2004 Westwood Winery Los Carneros Pinot Noir

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Mission Codename
: A Clear Sense of Place

Operative: Agent Red

Objective: At the behest of our Operatives around the world, return to Westwood Winery to secure the final allotment of their budget-minded 2006 North Coast Pinot Noir, a wine that delivers real value.

Mission Status: Accomplished!

Current Winery: Westwood Winery

Wine Subject: 2004 Pinot Noir – Los Carneros

Winemaker: John Kelly

Backgrounder: We first featured fantastic wines from our friends at Westwood Wines a few years ago. Since then, our operatives have been asking us to feature another. Through careful negotiation, Agent Red was able to procure a limited quantity of their outstanding North Coast Pinot Noir, a budget-minded Pinot that canhang with its more pricey brethren.

Varietal Backgrounder: Some of our favorite California Pinot Noir comes from the Carneros viticultural area, a winegrowing region which straddles the Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley. The cool Carneros region provides ideal growing conditions for Pinot Noir. Pinot thriveshere. Read Agent Red’s tasting notes and mission report to learn more about this fantastic Pinot Noir.

 

Wine Spies Tasting Profile:

Look – Dark garnet hued with perfect clarity. At the edge of the glass, the finest ring of pink cuts a beautiful circle around the wine. Swirl the wine, and watch a witness skinny, wine-hued tears emerge quickly, before running slowly down the glass.

Smell – Equal parts Burgundy and California leap from the glass to greet your nose. On the Cali side, bold red cherry, strawberry, raspberry and subtle minerals give clues to the flavors to come. The more Burgundian aromas are all soil, black cherry and a hint of farmyard.

Feel – Soft and round, on entry. Then, the wine becomes very quickly grippy on the mid-palate as it coats the tongue and gains some weight. Plush tannins and a soft acidity frame the fruit beautifully.

Taste – Dark and earthen, at first, and as the wine opens up it reveals black cherry, dark plum, strawberry, and soft spice. Just beneath these, secondary flavors of cola, dried violets and a hint of black pepper emerge.

Finish – Long and very flavorful with dark fruit that lingers. As the fruit fades, minerals, spice, black tea, violets and black pepper make a lengthy appearance.

Conclusion – Today’s 2004 Westwood Winery Los Carneros Pinot Noir was quite a score for us. John Kelly’s wines are known to not just hold up, with age, but to really improve. In fact, I had the recent good fortune to taste a Westwood Pinot from the 2000 vintage. It was amazing. So, too, is today’s wine. Brilliantly balanced, this wine seems to convey equal parts California, with great red fruit, and Burgundy, delivering more earthy and austere characteristics. The wine is, simply, delicious. It invites extended, swirling – and conversation, as you sniff and sip your way through the many nuances of the wine. Be sure to give this wine your careful consideration. Better yet, just get some. Right now!

Wine Spies Vineyard Check:

The approximate location of the Westwood WineryTop Secret Tasting Salon can be seen in this satellite photo.