Patz & Hall Pinot Noir Alder Springs 2001 1.5L

Good saturated red-ruby. Spicy aromas of black raspberry, minerals, cola, nutmeg, flowers and mint. Dense, sweet and large-scaled; a rather powerful, muscular pinot with impressive extract. A bit dominated by its tannins today but appears to have the breadth of material to reward a few years of bottle aging. This wine was punched down less frequently during the fermentation, but, according to Hall, "we still get huge grape tannins from this site."

-- Stephen Tanzer