It has a deep color, with long, sensuous legs run slowly down the sides of the glass.

The nose is super spicy, and has a ton of black cherry, cedar and dusty earth. It’s gorgeous and intricate.

The palate has sweet cherry and a little red plum, along with a rich mouthfeel that envelops your tongue like a velvet blanket. Then, just as it starts to feel like it might get a little heavy, youthful acidity kicks your cheeks, reminding you that you needn’t rush to open this wine up. In a decent cellar, it’ll improve for a couple years.

And a couple years is just about as long as the finish lasts. It just goes and goes, with cherry and eventually some cranberry sneaking in. It lasts, come to think of it, about as long as “Catwoman” feels.

Cheers,
TSW

I am such a sad sucker for pinot noir!

If there’s a new pinot that even shows potential of being good, I’ll blow some cash on it. Not yet being “in the money” (or even “kind of near the money”), I have to choose from the more affordable versions of this too-often unaffordable varietal. But given all the sub-$20 options out there, it’s amazing how much you can burn on this fickle, often heartbreaking juice.

Why do I do it? Because good pinot noir is as sexy as Halle Berry in a “Catwoman” suit, minus the lousy movie surrounding her. If you could have that for a Jackson note, wouldn’t you go for it?

Well, dear reader, let me introduce you to your obtainable, $16 Halle. Estancia has given us an incredible wine that’s supple but muscular, mysterious and complex (sound like “Catwoman” to you?).