Opened to pair with a chicken in a dried cherry cream sauce, this was optimal. Certainly California, it showed admirable balance and restraint, and paired with the food rather than ran over it. Delicious flavors, balanced alcohol & notable but not overwhelming oak. Very nice, and my favorite California Pinot in a long, long time.
David, thanks for the note. I certainly enjoyed the bottle I opened last June, although it needed a couple hours of air to really show its stuff. I haven't sampled enough of Eric's wines to nail down how long to hold them (vintage adjusted), but I suspect another year or two might be on point. I'm still sitting on some '02 Hellenthals.