2014 Rossi Wallace Napa Valley Pinot Noir Atlas Peak 750 ml

Robert Parker: Ric Forman, “Napa’s First Superstar Winemaker”

Ric Forman, whom Robert Parker called “Napa Valley’s first superstar winemaker,” has always marched to the beat of his own drum. Way back in the late 1970s, Forman built a cult following for Stony Hill. Then it was on to Newton, Villa Mount Eden, and Inglenook. But despite the high scores and critical accolades for Ric’s Cabernet Sauvignons, the wine that most enchanted Forman was a tiny batch of Pinot Noir he’d crafted in the fall of 1990 off the nosebleed slopes of Atlas Peak.

Why was Forman so attracted to Atlas Peak? As Ric tells the story, his friend Piero Antinori was assisting a British beer conglomerate looking to purchase vineyard land in Napa Valley in 1985. Nothing struck Antinori’s fancy until the last day of his trip. That day, he visited a rugged site above Foss Valley. The terrain seemed ill suited for grape-growing, with its boulder-filled volcanic soils and frequent risk of spring and fall frost. Antinori was immediately smitten; the property, set at 1,450 in elevation, reminded him of Tuscany.

Most of Antinori’s future Atlas Peak property would be planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, but Antinori set aside 20 acres of the mountain for a Pinot Noir experiment that just five years later would account for Ric Forman’s 1990 — a bottle Robert Parker famously compared to “a cousin of DRC” (Domaine de la Romanée-Conti).

The exquisite purity of Antinori’s Atlas Peak Pinot Noir stems from the large diurnal temperature shifts over the summer months. In 2014, daytime highs crept into the 90s, while nighttime lows dipped into the low 50s. The rugged volcanic slopes eked out just a couple tons per acre. Berry size was small, no larger than the tip of your little finger. In the third consecutive drought year in the valley, the call to harvest came early, as sugars topped 25 Brix. Despite the extreme ripeness, acids remained firm.

Robert Parker rarely rates coastal Pinot Noir any more, but when the winemaker’s name is Ric Forman and the wine in question is drawn from Piero Antinori’s vineyard, the critic made an exception. Parker described the 2014 Rossi-Wallace Pinot Noir as “sexy, soft and round … the alcohol is relatively lofty at 14.8%, but it’s well-disguised.” Indeed, this is the rare example of an American Pinot Noir that, on the attack, is reminiscent of a warm vintage on the Côte de Nuits, still finishing with great vibrancy, bracing all the wild-berry opulence with electrifying “cut.”

92 points from Antonio Galloni. 91 from Parker. $26/bottle. 360 bottles are up for grabs.