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Mission Codename: The Holy Trinitas

Operative: Agent Red

Objective: Investigate reports that Trinitas Cellars makes a stellar Carneros Pinot Noir. If true, secure an ample cache for our Operatives

Mission Status: Accomplished!

Current Winery: Trinitas Cellars

Wine Subject: 2007 Pinot Noir Carneros

Winemaker: Kevin Mills

Backgrounder: When a Wines Spies field asset tipped us off that a winery in the Napa Valley was reported to have created a fantastic Carneros Pinot we wasted no time. Carneros wines have consistently blown us away and so Agent Red was dispatched immediately . Read his tasting profile and following mission report to see how today’s wine holds up to the hype.

Wine Spies Tasting Profile:

Look – Dark ruby red with perfect clarity and concentrated color to its dark pink edges. This wine shows a bouncy surface that quickly settles to perfectly still when swirled, leaving behind ultra-skinny legs that move quickly down the glass

Smell – A dynamic and deeply aromatic nose of red apple, fresh strawberry, sweet cherry, soft leather, subtle cigar box, soft cinnamon, mushroom, earth, truffle and a tender rush of Carneros-classic gunpowder

Feel – Round, light and velvet-smooth up front, then the wine warms slightly as medium tannins take hold all over the mouth

Taste – Delicious! This wine presents bright layer upon layer of fruit and spice with cherry, strawberry, smoky candy apple, darkest chocolate and gunpowder

Finish – A finely polished finish that starts big and filled with fruit, then a slight sweet-tartness appears as the feel and flavors turn soft, rich, and slightly dry

Conclusion – This is another deeply impressive Pinot Noir from Carneros, a region that continues to blow us away us with a consistent quality of fine wines – particularly Pinot Noirs. This particular Pinot has a fantastic feel with great flavors and deep aromas. This surprised us given the wines youth. We have to admit, however, that this wine drink beautifully right now. We are very encouraged by this and we are cellaring a few bottles to see how well it progresses over the next few years. This is a bright wine that is a great food companion, but we loved sipping it on its own

Mission Report

Located at the southern end of the Napa Valley, nestled behind the Meritage Resort & Spa and buried in and underground cave, lies a remarkable secret: Trinitas Cellars.

Trinitas first came to my attention while on stakeout during a prior mission. I was on a vetting mission and was keeping an eye on a potential new asset. If this person proved to have the connections that she was reported to, I’d be recruiting her by days end.

I had followed her to the Meritage Resort, when she was having what looked to be a poolside meeting with a group I recognized as some heavy-hitters in the biz. These guys are all business and so I knew that my target must have the chops that her dossier suggested.

A waitress offered me a menu but I politely waved it away. Instead, I simply asked her for a glass of their best house Pinot Noir.

The wine arrived. The waitress set it down on the table in front of me. I handed her a $20 and told her to keep the change. I sat and watched my target for some time before finally picking up the wine.

I inhaled deeply – and the hairs on my neck stood up. This, I could tell, was one excellent wine! I spent the next several minutes enraptured by the wine. It was a young wine, I could tell, but it was very impressive.

When I finally looked up, my target was gone! How could I let myself be so distracted? On scanning the area, my eyes came to rest on an anomaly in the landscape; The hill that sat behind me, over my right shoulder, was obviously manmade. I had seen enough ‘hills’ like this to know that it was a wine cave!

I got to my feet and dashed toward the hill. Cleverly concealed as it might have been, I quickly found the entrance. Once inside I made my way through the cavern, eventually finding – a full tasting room!

And there, at the bar, was my target and her cohorts.

The woman behind the bar beamed at me and said, “Welcome to Trinitas Cellars!”

Trinitas, eh? This requires deeper investigation…

Agent Red, out!

Agent White, reporting:

Is Agent Red losing it? Does he need glasses? The sign above the wine cave clearly reads, “Trinitas Cellars”. At least he returned to HQ with samples of that Pinot Noir. The Pinot, of course, turned out to be a 2007 Carneros Pinot Noir from Trinitas – and today we are proud to present you with an opportunity to try this special wine for yourself.

As for Agent Red and his mission worthiness, we are recommending that he be placed under closer scrutiny. His wine-finding skills are still top-notch, but his methods and his reports leave just a tad to be desired!

Wine Spies Vineyard Check:

The location of the Trinitas Callears cave tasting room and winery can be seen, behind the Meritage Resport & Spa, in this satellite photo.