2009 Pinot Noir Hirsch Vineyard

The 2009 Pinot Noir Hirsch is one of the bigger wines in this lineup of 2009 Pinots. Sweet black cherries, tar, licorice, smoke and violets saturate the palate in this highly expressive, generous Pinot. A long, seamless finish rounds out this superb, pedigreed Pinot. This is a dazzling effort. Wow! Anticipated maturity: 2014-2021. I was totally blown away by the wines I tasted with proprietor Ted Lemon. These are some of the most refined, polished Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs being made in California today. I can’t recommend the wines highly enough. Lemon describes 2009 as a mild season with prolonged bloom that resulted in considerable shatter and a high amount of shot berries. There was no real heat to speak of in September. The 2010s were harvested during the first two weeks of October, much later than the 2009s. I also tasted a handful of 2010 Pinots from tank that appear promising, even if stylistically they aren’t as generous as the 2009s. Tel. (707) 823-9586; www.littorai.com

(13.7% alcohol): Good healthy dark red. Wild raspberry liqueur, black tea and graphite on the nose, plus a suggestion of candied fruits. Silky-smooth but with terrific verve contributing to an impression of weightlessness. Lovely saline complexity to the flavors of raspberry, cola and spice. Most impressive today on the very long, rising, firmly tannic finish.