Hitching Post, Highliner Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara County

Hitching Post · California › Santa Barbara County › United States of America

Red · Pinot Noir
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LWIN 1813724
Critics Average score from professional wine critics and publications.
90 /100
Reviews
29
professional

Vintages

No vintages

No vintage-specific entries have been added for this wine.

NV

Community Reviews

33
33
Reviews
89.6
Avg Score
97
Highest
Taster #0458 · Mar 4, 2023
93/100
Had from magnum with dinner at the Hitching Post. Fabulous - really plush and in a great spot. It appears perfect storage and the large format made a huge difference here!
2008 vintage
Taster #6924 · Dec 25, 2022
Christmas dinner! Roast chicken, Highliner, roasted root vegetables...and followed by Buche de Noel!
2005 vintage
Taster #9201 · Jul 11, 2020
89/100
89: Maybe just a bit past its prime, but still a lovely experience. The translucent ruby color has started to brown a bit along the edges, but the bouquet and palate remain top-notch for Pinot Noir. Both lead with fruit and spice but finish with a pleasant earthiness. This wine has a velvety mouthfeel that is not common enough in this varietal, endowing it with more body than it really has and standing as a tribute to the winemaker. (Whether …
2008 vintage
Taster #2605 · Jan 11, 2018
90/100
Wonderful and worth the wait. 2008 was a great year for pinots in California, and this offering from Hitching Post is a great example. Earthy with delicious juicy fruity and semi-sweet spicy undertones. Medium finish. Wish I had another case.
2008 vintage
Taster #5731 · Jan 14, 2016
late day two, strawberry juice coming through but darker and unsettled, hitching points top pinot
2008 vintage
Taster #2605 · May 28, 2014
90/100
Nice earthiness. Leans to feminine style.
2008 vintage
Taster #5100 · Nov 26, 2013
91/100
Still very good! New world'ish style - warm fruit, pepper and minerals at the palate. Decanteded the wine first, would recommend that. Enjoy the "Sideways"-wine now, a real pleasure!
2008 vintage
Taster #5100 · Oct 7, 2013
90/100
A good example of a american pinot. Delightful, but still some new world taste with pepper, oak and plum. Would be nice over several years to come.
2008 vintage
Taster #6924 · Sep 27, 2012
97/100
Starts out very nice and just gets better and better as it opens. Rich and fruity but not overly sweet or cloying - just nice, dark cherry flavor, rich and lush and fantastic!
2005 vintage
Taster #1395 · Jul 21, 2012
89/100
fresh and light, very good pinot. Nice cherries.
2008 vintage
Taster #9219 · Dec 31, 2011
Light and near the end of its life. This particular bottle had a barnyard taste that un fortunately didn't dissipate.
2005 vintage
Taster #6451 · Dec 12, 2011
90/100
Clear with medium deep garnet color, Nose dominated by fruit, herbs and oak. Medium to high acid levels with medium body. Palate is in line with nose with dark cherries, herbs and hints of cola...
2005 vintage
Taster #6451 · Oct 2, 2010
89/100
Slightly opaque dark ruby color of medium intensity, nose of cherries, and wild sage. well balanced and in prime drinking age.
2005 vintage
Taster #6451 · May 30, 2010
89/100
Clear with medium deep garnet color, Nose dominated by fruit, herbs and oak. Medium to high acid levels with medium body. Palate is in line with nose with dark cherries, herbs and hints of cola...
2005 vintage
Taster #9889 · Apr 3, 2010
90/100
Very nice pinot, great balance between earthy pinot flavors and bright red fruit.
2005 vintage
Taster #9091 · Feb 28, 2010
88/100
Short decant. Nose of cherry and some herb. There is also a green note in there somewhere. Taste of Ludens cough drops with added herbs. Very cherry. A bit hot but lively. A fine drink but I think I liked it much more at the restaurant.
2005 vintage
