March 1, 2024 - bought one of these to see if it's really worth aging this wine... light to moderate depth of color, red rim. aromatically still fruit forward with very pretty floral red raspberries and cherry... background oak... some tea/earthy mushroom thing. on the palate still fresh with very good acids, a very nice and round pinot midpalate, finishes with well integrated oak tannins and moderate alcohol. balanced wine with good length, excellent intensity, good complexity. wine has finesse, a very fine texture, very good expression of place... still charming and friendly. at this age the wine is doing quite well... don't think it's turned into anything spectacular... i wouldn't sit on these too long.
October 1, 2023 - Balanced but richer pinot but not heavy; many guessed ripe Burgundy; spices, cherry syrup, slight ripeness, black cherry, long. Excellent. Alice b-day party
July 23, 2023 - Outrageously good, it won the night against some stiff competition, and pleased a very wide range of friends. The only flaw is the bottle, which weighs roughly what my car does. Perhaps the more recent vintages fixed that issue.
March 6, 2023 - Really showed beautifully- so effortless and with a great balance of ripe fruit and intriguing earthy complexity. Didn't get to take a detailed note- this was shared with several people. I got tons of deep cherry, sort of like a mix of spiced cherry cola and dried cherries, alongside something like autumn leaves, mushroom, or potting soil. Interesting how it felt like a "bigger" style of pinot, but still with plenty of acidic verve and real elegance. For my palate it could have used a little more..."focus"? Brightness, tightness, etc...but no denying this was a beautiful, lightly aged PN.
May 28, 2022 - As nice as Isabelle herself. This is great right now. PnP. Nicely rounded fruit. Touch of oak. Herbs on the finish. Really nice California pinot.
May 6, 2022 - Really beautiful pinot. Some barnyard nose at the beginning, with loads of cherry coming through. Quintessential Santa Barbara pinot noir, just fantastic.
August 15, 2021 - Delicious, in a very good spot. Rounded and balanced fruit and earthy flavors.
October 11, 2020 - This is a great California Pinot. Barnyard on the nose, with hints of cherry. Mellow tannins with cherry and almost an apricot flavor. Really nice.
February 12, 2020 - Last bottle in my cellar sadly as it was delicious. Mouth filling fruit flavors with a long and smooth finish. One of my favorite wines from Au Bon Climat
January 12, 2020 - Lovely Pinot