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: 2012 Calera "de Villiers" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir

2012 Calera "de Villiers" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir

SKU #1190872 95 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Outer quote mark I loved the 2012 Pinot Noir de Villiers. It's a beautifully complete, balanced and satisfying Pinot Noir that does everything right. Giving up tons of sweet black raspberry and strawberry fruits, spice-box, dried flowers and potpourri characteristics, it's medium to full-bodied, layered and seamless, with a ripe, supple texture that keeps you coming back to the glass. While there's more than enough fruit to keep this enjoyable now, there's some solid tannin and depth in there as well, so it will age. (JD) Inner quote mark (8/2015)

93 points Wine Enthusiast

Outer quote mark Hard cinnamon candies, cherry juice, pomegranate extract and a touch of balsamic vinegar combine for sharp, nose-tickling aromas on this organically grown wine from pioneering vintner Josh Jensen. The flavor-forward palate explodes with dark fruits, noticeable tannins and solid acidity, showing allspice, Vietnamese coffee and black tea elements. (MK) Inner quote mark (7/2015)

92 points Vinous

Outer quote mark The 2012 Pinot Noir de Villiers Vineyard is beautifully focused and precise. Dark blue and black stone fruits, cloves, mint and lavender are all pushed forward in a supple, juicy Pinot built on a real sense of immediacy. As always, the de Villiers is the most open-knit of the Calera Pinots. The 2012 was done with 50% whole clusters and remains the only wine in the Calera range that is not fermented with 100% stems. After internships at Dujac and Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Josh Jensen returned to his native California in search of vineyard land on limestone soils. Jensen found what he was looking for high atop Mount Harlan, a rugged, hillside property outside Hollister. In the mid-1970s Jensen began developing the land. The resulting vineyards, all of which lie on the same property, give birth to some of the most compelling California Pinots and Chardonnays readers will come across. Given his Burgundian leanings, Jensen vinifies all of this Pinots with 100% whole clusters, with the exception of the de Villiers, which is usually rendered with 50% stems. The 2012 Pinots are fleshy, open and seductive, which is to say very much in the style of the year. Calera fans can also look forward to a complete retrospective of the Jensen Vineyard Pinot Noir, which I tasted all the way back to the inaugural 1978 vintage during a recent visit to the winery. (AG) Inner quote mark (6/2015)

91 points Wine Spectator

Outer quote mark Aromas of ripe dark berry, limestone, underbrush and gravel make for a compelling drink that's not shy about tannins, providing grip midpalate and holding on tenaciously. (JL) Inner quote mark (4/2015)

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2012 Calera "de Villiers" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir

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Varietal:

Pinot Noir

- One of France's most legendary grapes and the grape that earned Burgundy its reputation. The parent of varietals like Pinot Gris/Grigio and Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir is blue to violet to indigo in color with relatively thin skins, and it is said to have been cultivated in France for more than 2,000 years. At its best, Pinot Noir creates elegant wines that are filled with primary red fruit aromas and flavors while young, revealing with an array of secondary characteristics like earth, smoke, violet, truffle and game with age. The varietal is also known, perhaps better than any, for its ability to translate terroir, or a sense of place. While the best Pinot Noir still comes from Burgundy, it is being produced with increasing success in cooler climates around the world. In France, it is part of the trifecta of grapes that can go into Champagne, and it is also grown in Alsace, Irancy, Jura, Savoie, Lorraine and Sancerre. Outside of France it is produced under the names Pinot Nero and Blauburgunder in Italy's mountainous regions, as Spätburgunder in Germany and as Blauburgunder in Austria. In the US, Pinot Noir has found suitable growing conditions in the cooler parts of California, including Carneros, the Russian River Valley, the Anderson Valley, the Sonoma Coast, Monterey County, the Santa Lucia Highlands and Santa Barbara County, as well as in Oregon's Willamette Valley. In recent years, New Zealand has demonstrated its ability to interpret this hard-to-grow varietal, with successful bottlings coming from careful and attentive growers in Central Otago, Martinborough and Canterbury. Chile is also an up-and-coming region for Pinot Noir, creating fresh, fruit-forward, early-drinking and affordable Pinots from the coastal Casablanca Valley and the Limari Valley.

Country:

United States

- When people consider domestic wine, they normally think about the state of California. The fine viticultural Region within California, including the Napa Valley, Sonoma, Santa Cruz Mountains, Mendocino and Santa Barbara, are capable of growing grapes of world-class quality. But there's plenty of fabulous wine coming from other states, too. Oregon, Washington and New York are also causing eyebrows (and glassware) to be raised around the world.

Sub-Region:

California

- With the explosive growth that California's wine industry has seen the past several years, it's easy to view winemaking and grape growing in the Golden State as a recent phenomenon. And while it's true that California's viticultural history is brief compared to several European countries, this state's roots date back well over 200 years. Due to the enormous response to California wine within the United States and worldwide, there are thousands of excellent and diverse wines being produced within the state each year.