Loma Prieta Winery

The first thing you notice about this Pinot Noir is that it’s in a high shouldered Bordeaux bottle rather than the traditional slope shouldered Burgundy bottle. Odd, you think. Then you notice the label. And the label is the reason for using the “wrong” bottle. You see, Loma Prieta Winery owners Amy and Paul Kemp, are extremely fond of their label, and with good reason. However, they would have to shrink the image to accommodate the Burgundy bottle. As Amy explains, “We refuse to shrink Bodo!

Who, you may ask is Bodo? Bodo is the little flying wine connoisseur in the painting adorning our bottle. He is a mystical magician, and a recurring character in the work of amazing New Orleans artist Martin LaBorde. (Visit www.BEEGalleries.com to see more.) And to properly fit on a traditional Burgundy bottle, little Bodo would have to get little. And we just don't think that is fair to Bodo.” So there. Part of the pleasure of being in the wine business is getting to hear all the stories behind the wine labels.

Everything else about the wine is, however, quite Burgundian in tradition and flavor. The fruit comes from one of the best-managed vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Saveria Vineyard on Pleasant Valley Road in Aptos. Aged in 100% new French Mercier barrels for ten months, this is a ready to drink Pinot with plenty of lively character. It’s got a gorgeous nose of ripe raspberry, black cherry, sassafras and coriander, with a touch of pine. The texture is very lush, with lots of earth, mushrooms, plum tart, anise and chocolate mint. What I love about this wine is that it just keeps coming at you with new floods of flavor: applewood-smoked bacon here, cranberries there. The finish has a delightful menthol effect that adds just a touch of cool. All in all, a well-made Pinot with mountain character. This wine was a Gold Medal winner at the West Coast Wine Competition.

Reviewed January 31, 2008 by Laura Ness.