2016 Thomas Fogarty Winery Pinot Noir Will's Cabin Vineyard

The 2016 Pinot Noir Will's Cabin Vineyard comes from the Lexington Estate, which is a warmer terroir located in the southern part of the Santa Cruz Mountains. This light ruby-colored effort is another wine that has a disctinct salinity as well as perfumed notes of dried red fruits, salted meats, dried pine, and plenty loamy, sandy soil notes. Medium-bodied, with a seamless texture, and light tannins, it’s another singular wine from this estate that will provide loads of pleasure over the coming 8-10 years.

The 2016 Pinot Noir Will’s Cabin Vineyard is marked by a distinctive spiced character that gives the wine an exotic feel, while the fruit is pushed into the background. The Will’s Cabin emerges from a north-facing site near Fogarty’s Gist Ranch with similar soils and is therefore quite different in style from the silkier, more perfumed wines that emerge from the Fogarty ranch on Skyline Blvd, which is about five miles to the north.

The 2016 Pinot Noir Will's Cabin Vineyard opens in the glass with a youthful nose of crushed currants, damsons and dried flowers. On the palate, it's medium-bodied, taut and mineral, with bright acids, a delicate core of fruit and a crisp, stony finish. This hails from a north-facing site that's the highest of Fogarty's single vineyards and tends to produce one of the most extreme of their Pinot Noirs.