What Are You Drinking?

“The last really great bottle of wine was a 2000 Richard Longoria Pinot Noir ‘Mt. Carmel.’ I had a preview taste; it will be released in February. It was gushing with fruit, had great structure, was ripe, delicious, a lot of style. It tasted like a fairly big wine but was a bit restrained. This wine is typical of what’s coming out of the new Santa Rita Hills appellation, which is at the western end of the Santa Ynez Valley. A lot of Pinot is too light or, in trying to make it dark, is over the top. This is really a strong expression of the new appellation.”