MacMurray Ranch, Santa Lucia Highlands (Monterey County, California) Pinot Noir 2010

This wine stands in rather stark contrast to the other Pinots under the MacMurray Ranch label, showing notably darker color, a black fruit character, more intensity of flavor and greater structural punch. For all of that, though, the wine is still so well balanced and proportioned that it retains admirable sophistication. This wine shows how far the “MacMurray Ranch” brand has strayed from estate wines rooted in an actual ranch, but it is so good that I can’t work up much motivation to complain about the elastic branding strategy.