MacPhail Family Vineyards, Sonoma Coast (Sonoma County, California) Pinot Noir 2009

 Judging from his lineup of Pinot Noir, James MacPhail is a winemaker to watch.  This one, from the Sangiacomo Vineyard near the coast, is fuller and spicier with more black, rather than red, fruit than his Pinot Noir from the Toulouse Vineyard in Anderson Valley (also reviewed this week).  It has more punch, but is still clearly Pinot Noir, as opposed to an overdone “Pinot Syrah” style.   Despite more power, it has same elegance and near magical combination of fruit and earthy flavors for which Pinot Noir is prized.  Fans of young California Pinot will embrace it now, but my money is on every more harmony after a few years in the cellar.