Peay, Pinot Noir Scallop Shelf, Sonoma Coast

Felt very classic and older world energy. Underripe berry, some orange rind, touch fig, little forest floor. A bit of an old slightly musty note at finish. Think it's just a touch over the hill.

2012 vintage

Absolutely sublime. 2012 was a fantastic vintage for Peay. This is still showing great, with a finish for days. Incredibly balanced and flavorful.

2012 vintage

Needed an hour or two to open up, but still drinking beautifully. Red fruit, herbs, and cedar, along with some fig. Silky smooth but still packing a flavor (if not body) punch. Magnificent with pork.

2012 vintage

Wonderful after aerating an hour. Paired w/filet mignon, homemade mushroom sauce, Asian-style slaw, brussel sprouts with bacon and white sweet potatoes, while watching the Rams beat the Bengals on Superbowl Sunday (94).

2012 vintage

Drinking well, smooth, drinking window closing. LC says it has a light, herbal tone.

2012 vintage

2 hour decant. Showing beautifully. Lots of pomegranate, red currant and sour cherry on the nose. Wish I had more.

2012 vintage

Spectacular.

2012 vintage

Acquired new from winery mailing list. Significantly better than last bottles 6 and 12 months ago. Do not see much upside in future maturity but will hold for a few more years.

2012 vintage

Drinking beautifully with nicely resolved tannins, perfect for National Red Wine Day. Enjoyed on its own.

2012 vintage

smooth and nice - for Dave.

2012 vintage

Prior bottle was 15 months ago and this wine has evolved nearly exactly along the lines I'd hoped. Red cherry and forest floor (earth, spices, minerals) on the nose. Medium bodied with red cherry upfront, bringing in the black cherry through the middle. Shows elegance through the middle, but with just enough of an edge from the acidity to show brightness and add positive tension to the backside. Some high toned lighter notes (strawberry) mix with tart red cherry and …

2012 vintage

Lovely red and blue/black fruit. More high acid red fruit red ice cream cherry and nice red violet in the glass. Love the wine. It is in a good place. Well balanced between fruit, mouthfeel smoothness and acid tartness. Pom feel. Perfect weekday wine. On 4/27, still good after several days in the fridge. It will last another few days.

2012 vintage

I don’t post most wines here but opened a bottle of 2012 Peay ama Pinot noir to let it breath - oh my, exceptional bottle of wine! Hints of cherry, raspberry notes and silky texture layers of complex flavors ... oh my - so happy I have another bottle on the cellar (maybe tomorrow?) and a magnum also. This is one of the moments that I give thanks for growers/winemakers who put in the effort to craft extraordinary wines like …

2012 vintage

PnP. Notes after being open for an hour. Medium light red. Airy nose of red fruits, especially strawberry and cherry, rather subtle. Medium depth on the palate with a very nice spicy quality to go along with the red fruits. This is drinking nicely at age 8; may develop more secondary characteristics with additional age but no reason to wait if one enjoys Sonoma Coast fruit.

2012 vintage

Beautiful wine. Subtle, elegant and nuanced. Drinking well now.

2012 vintage

Elegant cherry and berry flavors underscored by black tea. I am starting to understand this wine better now. It makes the most of its understated presence.

2012 vintage

Pine needles and cranberry skins on the nose. Olives? Relatively generous fruit and latent complexity. The tannins are firm but fine. Spicy and layered with oak coming through as buttered toast character. I don't think this has quite opened up yet. Intriguing.

2012 vintage

Full bodied Pinot Noir. Red plum, ripe, cherry, oak-driven spice. Definitely Pinot in a new world style. It's a 2012 but not really showing a ton of discernible age. Medium+ acidity. Good stuff.

2012 vintage

Age has helped this in almost all respects.

2012 vintage

popped and poured. Drank over 2 hours. Very good pinot that is at a good place. Balanced with good depth. Would drink these over the next 3-5 years. A short 30 minute decant is all that is needed.

