Our tasting panel went bonkers for today’s Champ de Reves 2012 Pinot Noir. Agent Red declared this wine to be one of the most interesting Pinots he’s tasted in a long while. The rest of our panel agreed; this wine is a show stopping, mouthwatering, juicy treat that will impress, delight… and make you cry when you run out.

Winemaker Eric Johannsen has over a decade of experience in Pinot Noir winemaking and the former La Crema winemaker has certainly surpassed himself with this wonderful vintage. Wine Enthusiast Magazine just awarded the wine a 93 point score. Both Robert Parker and Antonio Galloni give it solid 90 point scores.

On the nose, this wine shows off lofty, ripe aromas of Black cherry, rose petal, dried cranberry, summer forest, dried maple leaf, fig, red plum and a hint of subtle mixed spice.

On the palate, the wine is bright and high with flavors of Rainier cherry, cherry cordial, tart cherry, braised red plum, cranberry, soft spice and a black tea leaf.

Today’s Champ de Reves 2012 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir is everything we’ve come to love about Champ de Reves - bright flavors are paired with an incredibly smooth and elegant mouthfeel. And, really, isn’t that what all Pinot Noirs should offer?

Please hurry to get your hands on today’s fantastic wine.

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Here’s what the wine press has to say:

93 points Editors’ Choice - Jim Gordon, Wine Enthusiast - _“This effort has a beautiful, fresh cherry aroma, silky texture and bright but ripe fruit flavors subtly accented by spices. It strikes a harmonious chord with great flavors, vibrant texture and wonderful varietal personality.

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90 points - Robert Parker, Wine Advocate“Only a single wine, the 2012 Pinot Noir emerges from this Kendall-Jackson-owned estate vineyard near the town of Booneville. Planted at 1,400- to 1,800-foot elevation with Dijon clones 667, 777 and 115, this wine spent nine months in 32% new French oak prior to being bottled.

The soil layers are alluvial, uplifted seabed, stuffed with natural sea shells embedded in many of the fractured rocks. It’s also above the fog line in this area. The resultant wine from these soils is lush, with raspberry and blueberry fruit, a seductive, flowery bouquet, medium body, sweet velvety tannins and a layered finish, which seems to build incrementally on the palate.

This is an impressive Pinot Noir that sells at a realistic price. Drink it over the next 5-7 years. “

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90 Points - Antonio Galloni - “Bright ruby. A highly perfumed bouquet evokes sappy red berries, Asian spices, herbs and potpourri, with a smoky mineral nuance emerging with aeration.

Offers intense red berry and bitter cherry flavors that become sweeter with air and pick up a rose pastille note. Clinging raspberry and vanilla qualities sweeten the finish, firmed by tangy acidity and dusty tannins. “

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90 points - Josh Raynolds, Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar - “Bright ruby. A highly perfumed bouquet evokes sappy red berries, Asian spices, herbs and potpourri, with a smoky mineral nuance emerging with aeration. Offers intense red berry and bitter cherry flavors that become sweeter with air and pick up a rose pastille note. Clinging raspberry and vanilla qualities sweeten the finish, firmed by tangy acidity and dusty tannins.”