Mount Eden Vineyards Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir 2021

Mount Eden’s lineage of estate bottled Chardonnay and Pinot Noir is the longest in California. Planted in austere, infertile Franciscan shale on a cool exposed mountaintop (2000 ft), these low-yielding estate vineyards have consistently produced world-class, age-worthy wines for decades. Representing the pinnacle of what Santa Cruz Mountains can offer, their Estate Pinot Noir combines ripe, concentrated fruit with mountain structure, freshness and minerality.

96/100 - The 2021 Pinot Noir Estate Bottled unfolds with a blockbuster bouquet of macerated red cherry, lavender, new leather and clove. Aged in 40% new French oak for ten to eleven months, it’s broad and ample on the palate. Layers of fresh berry fruit, supple tannins and gentle citrus succulence introduce a wine of extreme class and pedigree. The tannins are just so refined, and the delineation of flavors is superb. Vivid, lively, meticulous and calibrated, this is a testament to the heights attainable with Pinot Noir in the Santa Cruz Mountains. (Reviewed September 2024) - Billy Norris, Vinous

94/100 - The 2021 Pinot Noir Estate is a pretty and ethereal rendition of the Mount Eden style, offering inviting, red-fruited and forest floor aromas framed with judicious use of new oak. The palate is lively, buoyant and medium-bodied, leading to an energetic finish supported by cleansing acidity and youthful, fine tannins. Still quite tight and inward throughout, this should start unfolding in 3-4 years and continue to reward for over a decade. (Reviewed April 2024) - Matthew Luczy, The Wine Advocate