Belle Glos 'Taylor Lane' (2013) Pinot Noir [Magnum / 1.5L)
Belle Glos 'Taylor Lane' (2013) Pinot Noir [Magnum / 1.5L)
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Once on the palate, the acidity sparks a fire of smoked caramel and cinnamon spiked cranberry sauce. The silky-smooth texture gives way to a long and balanced finish that leaves your senses wanting more.
Wagner releases his prized Taylor Lane Pinot Noirs in magnums only, and only when he deems they are showing their true quality. He released the 2011 and 2014 vintages after nine years of aging, but held this tremendous 2013 vintage, the top Taylor Lane yet, back for 11 years.
Wagner says:
The third cellar release from this majestic vineyard showcases a deep garnet-red hue, accompanied by enticing aromas of fresh blackberry, blueberry, rich oak, ripe plum, and crème de cassis. Upon tasting, its bright acidity and rich tannins envelop the palate, while the wine’s excellent structure and silky texture deliver a truly gratifying experience. With over a decade of aging, this wine is currently hitting all the marks and promises to evolve with even greater complexity over time.
It is by far the most loaded and grand cru-like Taylor Lane yet. And indeed, Wagner makes this with the help of famed grand cru Burgundy producer Mounir Saouma from Lucien Le Moine – as he recognized the truly Burgundian potential of this incredible Sonoma Coast site.
Remember, the 2014 vintage, with 97 points from the Tasting Panel, was the top-rated Belle Glos Pinot ever, and the 2011 vintage was the best Belle Glos ever for Vinous. But this 2013 will easily eclipse them both!
Here are a couple of excerpts from a Forbes Magazine article detailing just how special this wine is:
All one has to do is sit with Joseph Wagner and talk about his wine process step by step to realize that there is an enormous amount of detail, thought and innovation in each stage that was placed into getting a wine that expresses the ultimate aromatics, flavors and texture of the Taylor Lane.
Just one of the many aspects that goes through a painstaking process is one of the ways he treats his French barrels. He expands the barrel with steam, giving more chance for the wine to have a greater exchange of oxygen, and then the steam condenses into water and is left for two to three months to leech out all of the harsh oak tannins and gives him a semi-neutral barrel - it is not completely neutral because it still has a slight character giving a hint of French oak aromatics and flavor profile and most importantly the ability to micro-oxygenate over the course of the wine’s aging life in that barrel.
Wagner decided to only release vintages of Taylor Lane when he feels that that vintage has reached an ideal harmony and because he feels that wine ages more evenly in magnum this 2013 available on a small release only in that size bottle.
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