Blackstone Winery Pinot Noir Sonoma County Sonoma Reserve 2007

Meaty cherries greet the nose and while this is a touch alcoholic it also shows incipient complexity with gentle notes of pencil shavings, vanilla, piecrust and baking spices. It’s a rather soft nose and only moderately intense. On entry the wine is immediately quite smooth with nice acidity and very soft tannins. There is an initial blast of smoky toned cherry fruit, which is followed by a slight bittersweet chocolate and caramel tone on the backend that leads to a warm, strawberry rhubarb backend. The finish shows more tannin, which gives the subtle wood spice tones some persistence on the palate though, the fine acidity allow the fruit to pop on the finale after the wood tones have begun to fade. A very nice style of Pinot that may not wow too many people, but is sure to please many more. It’s well suited to drinking on it’s own but is well balanced and food friendly. 89pts

Noticeably woody on the nose with a touch of barnyard and some barbecue spice notes accenting the light cherry fruit. Lighter-bodied on entry with a sweet/sour quality to the wine. The mid-palate is simple, cherry fruit-driven, again with the sweet/sour tension and touches of leather and lightly smoky oak leading to a vanilla tinged backend and lightly fruity finish. Light and easy, though the acid is somewhat off-putting and the finish is slightly cloying. The flavors here are actually fine, structurally it seems a bit off-balance and will probably show better with food. 85pts