easy on fruit on entry, a smoky, almost diesel patina points this thing in directions you hoped for. The berry a thin but towering spectre framed in taut acid and briar clippings. The sexy roundness of Pinot deposits an almost oily layer on the palate, and wastes no time in exposing its tannins. The bitter gravity of the fruit never apologizes for being delicately aplomb or wistfully elegant–a straight-up middle finger to SRH, SLH and RRV 15-oh syrups. Edgy and raw, this wine DEFINES Pinot Noir.
People always be like: you’re so hard on pinot–your pinot reviews are confusing–I can’t figure out where you are on pinot–why you treat pinot that way? and to that I will offer a simple solution: Buy this pinot and taste it. Smell it for a really long time and then taste it. This is what I like in pinot. This is my jam, right here. This is EXACTLY how I like my pinots from California. And so should you.
2018 RAEN ‘Royal St. Robert Cuvee’ Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast California 12 point MF 5
Stephen McConnell 