Forge Cellars, Seneca Lake (Finger Lakes, New York) Pinot Noir 2020

 Serendipity often brings people together, but it takes intelligence and planning for anything worthwhile to come out of the meeting.   Such was the case with Rick Rainey, who has worked the wine trade from end to end, and Gigondas iconoclast Louis Barruol of Saint Cosme.  Long story short: They are now partners in Forge Cellars on Seneca Lake, where Rainey is making some stunning Rieslings while pursuing a self-described lieu-dit approach to winemaking, which means distinctive growing plots worthy of being named even if not legally recognized with geographic designations.  One spot is a vineyard called Leidenfrost, and I recently tasted both the Riesling and Pinot Noir from it with Rainey at the winery.  Rainey poetically describes Leidenfrost: “The terrain is unforgiving, jutting up from the landscape like the protective scales of a beast that you dare not interrupt.”  Fortunately he has, and the Pinot especially grabbed my palate.  It has that murky, yet elegant and linear, dark fruitiness and herbal savory notes that are complex and intriguing along with big yet linear tannins seldom found in Pinot to make a totally seductive wine that begs you to come back in five years.  This is made from partially whole cluster macerated Pommard clone grapes fermented in a wooden vat, resulting in a modest 12.5% alcohol content.