2010 Big Basin Vineyards Pinot Noir Lester Family Vineyard

Community Tasting Notes (13) Avg Score: 91.8 points

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  7/14/2020 - vagrantone Likes this wine: 92 Points

  This was a really nice West Coast Pinot Noir. It doesn't have anything to do with Pinot Noir in a Burgundian sense, but still a really nice wine.
  Probably close to its peak. Big wine in terms of alcohol, structure. Lacking a little in acidity. In terms of food pairings, think of it as a southern Rhone valley wine.

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  3/16/2019 - VlgJeff wrote: 90 Points

  Decanted for 5 minutes, then returned to bottle and slo-oxed for 15 more. Had alongside the 2010 Coastview Vineyard Pinot, and this wine clearly had a greater presence, and more complexity. This bottle presented medium to plus red fruit (mostly cherry), medium plus acidity, some earthy notes, some spice, and a touch of cola. Although more balanced than the Coastview, it was less robust than our previous bottle, leading to believe that it is on the downslope.
  As 2010 was an excellent pinot noir vintage in CA (according to WS), I'm led to believe that the prime drinking window for Big Basin pinots is 6 to 8 years after vintage, beyond that your risk increases.

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  1/5/2018 - VlgJeff wrote: 92 Points

  PnP, but will benefit from a short decant as the wine opened up during our meal. Had alongside the Alfaro Family pinot, same vintage, and this wine seemed a bit lighter, with more cherry fruit, and less cola influence. It was also more balanced between fruit and acidity, as well as being a bit spicier. Altogether, it was a more pleasurable quaff. Should hold for a couple of years. See the Alfaro TN.

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  7/3/2016 - MLR Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Really tasting fine. Still lots of bright fruit - raspberry on the nose with just a hint of flint. Just the slightest bit of tannins in the mouth, which suggests we have a few years left in this wine. Again, there is bright fruit in the mouth, raspberries, blackberries. Medium body and a nice finish.

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  4/3/2015 - stufis wrote: 93 Points

  She sed it was a Windy Oaks, maybe even a (unnamed) bottle that goes for $90 bucks. I sed...nah, you're not worth that...if we had any.
  
  She took the (then) empty bottle and smacked my head. I thot that was a bit suggestive, and tried to call one of the Bradley Bro's to confirm this was not a Windy label I was holding (erm, twas a tad blurry). She grabbed the fone, dunked it in her empty glass, added sum Bombay, a whiff of Dolin, and tolt me to stfu. Then James came on the line (James??? WTF is he doing there) and sed "Stu...I'm over here...whatchoo want??? Lester is good sh*t, so chillax you sh*t. I'm...um...at a bar in Carmel and don't need this crap! Go away!"
  
  Yes, a nice, civilized wine, to be sure.

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