2011 Syrah Goldridge

Tom and Eva Dehlinger's 2012 Pinots are the highlights in this range of current and future releases. Tom Dehlinger describes 2012 as a generous vintage that required considerable thinning. There are four 2012 Pinots, so readers will have quite a bit to choose from, but all the wines are knockouts. The 2011 Pinots and Syrahs are also delicious, but a little more introverted. Today, the 2011 Chardonnay looks like the best wine of the vintage here. Readers should note there is no 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon; all the best fruit went into the Claret. I saw the Dehlingers just as Eva Dehlinger was about to go back to Beaune, where she is in school. It will be interesting to see to what extent that experience and a full immersion in the Burgundian culture influences the future direction at Dehlinger, one of Sonoma's benchmark estates.