American Pinot Noir

"It's, uh, it's thin-skinned, temperamental, ripens early. It's, you know, it's not a survivor like cabernet... No, pinot needs constant care and attention."

- Miles


Arterberry Maresh - Dundee Hills, Oregon. "Supple and full of juicy dark plums and red berries, with subtle notes of clay and anise on the finish," says AvalonWine.com

Baxter - Anderson Valley - Henneberg and higher-end Toulouse, both rich, ripe and deep. Like Foucault, but better at a dinner party.

Brewer-Clifton - Santa Rita Hills, CA. One of the great American Pinots. Parker raves about the 2008 (92 pts): "Plenty of black cherry and strawberry notes... Dark ruby, medium to full-bodied, with a striking minerality, this is among the tightest knit and most structured and backward of the 2008 Pinots." Not sure what backward means, but we like it. More here.

Byron - Santa Maria Valley, CA - One of the top scoring, top drinking Santa Barbara county Pinots. Look for the tasting room in Los Olivos, or order the wines online. Dark cherries and plum = yum.

Cambria - Santa Maria Valley, CA - Wine Spectator’s 2009 wine of the year--and for good reason--Cambria is known for its eight clone-specific bottlings. “Having different clones planted gives us flexibility in blending and also gives us the opportunity to show how different each clone is,” says Denise Shurtleff, Cambria’s winemaker. The clone-specific bottlings tend to be a bit more pricey than the blended Julia's Vineyard Pinot Noir (WE 93). All are deep, refined, luxurious wines.

Calera - Central Coast - Thanks NYC resto Apiary (Monday night no corkage) for the recommendation. This is a lighter style pinot perfect for fish and summer.

Capiaux Pisoni from the Santa Lucia Highlands and their more affordable Chimera from Sonoma (Tanzer 89)

Claudia Springs - Mendocino. Gold medal, SF Chronicle.

Copain Another Anderson Valley winner. Anderson Valley means happy grapes cooled by the nearby ocean and the seemingly omnipresent bank of oceanic fog. Wells Guthrie, the winemaker, trained with Turley, and now makes great American pinots and syrah. More here.

Davis Bynum - Russian River. If you're one of those people who thinks every American winemaker is jumping on the pinot bandwagon, or that they all taste of too much cherry and not enough wine, then this wine is for you. Even if you're not, this wine is for you. The first winery to produce a single vineyard pinot noir from the Russian River Valley, Davis Bynum makes a silky pinot with plenty of fruit but this is no waif. You can tell right away from the color and earthy nose that this wine has some depth, some body, even some soul. Various vintages have scored in the high 90s (WS, RP, etc.) At $30 a bottle, it's a California Pinot winner.

Erath - Oregon - Good value, fruit forward, Oregonian style. The Estate Selection and La Nuit Magique (the two higher end labels) are especially good -- silky, long and luscious as a film noir femme fatale. Cocoa-dusted red fruit.

Etude - Napa - Rich, succulent CA pinots. Of the Deer Camp Pinot Noir, the winery says, "brooding dark fruit mingles with notes of bay leaf and toasted almond."

Gary Farrel - Russian River - cherry, fruity but not too light.

Goldeneye - Anderson Valley. 92 points. WS and Wine News. The Duckhorn people.

Hartford Court - Sonoma. Rich, cranberry and cherry, velvet.

La Crema - Montery, CA. 92 points and an "Editors' Choice" from Wine Enthusiast: "A rich, vital, complex Pinot Noir. Completely dry, with a savory scour of acidity, it treads a fine line between ripe cherries and pomegranates." Try K&L.

LaFond - Santa Rita Hills, CA. Try: Cafe Cluny in NYC. Buy: bargain sampler direct from the winery. 

Londer (pictured) - Anderson Valley. Three tiers of pinots, all excellent. These are supple, complex wines, balanced and beautiful. They say: "Not an 'over the top' extracted style, just beautifully balanced and perfectly crafted." Parker loves their high end Paraboll pinot. We love them all. Everyone loves their $25 Anderson Valley Pinot. More at Londer Vineyards.

Migration - Anderson Valley. Second of Golden Eye, from the Duckhorn people. Served at the Obama inauguration.

Macrostie - Sonoma. Dark garnet pinots with bright, cherry nose.

J. Rochioli - Russian River. "Vibrant and rich from the color and aroma through to the end..." (Wine & Spirits Magazine)

Ramsay - Central Coast. Good value, classic California pinot noir style.

Steele - Various, CA. Another bad label, good wine combo. Goes well with a great meal at Recette.

Hermann Wiemer - Finger Lakes. The biggest, bestest, awardedest wine from NY's Finger Lakes. And how is it? We haven't tried it yet. Sorry.

Whitethorn - Sonoma. Spicy, dense.

. . .

Read Anthony's piece on Santa Barbara County in ArtInfo.com.

NYT pinot noir topic page.

Food & Wine faves here.

Seattle Times recs here.

Portland Indie Wine Festival.

. . .

Don't forget the contenders from other parts, like Mt. Difficulty and Hamilton Russell.