2011 Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard

Proprietors Adam and Dianna Lee have done a terrific job with their 2011s. Not surprisingly, the 2012s are potentially even better. As always, I have a soft spot for the appellation Pinots in the Siduri range. The vineyard designates are usually terrific, but for the money and pure value it's hard to beat the entry-level Pinots. The 2011s are the result of a very strict selection process. The willingness to make those hard choices, especially hard in low yielding vintages, is what separates top wineries from the rest. As an example, in 2011 there are no John Sebastiano and Cargasacchi Pinots. All of that wine went into the straight Sta. Rita Hills Pinot, along with most of the juice from Clos Pepe. Adam Lee describes 2012 as a year with excellent and consistent ripening but late malos that will ultimately result in some of these wines being bottled a little bit later than normal.

Adam Lee describes 2011 as the coldest vintage he has ever seen. Nevertheless, the 2011 Pinots are very, very pretty, and also in line with previous years in terms of their overall quality. Severe selection was the only way to do that, and it is quite clear that is exactly what Lee did. A higher percentage of barrels ended up in the appellation wines, a testament to the exacting standards at Siduri. I tasted all of the 2011s as final blends, from barrel. Lee planned to bottle the 2011s in August, 2012, with the exception of the Soberanes, Rosella's and Garys', all of which are a scheduled to go into bottle in January, 2013. The 2010 Pinots spent 10 months in barrel and were bottled in August, 2011. Lee told me his parcels experienced heat spikes in both August and September, but judging by the wines, he made the right calls before and after. Timing, as they say, is everything.