Since its inception, this wine has been winemaker Derek Barnett’s baby. The fruit comes from “up on the bench” from some secret location where only good Pinot grows. When Derek brought it to the winery, he knew he had something special – so he babied this one along. First, it resided in a mix of new and 1 year old oak for 10 months – all French of course, then another 10 months in “seasoned” oak (old oak barrels) and finally, bottled, unfiltered, and laid to rest a few months before release. This wine is huge for a Pinot, heck it’d be considered huge for a Cabernet … the colour is deep red, the nose is cherry, licorice, vanilla with a pretty perfumed note of violets – but what’s on the nose is currently lacking on the palate. Instead big tannins take center stage with back up players of sour cherry and big black fruit along with a mouth-drying sensation that kicks the tongue into submission. This may sound quite hearty, but there is elegance and finesse to come from this bottle – I continued to re-taste it over the course of an evening and as it opened it continued to evolve, proving that this wine will require some patience. The usually conservative Barnett recommends 10 years of ageing; this is a perfect candidate for my Taste it Again program, so we’ll see what has happened in about 5 years. Currently the wine shows a ton of potential. Price: $30.00 – Rating: ****½