2011 Capiaux Pinot Noir Widdoes Vineyard

(13.9% alcohol; from an old Beringer clone planted at wide 9 x 12 spacing in Green Valley): Good medium red. Pungent high-toned aromas of cranberry, raspberry and game. Juicy and firmly built, but with a distinctly cool quality and some unabsorbed acidity. Finishes saline and dry, with building tannins. Capiaux does not vinify with whole clusters but often adds some stems back to the juice.

The 2011 Pinot Noir Widdoes Vineyard has a wonderful immediacy to it. Plums, black cherries, cloves and menthol all flesh out in the glass. The Widdoes is all about textural plushness and depth. There is plenty of that here, especially for such a challenging vintage. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2018. One of Napa Valley’s most talented winemakers, Sean Capiaux is equally comfortable crafting Betty O’Shaughnessy’s fabulous Cabernet Sauvignon-based Napa Valley wines as well as these Pinots, which Capiaux bottles under his own label. The Capiaux Pinots are some of the finest wines readers will find in the $30 price range. Suffice it to say, I was deeply impressed with what I tasted. Tel. (707) 307-4383