Pinot Noir

from Willamette Valley, Oregon

Price: $55.99

(this vintage is sold out)

The 2009 vintage is available for: $57.99

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Item No. 97530

(1)

ratings pedigree (past vintages):

2010

2009

2008

2005

2003

winemaker's notes:

Our First Class is produced only when we have a particular lot of wine that is very, very special, and the 2006 First Class Pinot Noir is such a wine. To start, we look to our favorite vineyard sites for the most balanced, flavorful and concentrated Pinot Noir. We ferment these lots in small fermenters called "pots". We baby them every step of the way and move the best wine into new French oak barrels for sixteen months of ageing. As the wines develop, we select the best barrels to eventually become "FIRST CLASS" - the best of the best.

The 2006 First Class Pinot Noir is a dark ruby colored wine that exhibits cherry and blackberry aromas with underlying scents of anise, mocha and blueberry. Very ripe tannins and balanced acidity create a rich, velvety texture. The exquisite balance of this wine makes it a very versatile wine with food.

alcohol by volume: 14.6%

critical acclaim:

"Supple and disarmingly enticing for its gorgeous raspberry, black cherry and Santa Rosa plum aromas and flavors, beautifully arrayed on a fine carpet of sweet tannins. Lingers expressively on the harmonious finish. Best now through 2016."

92 Points

Wine Spectator

User Reviews

The top 3 most liked reviews for this wine.

C. G. Beck - Princeton, NJ (read all my reviews)

rating (9/21/2010):

Steven Girard's Benton Lane FC is simply amazing! Some famous Pinot noir quotes come to mind when enjoying a glass of this BL wine: "the most romantic of wines, with so voluptuous a perfume, so sweet an edge, and so powerful a punch that, like falling in love, they make the blood run hot and the soul wax embarrassingly poetic; "sex in a glass;" "a seductive yet fickle mistress!" All apply here. Rasberry, black cherry, and currant aromas highlight this velvetly, medium-body masterpiece. This is one to love...