2007 Pinot Noir Solomon Hills

A late spring frost in 2008 will curtail quantity for the second vintage in a row, Adam Tolmach told me. The upside is that conditions look good for making concentrated, powerful wines that should show some similarities to their vaunted 2007 siblings. Tolmach has moved decisively toward "making wines that are balanced, with depth and power but not for their own sake. Heavy-duty wines tend never to resolve themselves", he said, "while wines that are elegant have a way of surprising us with their ability to develop great complexity." He added that he wasn't advocating malnourished wines by any stretch. "Things were just going so far to the extreme, and I realized that those weren't the kind of wines that really captivated me and held my attention." All of the fruit that Tolmach buys is paid for by the acre so that he can ensure low yields.