Elegant and minerally, with concentrated dark fruit flavors that are full of rich cocoa powder and creamy accents. The lusciously spiced finish features powerful slate and savory accents. Drink now through 2021.

From the Sta. Rita Appellation in Santa Barbara County, the 2016 Pinot Noir Clos Pepe Vineyard is all clone 115 aged 11 months in 50% new French oak. Black cherries, spice, underbrush, and earth all emerge from this dense, concentrated Pinot Noir that’s holding things close to its vest. Showing more base notes and forest floor with time in the glass, give it another year or two of bottle age, and I suspect it will drink nicely through 2025.