Ben says
★★ Great Wine “Mid-ruby with along gradient showing some age. It’s intense on the nose with dried strawberries rolled in black pepper, a black tea-like note, crushed cranberries and cedar oak. On the palate it’s full, almost voluptuous but still tight and fresh like great Pinot should be, with lots of dried fruit, mushroomy-truffle tones, and a tangy, damson-like finish that’s long and fresh. A really nice Pinot, perhaps a bit hot and smoky, but brilliantly made.“
KEY POINTS
Varietal Pinot Noir with 14.5% abv. Aged for 10 months in French oak, of which only 10% is new wood.
Grown in: Central Coast, California, USA.
Food Pairing
Great Pinot Noir has a knack to pair well with almost anything, but the intense dried fruit notes brought on by the heat of this wine’s terroir means its got a great deal of fruit intensity. It’s this element that makes Calera Pinot Noir a fine match with richer game dishes, especially venison, but also very umami dishes that use mushrooms or soy.
Disclosure & Price
Purchased at full retail price. Available for ~£37 from 9 Elms Wines.
Reviewed and tasted: 12/10/2023
About the Producer
Calera is famous for its Pinot Noir and Chardonnay because of winegrower Josh Jensen’s dedication to site location. Determined to express a sense of place and recreate the great wines of Burgundy, Jensen sought out a location in California that had similar traits to the limestone hills of Burgundy but would give his wines a unique Californian style. He settled on the site of an old limekiln in Central Coast near the Gavalan Mountains; today his wines are revered at home and on the export market.