2012 vintage

PnP. Medium light red. Lovely nose of ripe red fruits and blood orange. Silky smooth on the palate with lovely medium weight fruit and a nice sappy intensity. Seems more typical than the last bottle. Very nice.

2012 vintage

Prior bottle was a bit over 16 months ago and my notes were still essentially consistent. Nose is red raspberry and red cherry along with vanilla and spices, but the vanilla was a touch more prominent than previously. Starts off with red cherry, deepening through the middle with red raspberry and darker plum. Backside retains just enough acidity to provide some contrast through the tart red cherry and softer wildberry. Finish remains very well integrated, rounded and balanced. The vanilla …

2012 vintage

Decanted 4 hours. Paired with pan roasted chicken breast and morel sauce. Effusive bouquet cherry and spring flower blossoms. Medium weight with great balance and sense of purity on the palate with broad cherry, floral and bramble flavors. Medium finish. This is in a great place and showing no fatigue. It should cruise for a decade and likely gain complexity. Moving my drink by to 2030.

2012 vintage

PnP. Medium deep red. Ripe nose of berries, cherries, and a floral component I often think of as lavender. On the palate this is rich and ripe but with some nice savory notes on the finish. This is atypical for Scallop Shelf in my experience as this vineyard usually gives an elegant and high toned Pinot with gorgeous aromatics. The ripeness here is lovely and this may improve with air but it is less interesting than other vintages.

2012 vintage

Red cherry, light spices, minerals and earth on the nose. Medium bodied (13.7% ABV) and was a bit light and tight at first, but opened up quite impressively so after a bit over four hours open, was showing extremely well. Rounded, yet bright red cherry upfront with a mid-body that shows elegance, good depth and hints of black cherry. The integration between the mid-body and the backside elements was where this wine showed its best: adding tart red cherry and …

2012 vintage

PnP at cellar temp. Striking lightness and clarity, even for a Pinot. Nose of bright cherries, sweet spices, wet stones and minerals, and something metallic underneath. Understated thus far. Palette, however, is rich and lively with well integrated acid that uplifts flavors reminiscent of the nose. Light structure but holding it all together. An hour open brings out great depth of fruit, 5 spice, and something savory I can identify. Simply beautiful. Time to re-up my Peay bottle stock.

2012 vintage

Excellent bottle. While still young, this bottle exhibited stone red fruits, minerality and soft silky tannins.

2012 vintage

One of the best Peay pinots I've had.

2012 vintage

Prior bottle was almost a year and a half ago and this wine has improved nicely in that time. Nose remains essentially the same with red cherry, red raspberry and background vanilla/spice notes. Red cherry upfront and while it still has some acidity-enhanced brightness, it's much rounder and more expressive than previously. Density, balance and elegance through the mid-body have all improved. Brings in red raspberry and darker plum before shifting to more tart notes of cherry and wildberry. Finish …

2012 vintage

Drunk from magnum. Pretty crimson, Burgundian nose, dry, dusty with currant, cedar, leaves and an undertone of spice. This evolved, significantly over 2 hours. The wine is still young, but drinks beautifully.

2012 vintage

Just keeps getting better.

2012 vintage

Did not take formal notes, but this was outstanding. I'm still thinking about it a week after I drank it. Nose explodes in the glass, with ripe red fruits, orange blossom. The type of nose you want to keep smelling, so captivating you put off drinking. In the mouth, full fruit flavors perfectly balanced with secondary characteristics, exceedingly smooth. This wine is drinking beautifully right now. I was blown away.

2012 vintage

Bright and a slight but tannic. Burgundian style...should get better with a few more years.

2012 vintage

Purplish red. beautiful plum, raspberry, smoke and cedar nose. Delicate floral top notes, with loads of red fruits and hints of cola. Some cherry developed in the glass. Delightful. Drinking beautifully.

2012 vintage

Only 30 min decant. Found it frail w/ limited fruit for a quality Cali Pinot. Disappointed. could it be slightly corked, i'll see when I have another bottle.

