2015 Pinot Noir Goldridge

This is a superb set of new and upcoming releases from Dehlinger. The 2016 Pinots are brilliant and promising, while the 2015s capture the potential they showed from barrel. Although the Pinots get most of the attention at Dehlinger, the Syrahs and the Cabernet Sauvignon are equally deserving of serious consideration. Dehlinger sells most of their production directly, which means prices remain exceedingly fair.

Eva Dehlinger's 2015s capture all of the intensity and natural richness of the vintage. Yields are down 20-25%, which is not as bad as most estates, but still severe enough that Dehlinger will not release a High Plains Pinot, aside from a very small amount that will be bottled in magnum. At this stage, the 2015 vintage character is especially pronounced in the Pinots. It will be interesting to see if the 2015s become more differentiated over the coming years. The bottled 2014 Pinots are just gorgeous from bottle as they were from barrel. Yields were more generous in 2014 than they were in 2015, which, among other things, resulted in a number of different Pinot bottlings. All of the 2014 reds are rich, powerful wines that are likely to require at least a few years to soften. The introduction of small amount of whole clusters and an increasing use of larger format barrels in some of the wines are among the choices that are will play a role in how the Dehlinger wines evolve stylistically in the coming years.