Mount Eden Vineyards Estate Pinot Noir 2014
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Wine Enthusiast
Wild strawberry and plum mix with subtle yet sultry notes of nutmeg, mace, loam, graphite and game on the nose of this bottling. Sizzling acidity leads the palate, carrying cherry, plum and red apple flavors, followed by layers of eucalyptus and pine forest.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Pinot Noir Estate from Mount Eden is beautiful, wafting from the glass with aromas of red cherries, potpourri, mountain laurel, forest floor and cinnamon. On the palate, it's medium-bodied, ample and layered, with velvety tannins, succulent acids and lovely length and grain on the tangy finish. Follow this young classic for the next 15 years.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Seeing one-third whole clusters and 12 months in barrel, the 2014 Pinot Noir Estate has a subtle, nuanced style as well as terrific notes of dried strawberries, red currants, spice-box and forest floor. It's elegant, seamless and silky on the palate, with fine tannin and impeccable balance. Give it a few years to develop more complexity (although I'd happily drink it today) and it's going to keep for 10-15+ years.
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Wine & Spirits
Jeffrey Patterson is committed to dry farming his vines, and continued through this third year of drought, when his vineyard received a total of 14 inches of rain for the season. He sustained his vines by limiting their crop, and decided to pick those concentrated grapes starting on August 4th, the earliest harvest in the estate’s history. Yet despite the extremity of the season, the wine feels gracious and refined. It has the cool feel of the air in a coastal forest, mossy and piney, lasting on an earthy savor. The texture is firm and juicy, while the wine isn’t overtly fruity. This should be a fascinating vintage of Mount Eden to watch as it develops over the next decade.
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Decanter
The lively, spicy, oaky nose has aromas of coffee and vanilla countered by rich, vibrant red fruits and a rose petal note. The palate displays flair and lift despite its concentration, with plenty of grip without any astringency. Floral, polished and long.
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Mount Eden Vineyards is a small historic wine estate perched at 2000 feet overlooking Silicon Valley in the Santa Cruz Mountain Appellation, about 50 miles south of San Francisco. Founded in 1945, it is recognized as one of the original “boutique” California winery properties, focusing on small lots of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Mount Eden’s lineage of estate bottled Chardonnay and Pinot Noir is the longest in California. Planted in austere, infertile Franciscan shale on a cool, exposed mountaintop, these low-yielding estate vineyards have consistently produced world-class wines for over a half-century. In 2007 Mount Eden acquired an additional 55 acre wine estate in the Saratoga foothills, which was christened Domaine Eden.
Mount Eden Vineyards also produces non-estate Chardonnays from the central coast, primarily Edna Valley. They have great success making Chardonnay from the Wolff Vineyard and are continually recognized as making outstanding wines from that region.
Since 1981 Jeffrey Patterson has guided the winemaking and grape growing at Mount Eden. His emphasis is on wine growing rather than winemaking; and an obsession with gentleness and naturalness in the handling of the grapes and wines is his ongoing passion.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
A rugged and topographically diverse cool-climate appellation with a rich history, the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA stretches from Half Moon Bay, just south of San Francisco, to the northern border of Monterey County. Elevations range from 800 feet to upwards of 3,000 and microclimates vary substantially depending on which side of the mountains the vineyards lie; cool ocean winds and fog play an important role here. This can be a challenging region in which to grow grapes, but it is well worth the effort. Santa Cruz Mountains wines are noted for balanced acidity levels, often showing great aging potential. Wine has been made here since the 1800s, most notably from the legendary Ridge Vineyards, whose Monte Bello vineyard garners international admiration.
Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon are the stars of this region, while Merlot and Zinfandel also perform quite well. Organic and sustainable vineyard practices are becoming increasingly common.