2010 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Silver Eagle Vineyard

The 2010 Pinot Noir Silver Eagle Vineyard is a rich, deep wine endowed with considerable depth in its black cherries, exotic spices and licorice. This is an especially juicy, dark wine from Rivers-Marie. A final burst of fruit intermingled with floral and spiced notes inform the finish. This is the second vintage for the Silver Eagle, one of the warmer sites near Occidental. The principal clones are Calera, 828 and a Vosne-Romanee suitcase clone. Only 7 of the 12 barrels made it into the vineyard designate bottling, the rest of the wine was blended into the Sonoma Coast Pinot. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2018. This is a beautiful set of Pinot Noirs from proprietors Thomas Rivers Brown and Genevieve Marie Welsh. Brown notes that the 2010 vintage was not looking so great at a number of these sites because of the cold summer. The late September heat wave gave the vines the last kick they needed to fully ripen. Brown gave the 2010 Pinots 10 months in French oak barrels ranging from 25-80% new. As good as the vineyard designates are, the real star here is the Sonoma Coast bottling, which is one of the most fairly priced Pinot Noirs from anywhere in the world. Tel. (707) 341-3127