If you are visiting us for the first time, Welcome! The Wine Spies feature one exceptional wine each day – and we only bring you wines that we ourselves seek out and love. Always, the wines are great. Sometimes greater than great, as is the case with today’s wine from Adobe Road.

Mission Codename: Days of wine and Porsches

Operative: Agent Red

Objective: Spend a day at the track with wine producer and Porsche racing legend Kevin Buckler to find why his wines, like the cars he races, are legendary

Mission Status: Accomplished!

Current Winery: Adobe Road

Wine Subject: 2005 Pinot Noir

Winemaker: Franc Dusac

SPECIAL NOTE: This weekend, January 26th and 27th, Kevin and his team will be running their Porsches at the Rolex 24 at Datyona, in Florida. The Wine Spies wish them the greatest success!

Wine Spies Tasting Profile:

Look – Beautifully shimmering red, reminding me of Porsche GT3 brake calipers, this wine has a hint of violet color at its heart, is clear at the edges, and has slow-moving legs that streak down the glass in groups of six (was this a planned homage to the Porsche GT3 3.6 liter flat 6 cylinder engine?)

Smell – Earthen cherry, gunpowder, salted rocks, dried violets, mildest forest floor, sweet oak and the slightest hint of dried salami. One of our agents even suggested that they detected the smell of fresh racing slicks, but under chemical analysis we can assure you that this wine is 100% Pinot Noir

Feel – Slippery and mouthcoating, this wine has supple tannins that grip the cheeks and tongue

Taste – Dusky and smoky cherry with dark stone fruit, mild spice, cherry, Indian black tea and cranberry

Finish – Great great minerality and dryness and flavors that taper off slowly and ‘mouth-watheringly’

Conclusion – Like Kevin’s racing career, this wine finishes in first place. It is a classic California Pinot with a refined and very balanced quality that I really love. While Porsche cars are seen extremely technical, Porsche racing as demonstrated by Kevin Buckler, is filled with passion and excitement. This fervor translates into his wines, but rather than seeming an overly technical or mechanical wine (as we have experienced from other producers), this is a wine of sophisticated but also subtle character.

Mission Report:

I love my missions to France. The wine, the climate and the food all seem to agree with me.

On a recent mission to the French village of Anjou in the Loire Valley (the region in France best known for Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc wines), I was tipped off by a local asset that winery owner and racing legend Kevin Buckler was staying in a hotel neighboring my own.

He was in France for his annual appearance at the world famous auto race, 24 Hours of Le Mans. Kevin and his team drive the incredible Porsche GT3. Kevin is a world-class driver, and he and his team have racked up wins at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona (2002) and the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans (2002), an overall win at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona (2003), and the title of Porsche World Cup Champion in 2002.

Kevin’s winery, Adobe Road, had been under light surveillance for a few months already and Central Command was preparing to send an Agent to investigate – but I got my own once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet Kevin in his racing element, and Central Command approved my impromptu mission and I extended my stay in France.

I am enough of a Porsche fan to have my own sights set on a 2008 Cayman S. Since I had the brochure with me on my travels I used it as a prop, taking it with me to the hotel restaurant where Kevin and his team were having dinner. Having made friends with the Maître ’D earlier (I buttered him up with a bottle of Patrick Bodouin Anjou Villages Cabernet Franc ), I was seated next to their table.

I sat down and positioned the Cayman brochure so that it would be seen by Kevin or his crew. Then I ordered a bottle of great wine and waited. They took the bait and one of the guys at the table leaned over and said to me, “Hey, Buddy. That’s a nice car, but why not spring for a real Porsche and get a GT3?”

Now, I knew that the monster GT3 was their car, but I replied, “I leave that car to the professionals. It’s better suited to the racetrack, if you ask me.”

That opened up a great conversation about Porsches and about wine that went late into the night. Kevin waxed poetic about both and I enjoyed his passion on these two great subjects. As the evening was ending, Kevin’s crew chief invited me to visit pit row for a brief tour of their on-track operations. I jumped at the chance and enjoyed every second of it. At the end of the tour, I asked if I could ride along during a check-ride… and was nearly laughed off the track.

Once the crew chief wiped the tears from his eyes, he became very serious. He quickly escorted me away from the pit row, handed me a few bottles of Adobe Road Pinot Noir, and pushed me toward the security exit. Oh, well. At least I tried. And, at least I walked away with an arm full of Kevin’s excellent Pinot Noir.

Wine Spies Vineyard Check:

The location of the Herrerias Vineyard can be seen in this satellite photo.

The location the Rolex 24 at Daytona at the Daytona Speedway can be seen in this satellite photo.