2009 Big Basin Pinot Noir Lester Family Vineyard

The 2009 Pinot Noir Lester Family Vineyard shows some of the meatier, gamier elements of Pinot Noir. There is plenty of depth in the fruit to balance some of the wine's wilder tendencies. The round, sweet finish is nicely layered with expressive floral and spiced notes. The Lester Family Vineyard Pinot is a blend of Clones 37, 667, 115, vinified with 15% stems and aged for 16 months in French oak barrels, 50% new.

The 2009 Pinot Noir Lester Family Vineyard shows some of the meatier, gamier elements of Pinot Noir. There is plenty of depth in the fruit to balance some of the wine’s wilder tendencies. The round, sweet finish is nicely layered with expressive floral and spiced notes. The Lester Family Vineyard Pinot is a blend of Clones 37, 667, 115, vinified with 15% stems and aged for 16 months in French oak barrels, 50% new. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2019. Bradley Brown crafts gorgeous artisan wines from his vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey County. The wines are fermented with ambient yeasts, see no racking and are bottled unfined and unfiltered. The Pinots are aged in 50% new medium toast barrels, while some of the Syrah and Syrah-based blends see higher amounts of new wood. Brown is gradually moving towards reducing toast levels and amounts of new oak. The 2008s are big, rich wines marked by the low yields of the year that are the result of the spring frost. Vintage 2009 was a flashier, more overt year until a heavy rainstorm hit on October 13. The 2009s generally are lower in alcohol than the 2008s. As good as these wines are – and they are often outstanding – my feeling is that Brown has just scratched the surface of his potential. Tel. (831) 621-8028; www.bigbasinvineyards.com