2005 Pali Wine Co. Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley (4/25/2007)
My second bottle of Pali, and one of the more interesting Pinots to come out of the whole Central Coast Pinot explosion. Of course they had to use Oregon fruit to do it, but that's ok. Lots of focused red fruits as well as a much more expressive earthy component than in most of these new era Pinots. There's also a bit of transparency to the wine instead of just a hulking mass of fruit. The flavors are well balanced, and the alcohol is not the least bit intrusive. This is very well done. It also feeds my growing belief that I prefer domestic Pinots made with Oregon fruit to Central Coast wines.
There is also the issue of the 2005 vintage. I'm not aware of the conditions in Oregon, but this was my fourth or fifth 2005 wine from the Central Coast winemaking gang. I have universally preferred them to anything since the 2001 vintage. A premise is developing, but not yet fully formed.