2007 in Chile is definitely a mirror image of the 2007 harvest in California. Small yields, great concentration, intense color in the red wines, excellent balance of sugar and acidity. The wines from our vineyard in Chile are always slower to evolve than their Californian counterparts— behaving more like old world wines in some ways.

At any rate, the 2007 Alazan Pinot is perhaps the most concentrated and intense Pinot we have ever made—but it will take a bit longer to show its stuff. It is comprised mostly of grapes from a small-berried, low-yielding selection of Pinot Noir from the more mature part of our vineyard. Deeply colored and a bit tight for now, but with the tightly wound core of black fruit and the smoky spice typical of the Kingston vineyard, this one is definitely one to lay down for a bit. If you like your wine young, I’d decant it. I often think our wines, when young, taste better either later the day they are opened or even the next day, so if you don’t finish the bottle the first night, by all means, drink it on the second!