Robert Sinskey Vineyards Pinot Noir Vandal Vineyard

Popped and poured. Bright ruby color. A bit of a funky earthy nose. Not alot of fruit but some cherries. Nice acidity. I think I would have thought it was much better with a seafood dish. On its own is seemed simple with little actually happening.

Much better than the last bottle that I had. Good fruit and acidity. This is what I expect from Sinskey.

A dead ringer for Burgundy. Ruby color is medium and just starting to amber on the edge. Sleak acid beatifully balanced by black fruits, good minerality, tight tannins integrate well. A very well made Pinot. It has to be a top performer in the organic category.

This bottle didn't have much going on. An off bottle perhaps?

Popped and poured. Nice nose with a bit of alcohol. Wine is huge for a pinot with lots and lots of cherry.

More complex nose than Capa, with ripe red fruits, tea, cinnamon and clove. Good acidity balances the fruit. Complex and interesting finish.

Ok, I have a soft spot for organic viticulture. I also love Sinskey's website. These facts probably color my reaction to the wines. Nonetheless, there's a lot to like and appreciate about this wine. It's nothing ike most Napa pinots (I drink very few of them these days). It's soft, understated, and subtle-kind of the opposite of what I normally expect which is a smack in the mouth with overdone ripe jammy fruit. This doesn't taste Burgundian or Oregonian, dare …

French Laundry Dinner (Yountville, CA) : This was a good Pinot, but not that exciting to me by itself. Funky nose, fruit on the palate. Good, biting acidty. The pairing of this with my lobster dish was very cool, one of those rare, harmonious, "2+2=10" pairings. The two really worked together on the palate and I was left with a very smooth, pleasant cherry finish.