The 2018 Santa Cruz Mountains pinot from Alesia is a touch lower in octane than the
Anderson Valley bottling this year, coming in at 13.2 percent. The wine is really, really deep and
refined on the nose in 2018, offering up a complex blend of sweet dark berries, cassis, espresso,
fresh thyme, a fine base of minerality, bonfire, bitter chocolate and a touch of new wood. On the
palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and sports outstanding mid-palate depth and
transparency, with fine-grained tannins, superb balance and grip and a long, complex and utterly refined finish. This year, the Santa Cruz Mountains have a leg up in the Alesia pinot noir
sweepstakes! 2023-2050.
The 2018 Pinot Noir (Santa Cruz Mountains) is another fabulous appellation-level wine from Alesia, the sister label of Rhys. Red berry, spice, rose petal and dried herbs all grace this wonderfully expressive, vibrant Pinot Noir. Far from an easygoing entry-level wine, the Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot offers quite a bit of intensity in a mid-weight style that favors energy over heft.
The 2018 Pinot Noir Santa Cruz Mountains Alesia is rock-solid and certainly has plenty of classy Rhys character. Lots of black cherries, mulberries, dried spices, savory herbs, and forest floor notes all dominate the bouquet, and it's medium-bodied, with a supple, elegant texture, silky tannins, and a great finish. This is classic Santa Cruz Mountains, delivering complex, Burgundian aromatics, ample minerality, integrated structure, and a great finish. It's terrific today yet will certainly evolve for 7-8 years.
To make this Santa Cruz Pinot Noir in 2018, we used portions of our newest vineyard, the densely spaced Mt. Pajaro, as well as barrels from Alpine and Horseshoe vineyards. We feel this terrific, mountain grown Pinot Noir is ideal for drinking while customers wait for their Rhys vineyard designates to mature.
