I received this bottle from a dear friend–employed by Treasury–who mis-interpreted some of my Daou-memes recently as being anti-Treasury. Of course, you all know nothing could be farther from the truth. I have–like most of you–a cellar FULL of Beringer and BV and Penfold’s, etc, etc, and have triumphed corporate wine institutions–at the expense of heavy criticism–as solidifying many California producers with quality, funding, and stalwart marketing. I felt horrible my social-ramblings could be taken so wrongly, but we kissed and made up, and a beautiful Etude SRH pinot sealed the deal. For a Napa/Sonoma producer traveling to extents such as Santa Ynez Valley for vineyard-specific Pinot offerings tells you the level of ingredients they are looking for.
Gorgeous of nose and color, laying imperfect layers of dust and funk and fruit onto the palate: not going full-throttle ripe and Syrah-ridden as is so common in big-name offerings. Everything we love about Pinot is present: grainy earth, ripeness with thin-ness, clear ruby in the glass with amber rim, dirty-baby-diaper and soiled leather and old lace edging the fullness of fruit these producers MUST deliver for the supermarket shelves. I mean–it can’t be TOO weird and geeky, right? They have to sell this wine to thousands of people and make board-members happy, and far too many labels have sold out to accomplish this feat in marketing to the 99%.
Defining factor here is: This is a beautiful wine. Gobs of fruit coalesce on the tongue, but it’s all tinged in typicitious Pinot off-kilter delirium as only Pinot can do. It even hinges at a hi-medium ALC concentration–something NOT un-noticed. Bitter and tangy in finish, it glows with all the luster a high-market Pinot should.
2020 ETUDE WINES Pinot Noir Fiddlestix Vyd Santa Rita Hills Santa Barbara County 14.1
Stephen McConnell 