Three more dissimilar wines could not be imagined. Not that I opened them as comparitive studies… just random pops from the cellar on a slow night.

The Dragonette continues to impress with its dearth of ripeness in the face of bitter structure. Delightfully thin of body while manifesting ALL the things true die-hards demand in a pinot. Glorious piquantness rides easily on wings of obscure berry fruit, while an agsty churn captivates all corners. Incredibly yummy, but not in a slutty way.

The Deux Punx is a wine best dranken young. Despite the variety being a fairly-ageable alpine stalwart, this wine shows incredible *funky Italian* at 5, and not all of it well-orchestrated. Rummaging through dirty, funky depths, it feels tired and lacking, displacing positive fruit nuances with a bit of VA and worn edges around a clearly non-filtered core. Entirely drinkable, but more of as a case-study.

The other SRH–a La Encantada–manages chubby cherry in almost RRV-sequences while maintaining pinot sublimity to near perfection. Greasy and savory at 7, the finer points of aged burg come to play in its amber clarity. Meaty and dense while clairvoyantly complex, it is probably at near-peak, though tertiary has yet to profoundly enter the picture.

2021 DRAGONETTE Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills Santa Barbara Co. 14.5
2018 DEUX PUNX Teroldego Clarksburg 11.7
2016 VELVET BEE Pinot Noir La Encantada SRH Santa Barbara 14.33