2014 Talley Vineyards Pinot Noir Estate Arroyo Grande Valley 750 ml

The Outlier in Parker’s Gang of Five

It’s been almost 25 years since Jim Clendenen first introduced us to the Talley family’s Rosemary’s Vineyard Pinot Noir with an epic late-’80s bottle from Au Bon Climat. Adam Tolmach would soon follow suit at Ojai, grabbing every cluster the Talleys would sell to him. Bryan Babcock came next. Then Ken Volk at Wild Horse. While each bottle carried the cellar signature of its maker, all shared the explosive red-raspberry concentration and chiseled purity that has since become the trademark of Talley Pinot Noir.

By the turn of the century, the demand for Talley Pinot Noir — particularly off the Rincon and Rosemary’s vineyards — far exceeded supply. It was about then that the family did what everyone always figured they’d do. Little by little, always courteously — though with equal conviction — Brian Talley eased out of most of those contracts, finally convinced of what the top winemaking names along the southern coast had known for a decade. Then he pushed the envelope in the vines like never before, throwing a massive farm workforce at what most consider to be the most manicured Pinot Noir planting this side of Vosne-Romanée.

Since 2007, Talley’s Pinots have stacked up SEVEN 95- to 98-point reviews from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, routinely going toe to toe with the rest of Parker’s Gang of Five — Steve Kistler, Luc Morlet, Peter Michael, and Kosta Browne. The only difference is Talley does it for half the price.

Drawn from the manicured rows of Rincon and Rosemary’s vineyards, the 2014 Talley Vineyard Pinot Noir is the most voluptuous since 2007. Glistening crimson-purple to the rim, infused with high-toned aromas of black raspberry, black cherry, tobacco and new-wood cedar. Rich, juicy, and voluminous on the attack, deeply concentrated and multi-layered, filled with crushed red fruit and black cherry preserves, finishing with beautifully delineated and chiseled backbone, arguing both eloquently and powerfully for a DECADE of cellar slumber.

If you’re a Pinot enthusiast, this is a no-brainer. $28.99 today for the finest under-$30 Pinot Noir in the country. Only 60 cases available.