HIGHLY RECOMMENDED- both delicious, and an excellent value. It's the first year for a Croft Pinot from Patty, and their "introductory" price is quite good. The wine has an intense blackberry component with a streak of sweet blueberry running through the wine. This deeply purple wine has a tremendous amount of stuffing that makes it boisterously appealing for the short term but the pure intensity is checked by great natural acidity which will make it something worth sticking in the cellar.

2004 TASTIN NOTES

If there was a positive aspect to the utter lack of fruit in our vineyards in 2004 it was, in the effort to hunt down quality replacement fruit, the addition of Croft Vineyard Pinot Noir to our repertoire. We have gotten Sauvignon Blanc from here the previous 2 vintages but it was not until we were looking at our beleagured tonnages before we inquired about what they might have to offer us. Luckily we were in the door early and we were offered a section of 18 year-old Wadensvil and one of 15-year old Pommard. Over the past few vintages this Eola Hills based site has been steadily working toward improving the management of the site and what we received in 2004 shows that this commitment to quality has produced results. To be honest, surprising and stunning results.

The Pommard clone brings the intense boysenberry/blackberry juicy fruit that we find in the Eola Hills and the Wadensvil provides a backbone of tannin and acidity that add dimension, class and complexity to the explosive fruit profile. The wine not only stands up to the 39% new oak it completely overwhelms it. This deeply purple wine has a tremendous amount of stuffing that makes is boisterously appealing for the short term but the pure intensity is checked by great natural acidity which will make it something worth sticking in the cellar. Croft Vineyard will become a staple of our cellar over the next several years and we believe you will see some fantastic bottlings on this wine. It may be new to you now but we are pretty sure it is something you will want to get to know.