SommSelect Editorial Director David Lynch doesn’t drink Italian wine exclusively, and has been recommending this outstanding value-priced California Pinot to anyone who’ll listen.
When I first moved to California, in 2009, the Varner wines from the Santa Cruz Mountains were some of the first (of many) Californian wines I bought in my new job as wine director at Quince in San Francisco. It wasn’t the amiable Varner brothers, Bob and Jim, who showed me the wines that first time, but instead a San Francisco sommelier keen on challenging my Euro-centric prejudices, developed over more than a decade in New York City restaurants. My main beef with California—if you could call it a beef; it was more of a quibble—wasn’t with the quality of the wines but with the prices. It’s still a quibble, to be honest, as I have a hard time getting as jazzed about $20-$30 Californian wines as I do French, Spanish, and of course Italian wines in that same range. That price point is simply not California’s wheelhouse, but, then again, look what the Varners have done down in Santa Barbara County, with this superb 2014 Pinot Noir from the Los Alamos Vineyard—namely, craft one of the best-value Pinot Noirs I’ve ever tasted, from anywhere. We offered its ‘sister’ wine, a Chardonnay from the nearby El Camino Vineyard, a little while back, which elicited similar shock and awe. This is truly exceptional stuff.
The 2014 Los Alamos Vineyard Pinot Noir from Varner was crafted from 100% destemmed fruit and aged in French oak barrels, of which just 30% were new. It clocks in at just 13.2% alcohol and yet it’s plenty generous with the fruit. In the glass it’s a translucent ruby moving to magenta at the rim, with aromatics that make you feel like you’re walking through a redwood forest eating berries: there’s some nice blackberry and black cherry interspersed with red currant, cranberry, forest floor, and a little dried herb savor. The wine has terrific ‘crunch’ and energy—a pitch-perfect balance of fruit sweetness and mineral grip. It is an absolutely outstanding California Pinot Noir, period (i.e., it’s not just good “for the money”). It has all the makings of a by-the-case summer staple, bright and versatile and ready to go right out of the bottle—serve it at 60 degrees in Burgundy stems with some simply marinated tuna steaks off the grill (cooked rare!) and don’t tell anyone what you paid for this wine. On second thought, do tell—this is a bargain worth bragging about. —D.L.