Montsecano Pinot Noir 2015
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Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
This 100% bio-dynamic hand harvested, single vineyard Pinot Noir is aged and fermented completely in concrete egg. Dark ripe cherry and black fruits jump out of the glass with underlying raspberry fruit notes. A condensed and dark spiraling mid-palate shows layers of minerality and complexity, with hints of wet crushed rock (granite), sage, clove and blueberry . Rich full fruit, mineral driven, with a long, generous, smooth finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A pinot with superb depth and texture with beautiful depth of fruit and ripe tannins. Full body, complex depth of fruit and length. Stone, blueberry, blackberry and intensity. All made and aged in concrete eggs. About 4,500 bottles made. Made from biodynamic grapes. Andre Ostertag of Alsace makes this wine.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
I also tasted the 2015 Montsecano, from one year when they got higher yields after the problematic 2014 when they could not produce this wine. It was a very balanced growing season that resulted in healthy grapes. The nose has lots of flowers. The plate has good tension, with fine-grained tannins, but somehow next to the 2016 it felt a little more mainstream. There's more cherry fruit here.
Other Vintages
2018-
Parker
Robert
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Parker
Robert
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Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
A region that has become synonymous with some of the best whites of Chile, the Casablanca Valley is full of dozens of bodegas who either grow fruit here or come from outside to source from local growers for their own white wine programs. The valley runs from east to west, which means that its westernmost vineyards receive the most cooling influence from the reliable afternoon sea breezes. The soils also tend to be heavier in clay in the west, whereas the eastern end of the valley is warmer and its soils are predominantly granitic. Sauvignon blanc thrives here, Chardonnay does well and Pinot noir is not uncommon.