2015 Black Kite "Sierra Mar Vineyard" Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir
SKU #1399560
93 points
Vinous
Brilliant red. An exotically perfumed bouquet evokes ripe raspberry, cherry-cola, star anise and rose oil, along with smoky mineral and vanilla overtones. Shows deeper dark fruit character on the palate, offering sappy smoke-laced black raspberry, licorice and spicecake flavors that are enlivened by a spine of juicy acidity. Closes with repeating florality, fine-grained tannins and excellent, spice-tinged persistence. (JR)
(11/2017)
92 points
Wine Enthusiast
There's a compelling mix of sweeter fruit and dry earth on the nose of this bottling, with strawberry compote and rusty rock aromas along with a vanilla-laced brioche. The palate loses the ripe fruit a bit, instead showing tighter and fresh flavors of black raspberry with anise, white pepper and sagebrush, proving quite sleek and restrained in style.
(3/2018)
90 points
Connoisseurs Guide
Here, again, the ripeness and relatively open stance that typify Pinots from the Santa Lucia Highlands come through clearly, yet, for all of its immediacy and outgoing fruit, the wine shows a nice bit of balancing brightness that wards off any suggestion of heaviness. It has plenty of body and tactile weight, and, while arguably fairly direct, it is a well-made Pinot that should show a little more range and refinement if set aside to rest for a couple of years. *One Star*
(2/2018)
K&L Notes
Winemaker's Notes: "A stellar example of both varietal and vintage, our 2015 Sierra Mar Vineyard Pinot Noir makes an immediate impression with enticing aromatics that hint at the mouth-filling flavor to follow. A heady mix of red fruits and sweet florals gains Bing cherry, raspberry and enticing tropical notes once the wine opens up. The generous, concentrated palate is buoyed by bright acidity and firm tannins suggesting this might be one of our most age-worthy wines yet. Enjoy upon release or cellar for up to 15 years."