Sand Hill Wines Durell Vineyard Pinot Noir 2007

From Cork'd - vegaswinebarguy 91/100 If it is possible to mix together candied red delicious apples with fresh Michigan Bing cherries in July with undertones of earth, cinnamon sticks, white pepper and oak that is what with wine smells like. In the mouth, this wine packs much of the same with the added exception of adding a new dimension in fruit with it going to from fresh to very plump and lush. Red and black plums begin to appear and the earth disappears. A most unique wine from this small producer. Ready to drink now.

From NorCalWine.com / Fred Swan: The wine is bright ruby in color with a pale rim and clear legs that telegraph a somewhat luxurious mouthfeel without over- extraction. Swirl the wine in your glass and this Pinot Noir’s complexity will reach out to you before your nose gets to the rim. The wine is obviously very young and is playing aroma wheel roulette. The aromas you get may not match what I’ve found, but the level of complexity should be similar. (Wines often tighten up for a while after being bottled but Sand Hill ages their Pinot in bottle for almost a year in an effort to spare you that experience.) When I tasted the wine on October 10, the primary aromas were of red cherry, black cherry and Dr. Pepper. Typical Pinot notes of dark flowers and gravel added interest, as did those of brown spice and sandalwood which I assume came from the medium- toast French oak barrels. I re-tasted the wine on November 12 and the black cherry was still present. But the red cherry had been replaced by cranberry and dried orange peel. The flowers had disappeared and in their place were dried herb, black tea, and moist tobacco leaf. Gravel had become earth. Sandalwood had morphed into cedar, smoke and brown sugar. As the wine sat in my glass during the latter tasting, some of the subtler aromas dissipated. At that point, the wine presented strong core aromas of sweet black and red cherry with accents of cedar, vanilla and caramel. As one would expect from its appearance, the wine has the body of whole milk in the mouth and silky tannins. There’s a tartness to the fruit but the tannins and alcohol don’t allow the acidity to be mouth-watering. The flavors are proud but not aggressive and they matched many of the aromas. Cherry dominates but is complemented by cedar, dried tobacco, earth, black tea, forest floor and rosemary. The finish is long with persistent tart cherry and raspberry flavors. http://www.norcalwine.com