1998 Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast)

What with mildew, mold and a misty September, the '98 grapes were thrilled to see warm weather in October. The harvest was unusually tardy (the Coastlands vineyard was picked in late October—and in early November in 1999), and total production was just 4,200 cases, down from about 8,000 in '97. (Much of this shortfall owes to the fact that the winery was not able to renew its contract for Olivet Lane fruit.) The '98s are atypically concentrated, says winemaker Bob Cabral, and perhaps for this reason are not as flashy as they usually are at this early stage in bottle. I found them uncompromisingly dry (Cabral told me that finished sugars are barely a half-gram per liter in the pinots) and serious—a distinctly adult style of pinot noir, with the guts and material for medium-term development in bottle. Cabral vinified the '98s with ex-winemaker Burt Williams, who is now essentially gone from the scene.