2011 Pintas

The 2011 Pintas, the original flagship of the winery, is an old vines field blend aged in French oak (only 70% new; 30% second pass) for 20 months. As has become the pattern, this shows more depth than its more elegant new sibling (the Manoella Old Vines also reviewed this issue), but this year it is also a very bright and relatively (it is not Manoella!) elegant vintage in its own right. This is a vintage in which the wine should excel, and does. It is likely to be on the short list as a contender for the best Pintas yet, but it is too tight and unevolved at the moment, a bit hard to read (a comment that is true for many 2011s at the moment). So, let-s be conservative just now and leave that conversation for a few years hence. In the meanwhile, it will soon be bursting with flavor. It is beautifully constructed, with crisp persistence on the finish and the promise of future development to come. It should come into better balance in time and it showed dramatic improvement the next day, still tightly wound after being open for a couple of hours on Day 2, but very focused and beautifully constructed. It comes in at 14.5% alcohol. There were 5,900 750ml bottles produced, along with some large format bottles. Drink 2015-2026. Importer: Winebow, Inc., Montvale, NJ; tel. (201) 445-0620