Saintsbury, Carneros (California) Pinot Noir 2004 ($30);
Hartford Court, Sonoma Coast (California) Land’s Edge Vineyards Pinot Noir 2005 ($45): I hate to be a follower of trends, but it’s Academy Awards night as I write this, and I am drinking Pinot Noir. The Sideways effect lives on, not just in mainstream wine drinkers but also, apparently, in me.
Like many wine professionals, I have fervently advocated the charms of Pinot Noir. But it took a smash movie to get the message across–and now it seems that everyone wants to drink Pinot Noir. This situation is tinged with irony: Pinot Noir is not really a mass-marketable wine, even if its taste is pleasing to almost everyone. The fallout of Pinot Noir’s success is the volume of inexpensive Pinot Noirs today that have almost as much fleshiness, weight and ripe-fruitiness as inexpensive Shiraz. I take comfort in knowing that one bit of standard buying advice rings truer than ever: With Pinot Noir, the producer always matters.
Tonight I am tasting two California Pinots and marveling at how very different they are. One is fresh and bright while the other is soft and seductive. Both are terrific, but they each give a different kind of pleasure. Together they support the notion that one of Pinot Noir’s inherent charms is its ability to express itself differently in different growing areas.
Saintsbury 2004 Carneros Pinot Noir, the older of the two by a year, is perfect now. It is fresh and vibrant, with vivid, focused red 
fruit flavors and silky texture. I wouldn’t call it light, but it’s a Pinot Noir you might have with certain light fish dishes because of its delicacy. Hartford Court’s 2005 Land’s Edge Vineyards Pinot Noir is more substantial, with velvety texture and riper fruit flavors that are downright seductive. You could say that it is the more hedonistic of the two wines but it is also the more tannic. The Saintsbury has a quieter approach, seducing with delicacy and pinpoint precision of flavor rather than seducing with lushness.
Both of these wines come from cool-climate growing areas that foster slowly-ripened, small crops. Carneros was the first of California’s appellations to gain acclaim for its Pinot Noir; although summer days can get very warm during a heat wave, on most days an early-afternoon fog and strong winds cool the vines. Sonoma Coast vineyards are cool–or cold–by virtue of their proximity to the Pacific Ocean, and fog is often a factor.
Saintsbury Carneros Pinot Noir is sourced from more than a dozen vineyards in Carneros, some of which–such as Brown Ranch and Stanly Ranch–also provide the fruit for single-vineyard Saintsbury Pinot Noirs. The 2004 truly typifies the Carneros style in its spicy, berry aromas and flavors, its nervosity and crispness of structure and its overall elegance of style. In its concentration, the Land’s Edge Vineyards Pinot Noir reflects the small crop size 
of 2005. Its body, richness, and sweet ripeness of flavor also bring to mind the Pinots of Russian River Valley. This wine aged in barrels that were half new, while for the Saintbury, only 30% of the barrels were new. The Land’s Edge is therefore oakier, but it is also a year younger and has more ripeness of fruit to balance the new oak. In the Saintsbury, the oak presence is delicate, in keeping with the delicate fruit character.
In case you’re wondering which is the finer wine, the answer is, “Both.” The determination of which wine to drink comes down to which style you prefer. Isn’t that diversity one of the things we love about Pinot Noir in the first place?
Saintsbury Carneros Pinot Noir 2004: 92 Points
Hartford Court Land’s Edge Vineyards Pinot Noir 2005: 92 Points