2011 Bernardus Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands 750 ml

2011 Bernardus Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands: We ADORED This Wine!

For Burgundy collectors, the nuances of each growing season from village to village, cellar to cellar, is always a hot topic of conversation. In California, however, Pinot Noir enthusiasts tend to be far less precise when evaluating the vagaries of vintages. All too often, the baby is thrown out with the bathwater — never more foolishly than in the case of 2011 in the windswept high ground of Santa Lucia Highlands.

The Santa Lucia Highlands tend to be seen as a single region. But there are salient differences between the south and north of the AVA. Never were those disparities more on display than in 2011. While the northern tip of this fairly narrow strip of vineyard land suffered through the cold and dampness of 2011, the south flourished. Particularly on the most manicured and meticulously tended sites — like Gary Franscioni’s Sierra Mar and Rosella’s vineyards; Gary Pisoni’s Pisoni Vineyard, and the Garys’ joint Soberanes Vineyard — these higher-elevation plantings took full advantage of steady maritime breezes and greater exposure to the sun, keeping the vines dry and healthy.

Daytime highs were cool throughout the summer months (only rarely did highs exceed 85 degrees), making for an unusually long growing season. Due to the spotty spring weather, the fruit set was small, with clusters strewn with tiny, ultra-sweet shot berries, or what the Burgundians call millerandage. With just a cluster or two per shoot, and ample air circulation in between, Bernardus postponed the call to harvest until October. BB-sized berries were extremely sweet yet, given the cool summer, acids were bracing. Bernardus winemaker Dean De Korth — whose resume includes stints at Olivier Leflaive, Comtes Lafon, and Pierre Morey in Burgundy — took full advantage, crafting a stunning lineup that walks the tightrope between California opulence and Côte de Beaune cut.

Rarely have we come across an under-$30 American Pinot Noir that — after more than three years in bottle — remains so youthful, vibrant, richly textured and finely honed. We ADORED De Korth’s 2011 from what Pinot Noir aficionados are calling one of the more extraordinary vintages in memory in Santa Lucia Highlands.

Comprised of tiny-berry Pinot Noir drawn from Soberanes and Rosella’s and Sierra Mar vineyards. 100% French cooperage, 40% new, a mix of Sirugue, Cadus, Damy, and Billon. Vivid ruby-red. Mouthwatering aromas of cherry, raspberry, and cranberry, tinged with notes of spicy oak. Rich and ultra-focused on the attack, the core is packed with crushed-red-fruit preserves, cherry, and violets. Sweet and juicy, yet wonderfully youthful and high-toned, showing no sign whatsoever of its three-year stay in bottle. Finishing with Burgundian focus and persistence, arguing elegantly for a 5-to-7-year stay in the coolest of cellars.