2016 Du MOL Pinot Noir Estate

A selection from the estate vineyard in the Russian River Valley (this cuvée represents roughly 24% of the total from vineyard), the 2016 Pinot Noir DuMOL Estate Vineyard is a mix of mostly Calera clones, with a little bit of the Swan clone. Like all the wines here, it was brought up in a mix of new and neutral French oak. Black cherries, currants, smoked earth, dried herbs, and some savory, herbal, meaty notes all emerge from this medium to full-bodied, concentrated, yet seamless and beautifully textured Pinot Noir. It’s one of the gems in the lineup, yet these are all impressive Pinot Noirs worth your time and money. I still remember tasting with Andy Smith while I was writing The Rhône Report and I was thrilled to be able to sit down and go through all of his wines on this occasion. Stylistically, Smith makes a fresh, vibrant style of wine, yet I never find them lacking for depth and or texture. Looking at the Chardonnays, these are made in a reductive, age-worthy style and the clear majority have distinctly Burgundian profiles. These are beautiful wines that, at least to my palate, surpass the quality of the Pinot Noirs, which are slightly more variable. Nevertheless, the top Pinot Noirs are certainly up with the crème de la crème of the region. While Andy favors a tight, age-worthy style of Chardonnay, the Pinot Noirs are made in a slightly more forward style. In addition to the Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays, DuMOL also produces a handful of world-class Syrahs, as well as one of the top examples of Viognier coming out of California. Both the 2015s and 2016s reviewed here are terrific wines, with the 2016s showing slightly more balance and elegance, but you can’t go wrong with either vintage here.

Medium ruby-purple colored, the 2016 Pinot Noir Estate Vineyard offers a nose of kirsch, redcurrants, ripe red plums and cranberry sauce with hints of lilacs, spice box, forest floor and dried Provence herbs. Medium-bodied with a beautifully elegant palate, it has a fine-grained frame supporting the quiet intensity of flavors, and it finishes with seamless freshness lengthening all those lovely fruit layers.

The 2016 Pinot Noir Estate Vineyard is a potent, brooding wine that expresses all the natural structural intensity of this site. Black cherry, plum, gravel, graphite, smoke and dark spice notes add to the wine's virile personality. The 2016 is not at all subtle, but it packs a serious punch. It should also age nicely for a number of years. Today, the tannins definitely make themselves felt.