Rating: 89/100 - As reviewed by International Wine Cellar in Issue 132, May/June 2007 ($45) Bright red. Spicy cherry and wild strawberry aromas, with dark chocolate and licorice accents. Supple red and dark berry jam flavors show good depth and are accented by cracked pepper and mace. Finishes broad and sweet, with very good length and a refreshingly bitter cherry skin tone.

Community Tasting Notes (average 91.2 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 289 notes)

Rating: 93/100 - As reviewed by Wine Spectator

Rating for United States-California: 90 (slightly better than average year)<br/><br/>Drinkability: young, aging quickly, could be good now<br/>

Tasted by jdietz on 11/26/2011 & rated 90 points: Still on the big side of Pinot, with lots of baking spice, cinnamon on the nose. Red cherry fruit with a hint of cola. I liked it better than LC did, who felt the fruit was still too big. Good acidity, making it a nice food wine. With vegetabl soup, turkey, and, later, with tamales. No problem holding on to these a couple more years if desired. (903 views) Tasted by winepog on 11/5/2011 & rated 92 points: Edged out a 1998 CdP and a really nice Amorone - very nice wine....smooth and balanced, after decanting for 1.5 hours... (1286 views) Tasted by JOJ on 10/15/2011 & rated 93 points: Nose of raspberry, wild berry, baking spice, mineral, and chalk. Classic RRV palate -- wild berry, black cherry, cola and nutmeg. Still a healthy amount of tannin, with counterbalacing acidty. Youthful. Very good. (1251 views) Tasted by Bestjetsfan on 9/16/2011 & rated 92 points: Pinot isn't my thing, but this wine was outstanding. Popped and poured. There was clarity and precision in the wine with clearly defined flavors focusing on a cherry base that was neither tart nor sweet, but somewhere in the middle. There was only a bit of Cali pinot cola funk. There was acidity without bitterness. The finish was on the long side. Color was a bit light compared to my usual Saxums, about what you would expect from a pinot. I do not know if it was the patience of waiting 6 years or just the wine itself. I drank this same wine over 3 years ago and my note said that everyone agreed that it was "stong flavored" for a pinot noir. Maybe that's true compared to a Burg, but it's a lot lighter than the Aubert pinot we had last month. (1505 views)