2018 Renaissance Pinot Noir

2018 RENAISSANCE MonoClone Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast

Vosne Romanee, aux Brulees West

Tasting Notes 

Le Regard / The Look
Bright, dark saturated crimson & amethyst is gemlike in the glass. Pulpy tannins in suspension show structure from the whole cluster press, anticipating chewiness and concentration.

Le Nez / The Nose
The nose is pure old world Burgundy; Caramelized raspberries and blueberries interlaced with violets, high herbal tones of peppery mint, graphite, and minerals. As the wine evolves in the glass or decanter, the pungent aromas become more focused and earthy. An abundance of red fruit compote and plum confit, perfectly layered with dried maple leaves, sous-bois (forest floor), umami, black tea must, ganache, and exotic spices. A most seductive bouquet.

Degustation / The Taste
The front palate reminds me of older Burgundies by the masters like De Montille, Lignier, Rousseau; wines that were meant to lay down for a while unlike the ready to drink, over-extracted, overly ripe, high alcohol modern versions that can never deliver the complexity and elegance of such Pinots. It is best to open the wine for at least 30 minutes to be able to appreciate all of the nuances Renaissance possesses. This is an extremely compressed layered wine, with an elegant textural mouthful of peppery blueberries, red plums,  and tart griottines (wild cherries) saturated with dried herbal tones, violets, rose petals,  and dried tobacco leaves. The mid-palate is generous, very old world, with a voluptuous texture coating the entire palate, elevated with a spicy grip, a clear element of the whole cluster press, followed by pure peppery blueberries and red cherry compote, earthiness, dried shitake mushrooms, rose petals, wood barrel spice, creating a wine of impressive allure. The wine definitely gains intensity and roundness with aeration; The back palate is well balanced with fine tannins creating a silky concoction of red and blue fruits, chalk, wet limestone, exotic spices, black tea must, and cocoa nibs. The elegant and sensual long and round finish lingers and lingers in the mouth with complex soft spice aromatics from our extended barrel time, creating a wine of great verve, silky texture, intense aromatics, and perfect structure.

The 2018 Renaissance is very reminiscent of old-world Burgundies, like the wines of legendary Hubert de Montille who crafted hard-assed wines; he did not care what Robert Parker or anyone else said, commitment to traditional methods that included a fair bit of tannin extraction, instead of jammy sugary concentration.  Let’s drink to that!!!!

Read A Brief History of the Pinot Noir Clones and How they Survived