2021 Holocene Pinot Noir Apocrypha

Community Tasting Notes (4) Avg Score: 95.5 points

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  9/27/2023 - Neecies Likes this wine:

  A prior reviewer wrote a beautiful note I can't improve on. Quoting him:
  you pop and pour and the first whiff evokes something of an exotic place in the mind's memory. There's all kinds of beautiful, exotic aromas...black currant, elderberry, sandalwood, cinnamon, vanilla bean, spice cake, blackberry crumble, and cured cherry...can't imagine a more perfect wine in my mouth...It has the most supple, velvety tannin and an acid structure that builds on the palate and sort of crescendos like a drum roll. There's more than enough structure here...yet it is so perfectly integrated right now...ageable and accessible.
  
  I agree. It's one of the most interesting young pinots I've had in a long time. More will come forward given time.

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  9/22/2023 - Jack Cranley Likes this wine: 98 Points

  I am absolutely floored by this wine. It's funny because it's kind of a creeper wine. It's not super flamboyant - But as I systematically break it apart into its components, every single quality of this wine is practically perfect.
  
  First of all, you pop and pour and the first whiff evokes something of an exotic place in the mind's memory. There's all kinds of beautiful, exotic aromas to behold. Black current, elderberry, sandalwood, cinnamon, vanilla bean, spice cake, blackberry crumble, and cured cherry.
  
  Then you drink it and I honestly can't imagine a more perfect wine in my mouth, especially considering the youth of this wine. It has the most supple, velvety tannin and an acid structure that builds on the palate and sort of crescendos like a drum roll. There's more than enough structure here for me to easily consider laying some bottles of this down for years to come, and yet it is so perfectly integrated right now that there is nothing wrong with enjoying this bottle right now.
  
  It almost seems impossible that a wine is this ideal in both regards. It makes me giddy to realize that it's possible to have both accessibility and ageability like this.
  
  This is one of those wines that you would want to have at least a six pack or a full 12 bottle case to drink occasionally over the years and watch it evolve. Right now it's mostly fruit along with a framework of wood and spice but I know that there's some minerals and some Earth down in there that will come forward if given enough time. I imagine this wine will absolutely peak somewhere around 2026.

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  6/13/2023 - Wine-ian Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Drinking well now, will likely improve over the next few years. Delicious Pinot, medium bodied, relatively light in the glass. Well balanced with some tannins on the finish. We had it with fresh picked morels with cream sauce. Great pairing.

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  5/14/2023 - Neecies Likes this wine:

  No fining, no filtering, whole cluster, mostly neutral French Oak. No evidence of fire smoke. A little more fruit intensity than the Memorialis but no less elegant and complex. A lovely Oregon pinot.

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