Winemaker Notes
This 2007 Mills Vineyard Pinot Noir possesses a striking ruby color and an inviting black cherry and spice bouquet. Notes of juicy plum and our signature dusty limestone minerality combine with the tiniest hint of cinnamon hearts in its alluring, fine tuned texture. This very elegant wine shows a bit of classic Mills black pepper and pomegranate; it is a nicely balanced wine with beautiful viscosity and a rich finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Typically Calera's most luscious, delicious wine in youth. The year 2007 was kind, and the result is a Pinot rich in cherries, raspberries, licorice and cola, wrapped into a silky texture, with near perfect acids and tannins. As good as it is now, it should develop over the next 6–8 years.
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Wine Spectator
Notably spicy, firm and tight, with complex dried berry, white pepper, cedar and mineral notes that are full-bodied, ending with a minerally edge. Drink now through 2017.
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.”
At elevations reaching well over 2,000 feet, the Mt. Harlan AVA in the Gabilan Range is an anomaly among its surrounding Central Coast appellations. Recognizing the splendor of the area and its ideal limestone-rich soils, Josh Jensen chose Mt. Harlan as the home of his Calera Wine Company in the 1970s. Awarded his own AVA in 1990, Calera is the only commercial winery in the appellation.