2017 Pinot Noir Runway Vineyard

This is another stellar set of wines from Jim Clendenen. The whites are especially strong across the board. Over the years, Clendenen has moved to larger format oak for many of those wines, and really comes through in a style that captures both richness and freshness. The 2017 Pinots are a bit more challenging, but it is hard, if not impossible, to overcome the stresses of a short growing season with brutal heat spikes. Jim Clendenen has inspired many of today’s most celebrated young winemakers, but as I have written here before, his wines are, ironically, now among some of the richer wines in Santa Barbara. They remain classic expressions of some of the top vineyard sites in Los Alamos, Santa Maria and the Sta. Rita Hills.