Smoking Loon 2006 & 2007 Pinot Noir – California

Nose of blackberry and black cherry. The nose on the 06 is more distinctive; the 07 is a little alcoholy and vague, with more of a generic red wine aroma. Tastes from the 06 were of dried cherries and plum; with the 07, a bit more smoke and minerals. Some nice pinot earthiness with both. More toward the French style rather than a new-world fruit bomb. And we really don’t like “stupid-story-gimmick-labels,” and Smoking Loon has one of the worst. Tell us something about the wine, or its growing conditions, or something substantial if you have to say something on the back. Either vintage alone would probably have garnered a Yes rating, but the differences between the two make us downgrade it a notch, to Yes/Maybe. $9-10 on sale, regularly $12-14.