Birichino, St Georges Pinot Noir, Central Coast, California, USA 2017

Fruit for this wine is mainly sourced from the Besson Home Ranch vineyard that's just a few metres too low in altitude and on the wrong side of the road to qualify for the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA. It's blended with a rocky, field-grafted site higher up that provides structure and line to the aromatic, red cherry and rose fruit. While the name has useful connotations to Nuits-St-Georges, it is actually named after growers George Besson Jr and his late father George Sr, and is a beautifully hands-off style: whole-bunch fruit, wild-yeast fermented and aged in a mix of concrete and old barriques. Silky, autumnal, pure and rich with real elegance and vibrancy. Top value!