Last December, we took a spontaneous trip from the Bay Area up to Healdsburg just before Christmas, and wound up sneaking into the Porter Creek tasting room on a grey, damp morning, when the roads were empty and there was plenty of time to stand around and chat with Jonathan, who remembered us from our last visit several years earlier. We ordered a mixed case to ship back to Chicago, but as we were leaving, Jonathan grabbed a bottle of something that hadn't been opened -- the basic Porter Creek 2013 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, no reserve or vineyard designation -- stuck it in a bag, and handed it to us with instructions to enjoy it soon. We brought it to Christmas dinner at our hotel, and liked it so much -- it was like a bouquet of violets and effusive though delicate fruit -- that I called Jonathan the next morning from the airport and added a half-case to our order.
This bottle, the first from that batch, is a little more muted than I remember: possibly shutting down, possibly just lacking some of its youthful enthusiasm, but it's still lovely, floral atop berry and cherry fruit, lithe and balanced, showing little or no new wood, a California Pinot that walks on its tiptoes. If the next bottle continues the trend toward reticence, I'll hold the others for a few years before trying again, but I have a feeling this may drink well straight through its life.