2016 Côtière Pinot Noir La Encantada Vineyard Santa Rita Hills

WSI94+ VIN92+ Readers should be prepared to cellar the 2016 Pinot Noir La Encantada Vineyard, as it is quite tannic and austere in the early going. That notwithstanding, the 2016 possesses terrific depth in its fruit and more than enough pedigree. Time in bottle should help soften the tannins and release some of the Encantada fruit.
JD92 The 2016 Pinot Noir La Encantada Vineyard is another terrific wine under this label and spent 15 months in 30% new French oak. Lots of spiced red fruits, crushed rock-like minerality, scorched earth, and spice notes all flow to a rich, medium-bodied, nicely concentrated, structured effort that still has the upfront fruit and suppleness that’s the hallmark of the vintage. It’s a terrific, impeccably made Pinot Noir that can be drunk today or cellared for 7-8 years. 
Estate Notes: Spiced cherry, dried lavender, warm boysenberry. Juicy raspberry, smoked sea salt, cranberry compote. Chopped fennel and anise, undergrowth and dense woods. An intense almost brooding fruit profile led by reduced pomegranate and red plum booms brashly through wet leaves, earthy spice, and ash.