Cakebread, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary, is yet another Napa Valley winery to look outside the appellation for Pinot Noir grapes. It found them in Mendocino County’s cool Anderson Valley, developing its own Apple Barn Vineyard and purchasing the Annahala Vineyard. The blend of the two is called Two Creeks, and the 2012 is very young, and almost a shame to drink it now. It’s on the richer end of the Pinot scale, gushing with heady blackberry and black cherry fruit framed by toasty vanillin oak. Subdued earth and spice notes should become more prominent with another year in the bottle.
Cakebread Cellars, Anderson Valley (Mendocino County, California) Pinot Noir 2012
By Linda Murphy