2005 Loring Pinot Noir Clos Pepe Vineyard

Good medium red.Jammy blackberry and cassis fruit aromas complicated by licorice and tangy Oriental spices. Juicy, brisk and sharply focused, with impressive intensity to its pure red berry and spice flavors. This very youthful pinot manages to be both broad and light on its feet in a Burgundian way. Lovely lingering fruit gives the finish terrific verve. Brian Loring singled out this cuvee as a style he loves, and I'd be thrilled if more California pinots tasted like this one.Interestingly, the pH here is a low-for-the-winery 3.4, but the alcohol is 14.1%, among the highest of these '05s.Loring, incidentally, told me that he has made a conscious decision to bottle wines with more moderate alcohol levels and healthier pHs than vintages of the recent past, but he also told me that "the 2005s are as elegant and lean as we'll ever go."