Today’s special Tulocay 2013 Haynes Vineyard Napa Valley Pinot Noir comes to us from a very special winery. Tulocay, founded in 1975, is the longest operating winery in the Coombsville area of the Napa Valley. And, the wine is made by father and daughter team, of Bill and Brie Cadman. Early in his career, Bill worked at some of the Napa Valley’s most prestigious wineries, including Robert Mondavi, Heitz Cellars, Clos du Val and others.

This wine was born of the Haynes Vineyard, which was planted in 1966 and maintained under the keen supervision of wine luminaries, Louis M. Martini and André Tchelistcheff. The Haynes vines are reputed to be the oldest “…continuously commercially producing Pinot Noir vines in all of the Napa Valley.” Pinot Noir from this vineyard are among our very favorite wines of those tasted over these last 12 years.

This wine is fairly dense for a Pinot Noir, it has a light garnet heart spreading out evenly to a nice red brick. It has an interesting and approachable nose of oranges, marmalade, nutmeg, boysenberry, straw, and sandalwood. On the palate, it reveals more berry flavor with cherry and strawberry in the mix with fig, potpourri, and more marmalade. It’d put a smile on anyone’s face with an easy-drinking, approachable disposition that glides across the palate for a long finish. Begs for pork belly! This wine would be ideal with a pork belly or slow-cooked pulled pork with Texas-style BBQ sauce.

Enjoy!