Fort Ross Pinot Noir 2018 750ml

Jeff Pisoni makes this wine for Lester and Linda Schwartz, at the 52-acre vineyard they planted in the 1990s. The elevations range from 1,200 to 1,700 feet on a ridge one mile from the Pacific, the kind of marginal site that excelled in the long, cool vintage of 2018, a season without heat spikes. The cold of the coast and the warmth of the sun generated a pinot noir with transparent red berry flavors and mineral brilliance to the darker tannins, their edges seeming to glint with facets of fruit complexity, reflecting black currants at the underside of ripeness against the brighter, zesty red-fruit flavor. Delicious now with duck rillettes, this is also suited to cellar time.