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2020 Bien Nacido Estate, Pinot Noir, Santa Maria Valley, California, USA

  • Red
  • Dry
  • Full Bodied
  • Pinot Noir
Anne Krebiehl MW
90/100
Antonio Galloni
91/100
Erin Brooks
95/100
Jeb Dunnuck
96/100
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Product: 20201435465
2020 Bien Nacido Estate, Pinot Noir, Santa Maria Valley, California, USA

Description

The 2020 Pinot Noir Bien Nacido Vineyard comes from across the estate and was matured in about 45% new oak. Grapes were entirely destemmed this year. "I was really worried about smoke taint," winemaker Anthony Avila says. "It's said that you must discard all the green parts of the plant. It was the right choice, and I'd do it again." Instead of using whole clusters, "We kept our foot on the gas in terms of extraction," Avila explains. "We did more punch downs and longer pump overs." 

Medium ruby in colour, the Bien Nacido Pinot Noir features intense aromas of cranberry sauce, blood orange, mushroom, tar and forest floor with accents of cinnamon and liquorice. The medium-bodied palate is super silky and loaded with sweet berry preserves. Its oak spices are well integrated, its acidity bright, and it finishes long and spicy.

Drink 2022 - 2027

Erin Brooks, Wine Advocate (December 2022)

Colour Red
Sweetness Dry
Vintage 2020
Alcohol % 13.5
Grape List Pinot Noir
Body Full Bodied
Property Bien Nacido Vineyards

Critics reviews

Anne Krebiehl MW 90/100
Rather bold and ripe on the nose. Dark and intense fruit, coffee bean, citrus and charred oak with warming oak flavours. Dense with an attractive, creamy texture and pleasant soft finish.Drink 2023 - 2029Anne Krebiehl MW, Justin Knock MW, Dirceu Vianna Junior MW, Decanter.com (September 2023)
Drink 2023 - 2029
Anne Krebiehl MW, Decanter.com (Sep 2023)
Antonio Galloni 91/100
The 2020 Pinot Noir Estate Bien Nacido Vineyard is a heady, exuberant wine that very much reflects the heat and drought of year. A burst of red cherry/plum fruit, hard candy, kirsch, rose petal, mint, lavender and sweet spice gives the 2020 is flashy personality. The 2020 is not exactly subtle, but it sure offers tons of immediacy and overall appeal.Anthony Avila turned out a gorgeous set of wines at both Bien Nacido Estate and Solomon Hills Estate. Avila commented that yields were generous in 2020 because of good set. Skins were light though, so extractions took some time. The Chardonnays were mostly off before the worst of the heat, while spikes were harder on the later-ripening varieties. In this vintage, the Pinots were fully destemmed.Drink 2022 - 2028antonio_galloni, Vinous.com.com (August 2022)
Drink 2023 - 2029
Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (Aug 2022)
Erin Brooks 95/100
The 2020 Pinot Noir Bien Nacido Vineyard comes from across the estate and was matured in about 45% new oak. Grapes were entirely destemmed this year. "I was really worried about smoke taint," winemaker Anthony Avila says. "It's said that you must discard all the green parts of the plant. It was the right choice, and I'd do it again." Instead of using whole clusters, "We kept our foot on the gas in terms of extraction," Avila explains. "We did more punch downs and longer pump overs." Medium ruby in colour, the Bien Nacido Pinot Noir features intense aromas of cranberry sauce, blood orange, mushroom, tar and forest floor with accents of cinnamon and liquorice. The medium-bodied palate is super silky and loaded with sweet berry preserves. Its oak spices are well integrated, its acidity bright, and it finishes long and spicy.Drink 2022 - 2027erin_brooks, Wine Advocate (December 2022)
Drink 2023 - 2029
Erin Brooks, RobertParker.com (Dec 2022)
Jeb Dunnuck 96/100
I loved the nose on the 2020 Estate Pinot Noir, which offers a wild assortment of red and black berries, sappy herbs, flowers, iron, and exotic baking spices. These carry to a medium-bodied, concentrated, focused, age-worthy Pinot Noir with beautiful depth of fruit, ripe tannins, and a great finish. Give it a year or two and enjoy over the following decade. I followed this bottle for multiple days, and it only got better. It’s unquestionably a thrilling, brilliant wine. This was all destemmed and spent 16 months in 43% new French oak.These are brilliant wines across the board from Bien Nacido’s Anthony Avila, who has been at the estate since 2013. The farming here is managed by Chris Hammell, and this all-star team is delivering the goods.Drink 2023 - 2034jeb_dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com (August 2022)
Drink 2023 - 2029
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com (Aug 2022)

About this wine

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir is probably the most frustrating, and at times infuriating, wine grape in the world. However when it is successful, it can produce some of the most sublime wines known to man. This thin-skinned grape which grows in small, tight bunches performs well on well-drained, deepish limestone based subsoils as are found on Burgundy's Côte d'Or. Pinot Noir is more susceptible than other varieties to over cropping - concentration and varietal character disappear rapidly if yields are excessive and yields as little as 25hl/ha are the norm for some climats of the Côte d`Or.

Bien Nacido Estate

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