2018 ROAR Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard
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Tasting notes
Shimmering ruby-red. Powerful, smoke- and spice-accented black raspberry, cherry-vanilla and floral aromas show excellent clarity and take on mocha and mineral flourishes as the wine opens up. Appealingly sweet and expansive on the palate, offering concentrated red and dark berry preserve, cola and spicecake flavors that convey uncanny energy for their heft. Fine-grained, well-knit tannins frame a pliant, highly persistent finish that leaves behind berry liqueur, candied lavender and exotic spice notes.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Josh Raynolds
More reviews and scores
The 2018 Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard, aged 10 months in 55% new French oak, is soft and pretty this vintage, with aromas of blueberries, cranberries, forest floor, bergamot and peppercorn. The palate is medium-bodied, juicy, perfumed and super silky in texture, with expansive fruits and juicy freshness calling you in for another sip on the long finish. 265 cases produced.
Coming from the warmer, southern end of the appellation and slightly more granitic soils, the 2018 Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard is certainly my favorite in the lineup. Deep ruby/purple, with a smoking bouquet of red currants, wild strawberries, forest floor, violets, and spice, it has beautiful minerality, full-bodied richness, building structure, and a great, great finish. Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir doesn't get much better. This beauty will benefit from a year in bottle and drink brilliantly for a decade or more. Unfortunately, there are only 265 cases made.