Taster #5409 · Jan 9, 2010
89/100
still the best twist off top wine i've ever had.
2005 vintage
Taster #5409 · Jan 1, 2010
89/100
nice wine for a twist off! hard to believe that a small bottle of wine has this much flavor! i know that the reputation of hitching post is 'wine for the tourists', but on their higher end, which would be this level and up...is actually respectable and worthy of praise.
2005 vintage
Taster #3335 · Oct 10, 2009
90/100
Nice Ripe-style Pinot, with plenty of dark fruits, spices, a bit of smokyness. It is just a bit unbalanced with an alchoolic "bite" at the end.
2005 vintage
Taster #2309 · Oct 9, 2009
91/100
Had this with some excellent vodka penne and it went great - this is so much better with food.
2005 vintage
Taster #9632 · Sep 22, 2009
89/100
Very solid PN. I think this has a little more sweetness and smoke than I give to 90pt wines. It is very good. None of the bottles have really changed on me. Very consistent notes.
2005 vintage
Taster #9632 · Sep 8, 2009
89/100
Drank in rockport. Good wine. Only ok qpr. Dark cherries.
2005 vintage
Taster #2429 · Sep 1, 2009
89/100
beautiful nose. some earth. nice fruit and freshness
2005 vintage
Taster #8770 · Aug 29, 2009
90/100
Old scribbled notes from Damn Best California Pinot Dinner at Paul's Restaurant. Christmas spice/forest floor/baking spices; still al ittle tight on the finish
2005 vintage
Taster #8727 · Jul 7, 2009
88/100
went well with duck
2005 vintage
Taster #6692 · Jan 19, 2009
90/100
Nice bottle of pinot once again. Nose was very expansive with spice, cola and typical red fruits. Very big right out of the bottle and a decant would have helped. Opened up a bit more in the glass revealing layers of delicate oak, underbrush and earth. Nice fruit and tannin structure which will give this wine plenty of years ahead of it. Touch of heat out of the bottle, but blew off in the glass.
2005 vintage
Taster #9632 · Jan 3, 2009
88/100
Popped and poured at a party so I knew I was only getting one glass and it was early. The glass I got was very awkward and disjointed. I might save the last few bottles to see if they get better with a little shelf life.
2005 vintage
Taster #9632 · Jan 2, 2009
89/100
Notes are sketchy as this was the last of five bottles opened. The wine was much darker and smoky than the 2004 William Selyem opened just before. All in all not as good as I remember previous bottle.
2005 vintage
Taster #7554 · Dec 24, 2008
85/100
A year has not helped this wine. This had a faint sour and sweet cherry on the nose. Cranberry and strawberry palate. Very primary with a clipped finish. Not a complex pinot by any measure, but enjoyable.
2005 vintage
Taster #9094 · Nov 17, 2008
I loved this bottle! Great bouquet...fruit forward in flavor...nice structure. An overall easy drink.
2005 vintage
Taster #9632 · Oct 23, 2008
90/100
Just got 6 btls from my 2007 futures program and had to open one. Given reviews I was worried this would be a pretty bad QPR at $30+/btl. I was very pleasantly surprised. Color: dark plum red with good light translucence. Nose: very alcoholic. Underneath there is black cherries and soy sauce. Taste: Very nice complexity with a relatively long finish. I initially detected some bitterness on the back end but this seemed to go away as the wine got …
2005 vintage
Taster #5186 · Oct 17, 2008
88/100
Opened this for 4 hours prior to drinking. Sight: Dark for a pinot, high viscosity, consistent dark cherry color, mostly clear Nose: Not a lot of nose, but this was consumed out of NON-burgundy glasses. In fact, let's call them water glasses. Taste: Even, but not too much to show. Later, as the time factor went on I noticed is started to bloom more. A lot of good typcial pinot notes came out when chewing the wine. Overall - either …
2005 vintage
Taster #0345 · Sep 9, 2008
88/100
don't believe the hype
2005 vintage