November 18, 2023 - Very light color, translucent. Sour cherry, cranberry, keemun tea, bay leaf, turkish delight. This is about as elegant as pinot noir gets—just stunning. More tea on the palate, with rose, violet, cherry, sour plum skin, a little apricot, blood orange.
Ethereal on the palate: medium- tannin, medium plus acid, low alcohol. No need to hold this any more, it’s great now. It’s clearly not burgundy—there’s not enough dirt for that—but it’a a classic, elegant, new world pinot.
February 17, 2022 - Sonoma (and one Napa) Wineries; 2/13/2022-2/18/2022 (Healdsburg, CA and Napa, CA): Nose has strong rosewater notes with ripe cranberry and strawberry hard candy and a subtle, pleasant greenness at the end. Palate instantly fills the mouth with potpurri, white pepper and cranberry notes. Great acidity, medium finish. Very fresh and delicious, dare I say "exotic" Pinot.
December 31, 2021 - Lioco's Pinot Noir from 2018 shows that PN from high altitude (Santa Cruz Mountains) shows higher acidity and that these wines will be very good over time. Needed 2-3 hours before the fruit started to shine, was perfect for Champagne chicken with mashed potatoes. Hold for at least 2 - 3 years.
November 6, 2021 - November 2021 Trip to Sonoma: Very, very pretty nose. Floral/rose petal/turkish delight. Some earth. Strawberries and orange peel. Black tea. The palate is ethereal--light bodied, with good acid. The strawberry/orange peel is still there on the palate, but with an added cedar and incense note.
This is a classic very cool climate pinot-noir, and I liked it a lot. A strong argument for the Santa Cruz mountains.
October 7, 2021 - Decanted at The Morris. Needs time, but quite lovely and typical SC. 13.3%
September 16, 2021 - I have had the opportunity to enjoy several bottles over the past few years and I'm pleased to report that this wine is holding up well and is just flat-out delicious with aromas and flavors characteristic of the Santa Cruz Mountains. I'm curious to see how this will evolve in coming years!
July 23, 2021 - Color: medium ruby
Nose: ripe blackberry, raspberry, strawberry. Roses. Very intense fruit. Some caramel and vanilla, sous Bois, stones and wet rocks. Mint and some 5 spice
Palate: high acidity, medium body. Very silky texture. Umami and perhaps even a little salty.
Finish: medium
Good balance here but a bit young still. Can go a couple more years in cellar with profit imo. That said, a fantastic salmon or poultry wine here, with California fruit in a frame of elegance
July 3, 2021 - Very good right now. Warm spice notes and good structure work well with the fruit. This was a good year and it shows
April 15, 2021 - A little bit spritzy? A little bit natty? Doesn't taste spritzy thought. No actualyl it does. Bubbly fish.
October 21, 2020 - Ripe fruit with contrasting stemminess plus roses, cranberry and vanilla. Well integrated grainy tannins and slightly elevated acidity. At Healdsburg tasting room with Molly Feeney, Toni, Gary and Nancy.