2022 OLG Pinot Noir Our Lady of Guadalupe Vineyard | Sta. Rita Hills AVA Santa Barbara County California 750ml

In 2015, Dave Phinney set his eyes on an extreme property just outside the Central Coast town of Lompoc. The abandoned row crop farm was on the western edge of the Sta. Rita Hills AVA, known for its sandy, silica-rich, diatomaceous earth soils and cool, windy climate that produce Pinot Noir and Chardonnay unlike anywhere. After years of hard work planting Our Lady of Guadalupe, Dave and his team decided to start a new brand focused exclusively on producing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from the vineyard, so much so that the vineyard and wine is known as 'OLG'. Simply put, this is the only project in the United States where Dave makes wine from a vineyard he owns.
The 2022 OLG Pinot Noir pours a dark persimmon core with a lucid rose hip rim. Laden with elegant aromatics, notes of bright raspberry, Bing cherry and Pinot funk develop into darker tones of black cherry, mocha and mahogany. On the palate, the entry is scrumptiously soft with cranberry crunch, ripe strawberry, redcurrant and a touch of martozzo. Typical of the Sta. Rita Hills, the finish is lined with minerality and some saline hints with closing touches of fennel and anise. | OLG

Early in the year, I began interviewing Dave Phinney for an article that appeared in the March 2023 print issue of Decanter, and while we talked about Our Lady of Guadalupe, his vineyard project in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA of Santa Barbara County, I had yet to taste the wines. When I finally did, late this year, it was a rewarding experience. They boast Phinney's characteristically opulent style with a raging river of bright, ripe fruit flavours. Still, they are uncharacteristic of Phinney with alcohol levels under 15% and bear a remarkable freshness, imbued with the region's classic high natural acidity... the 2022 leads with a more savoury profile than the inaugural 2021 release (also a fabulous wine). Alluring candied cherry notes are scented with expressive cedarwood laced with fragrant cumin and flamed orange peel. A polished wine on entry with silky textured fruit so pure and so ripe and bright and perfectly expressive of black cherry, black plum, Red Delicious apple, and layers of baking spices. Satiny tannins glide up against a juicy acid profile, building to a finish of cocoa nib nuances and fresh garrigue notes. Juicy, structured, and delicious, it leaves one in a perpetual state of wanting for more. | 96 points, Jonathan Cristaldi for Decanter