2012 vintage

Red cherry, red raspberry and integrated vanilla on the nose. Medium bodied (13.7% ABV) with very impressive balance and integration for a pinot this young. Bright red cherry upfront, tempered by deeper notes of raspberry and plum and finishes with tart, acidity driven notes of tart cherry and wildberry. The wine starts off bright, softens and deepens, adding richness with the darker background fruit notes and then balances nicely with the more tart notes as it transitions into the finish. …

2012 vintage

The nose has jasmine and black tea aromas along with plum and anise. The mouth is fuller than the 2011 or 2010 with more compact fruit. The acidity is bright and the finish quite long. Wait till 2019.

2012 vintage

A bit darker with a little more heft than some of their other offerings. Still mid-weight, not heavy in any way. Darker fruits, a bit of smoke and spice. It's tasty but I think the Scallop Shelf remains a bit closer to my preferred style.

2012 vintage

I really need to check my notes before pulling as I told myself I should wait a yr or two on the next bottle of this. brilliant. anyhoo... less crunchy red fruit w/ this bottle and more dark fruits. I think still needs some time. C liked it more than I did, I wonder if I tend to like the leaner, cooler years like '11? Note to dial back purchases just a bit.

2012 vintage

Nice wine but too young, even with an hour of decanting. Try in a year.

2012 vintage

drank at ZaZu at The Barlow. BIG Pinot! Much better the 2nd day - definitely should decant.

2012 vintage

This started off pretty nice with a lot of crunchy red fruit but with the temperature raising just a bit it seemed to bring out a lot of alcohol on the finish which was surprising given the lighter style here. Small pours with a lot of air seemed to diminish it so I'm hoping we just need a little time in the bottle. Will hold off a year or two on the next bottles. Not sure what this does for …

2012 vintage

Opened at 1130am and slo-oxed for 4 hours before pouring into a glass. In the glass the nose of cherry and raspberry? came exploding out of the stem. It was wonderful. On the palate there was cherry and other red fruit. Elegant on the palate while also showing some acidity that should help make this wine last. I did start to pick up some plum on the back end of the palate. By dinner at 5pm some oak was becoming …

2012 vintage

Ripple and Ridonculous Wines (Ripple - Cleveland Park - Washington, DC) : Juicy and ripe yet so elegant. Roses and bright red fruit on the nose. Gorgeous cherries and candied red plums on the palate, impressive for its accessibility, one of the most open and silky 2012 Sonoma Pinots I’ve tasted, but surely this has a lot more complexity to develop. Crisp, clean, floral finish. Very impressed with this effort and I liked having some Sonoma Coast goodness in the …

2012 vintage

IPOB in SF 3/16 - Quick Impressions : Showing notes of cherry, clove and mineral. Full structure, nice richness, elegant finish.

2012 vintage

Red berries, well-balanced, tannins smooth but need more time to integrate, medium-long finish. Very nice, but will give my other bottles some more time.

2012 vintage

Drank this early, taking one for the team. Nose of orange peel, cranberry and cardamom which mellowed into a more typical red berry and baking spice profile over the next few hours. Fine and silky tannins and moderate acidity with a medium-long finish. Neither overly ripe nor stoic and brashly acidic. A lovely balance and good medium term upside.

2012 vintage

WoW Sebastapol Another solid lineups of 2012's. Liked all but at this late stage in the tasting it was hard to distinguish the nuances. No official score but around 90.

2012 vintage

West of West Wine Festival (City Winery, Chicago, IL) : Funky nose. Moss Anise and rustic styling. Really enjoyed this wine. Long full finish.

2012 vintage

Pre-release (Fall 2014 release) - medium ruby color; ripe red berry, ripe raspberry nose; tasty, ripe red berry, ripe raspberry palate; could use 1-2 years; medium-plus finish

2012 vintage

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Peay, Pinot Noir Scallop Shelf, Sonoma Coast

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