Winemaker Notes
La Savante pairs well with ravioli with tomato sauce, polenta with peperonata, or bibimbap.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
I find some similarities in the 2019s with gourmand aromas, a little riper and showier than the 2018s. The 2019 Histoire d’A Pinot Noir was produced with grapes from a plot with shallow soils in the Adrianna Vineyard in Gualtallary, 1.75 hectares planted in 1998 with clone 115 at 1,350 meters in altitude. It fermented in 600-liter oak roll fermentors with 20% full clusters and matured in French oak barrels for 18 months. It's fresh and elegant but showier than the 2018, with notes of sour cherries and decayed violets. It's a fresh and elegant Pinot with very fine and chalky tannins. 4,560 bottles were filled in December 2020.
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.”
With a winning combination of cool weather, high elevation and well-draining alluvial soils, it is no surprise that Mendoza’s Uco Valley is one of the most exciting up-and-coming wine regions in Argentina. Healthy, easy-to-manage vines produce low yields of high-quality fruit, which in turn create flavorful, full-bodied wines with generous acidity.
This is the source of some of the best Malbec in Mendoza, which can range from value-priced to ultra-premium. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay also perform well here.