Community Tasting Note

• joraesque wrote: 84 points

  February 26, 2009 - For the last couple of years, Byron has produced some of the best values in domestic Pinot Noir, so I was really excited about the '07 bottling given that this was such an auspicious year for the Central Coast vineyards. Unfortunately, this wine fell short of my expectations, as it is overly acidic, with noticeable heat, and with none of that typically ripe Santa Barbara fruit; it almost seems like the winemaker kept all the better fruit for the more expensive bottlings, and only used underripe grapes, or grapes that were not destemmed.
  A 1 hour decant improved the nose a bit by adding some barnyard notes, but it didn't cut out the heat enough to improve the palate. Another 30 minutes in the glass mellowed a tad some of the high acidity, but it also added bitterness on the palate.
  Overall, this was very disappointing, but compared to everything else out there, it's still a good value California Pinot Noir if you can get it for under $20. Also, because of the very high acidity, it's a wine that's better with heavy/flavorful/spicy food, or with chocolate (better with milk than with dark chocolate), rather than by itself.

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1 Comment

• wineaboutit commented:

  1/2/13, 11:35 PM - I bought a boat load of this vintage in '09, and felt the same. Thankfully,
  today, this wine has dramatically improved/matured, and is a nice Cali Santa Maria value pinot.

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