The Top Ten (or so) American Pinots from the Sixth Annual Blind Tasting of American Pinot Noir

As I mentioned Wednesday, Thursday, and yesterday, I tasted 69 American Pinot Noirs a couple of weekends ago. With the help of three other wine writers here in Houston, I was able to taste through the wines blind, which means that I did not know which wine was ever in my glass (well, my four glasses, as I tasted that many at a time).

Today, I am also including what I consider to be the top wines from the endeavor, which are included after the last 13 tasting notes, below.

Blind tastings are not all that glamorous at my house–they involve a bunch of brown paper bags.

2022 Brooks Pinot Noir, Eola – Amity Hills, Willamette Valley, OR: Retail $40. Dark, even “really” dark in color with candied black cherry on the nose and the palate is a tad hot. But there is good fruit and acidity, both of which round out the wine quite nicely. Very Good. 89 Points.

2021 Sailer Family Wines Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, CA: Retail $50. Medium color. Earth is the first component that comes through on the nose, followed by black cherry fruit and some verve. A tad bit of heat on the palate but otherwise this is fantastic: good cherry fruit, great acidity. Excellent. 92 Points.

2021 Rodney Strong Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, CA: Retail $30. Medium to dark in color with a harmonious nose of solid cherry notes and a bit of spice. Great on the palate as well with rich fruit, but balanced by the zingy tartness. Wonderful. Outstanding. 94 Points.

2022 King Estate Pinot Noir Inscription, Willamette Valley, OR: Retail $20. Medium to dark in color with an odd nose, kind of a medicinal nuttiness. The palate is fine? With fruit and tartness for sure, but there is that nutty finish that has me scratching my head. Very Good. 87 Points.

2021 Covenant Pinot Noir Landsman, Carneros, CA: Retail $45. Dark, even really darken color with dark red fruit, some earth, and just a smidge of funk on the nose. The palate is quite nice with dark fruit, a zippiness, and some depth. Excellent. 91 Points.

2021 Nielson by Byron Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara County, CA: Retail $20. Light to medium in color with a gorgeous nose. Pomegranate and cranberry with a touch of oak (very subtle). Rich, without being over-the-top, fruity, but far from a bomb, and fantastic balance. Whoa. Outstanding. 95 Points.

Imagine how you would be doing if you swallowed a bit of wine from all of these bottles.

2021 Sangiacomo Wines Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, CA: Retail $50. Medium color with loads of cranberry and cherry and a bit of a stem-y nose but it works. The palate is fantastic, with the cranberry, dark cherry, and plenty of verve. Nice. Beyond Nice even. Outstanding. 93 Points.

2021 Sanford Pinot Noir Sanford & Benedict Vineyard, Sea. Rita Hills, CA: Retail $50. Medium to dark in color and even a bit cloudy. Mineral and a tad stemmy with dark fruit (black cherry, plum) predominant. Quite tart, even sour cherry kinda thing. The acidity and fruit are both there, but the sour is a tad over the top for me. Very Good. 89 Points.

2022 La Crema Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, CA: Retail $30. Medium to dark color with a meaty, earthy nose. Good fruit, but a tad light in acid perhaps, but good flavors, a bit layered, and a nice quaff. Excellent. 91 Points.

2021 Sanford Pinot Noir La Rinconada Vineyard, Sea. Rita Hills, CA: Retail $95. Medium to dark color with a fairly dark fruit (blackberry, cassis) laden nose. The palate is rich and fruity with great balance, a hint of tannin, and a lengthy finish. Yowza. Outstanding. 94 Points.

2021 Davis Bynum Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, CA: Retail $45. Quite dark in the glass with ripe, really ripe cherry and dark earth. Rich on the palate with plenty of dark fruit and plenty of weight. Just a touch of tannins come through on the finish suggesting some life here. Fabulous. Outstanding. 95 Points.

2021 Emery Grant Pinot Noir Estate, Anderson Valley, CA: Retail $50. Dark, even really dark in the glass. A little hot on the nose with dark fruit and some black earth. Fruity, even really fruity (and maybe some RS) on the palate. Good flavors, a bit tannic, but all that fruit. Excellent. 90 Points.

2019 Pellegrini Family Vineyards Pinot Noir Olivet Lane Estate, Russian River Valley, CA: Retail $57. Medium to dark in color with a lovely nose of dark fruit and a bit of spice. The palate is fruity and super tangy with plenty of verve. Whoa. Outstanding. 96 Points.

General Observations

American Pinots appear to be getting darker. This is not based on anything other than perception, but few of the 69 wines I would classify as “light” in color. Is this a result of climate change? Change in customer demand? Winemaker preference?
There is plenty of value to be found at lower price points. I have long stated that it seems to be very difficult to produce top-quality Pinot below around $30. But once again, producers such as Kendall Jackson (which makes Siduri, Murphy Goode, Nielson, and La Crema in addition to their eponymous label) continue to make great Pinots at or below that $30 threshold.
Overall, I would also say that the overall quality of American Pinot Noir continues to improve. This is the Sixth Annual Blind Tasting and the quality has continued to go up each year.
I would imagine that few die-hard Pinot-philes would include Rodney Strong on their list of top American Pinot Noir producers, but every year Rodney Strong (and its other brand, Davis Bynum), consistently finds itself in the top wines of the tasting.

Top Wines

The task I presented the other writers at the tasting was rather simple: give me a list of the “top wines.” I did not ask for a minimum or a maximum, just the “top wines.” Two of the writers listed thirteen while the other listed eight.

There were three wines that appeared on all lists: