2008 Precious Mountain Pinot Noir

Deep red. Crushed blackberry, raspberry, tobacco and nutty oak on the nose. Supple and velvety but a bit unforthcoming, with firm acidity framing the somewhat medicinal flavors of red berries, bitter cherry, dark chocolate and licorice. More about soil than primary fruit, and rather brooding for a pinot from this producer, but there's very good intensity here. Finishes with gently chewy tannins and excellent tenacity. Cabral says that this dry-farmed pinot is an anomaly this year, explaining that "it's usually more feminine but with '08 being a drought year you get more manly character, more power."