.

This elegant Pinot Noir is the third vintage released by Foxtrot Vineyards, a tiny Naramata specialist in Pinot Noir. The winery has been launched by retired engineer Torsten Allander, his winemaker son Gustav, and their families. Early this decade, the Allanders purchased a Naramata home that was associated with a three-acre Pinot Noir vineyard. After growing grapes for a few years, they set out to make wine that competes with the finest of the world’s Pinot Noirs. Are they getting there? A friend of mine just returned from tasting Pinot Noir in Sonoma. He discovered that Torsten had just visited three of the top producers. The winemakers all volunteered to my friend how impressed they were with the Foxtrot Pinot Noir that Torsten has been showing them.

This wine is made primarily with the Dijon 115 clone with a little bit of Pommard clone Pinot Noir. The very complex winemaking included the use of four different yeasts along with wild ferment for one lot. The wine spent 16 months in new French oak (medium and medium plus toast) and a year in bottle before release. The wine, with a lovely light hue, begins with attractive aromas of spice and cherries. On the palate, there are flavours of strawberry and cherry subtly framed by the oak. It has the classic velvet feel of good Pinot Noir and a surprisingly substantial texture. A third of the bottle was left for tasting on the second day. It seemed that the wine had become even fuller and the colour had become darker overnight. This wine must be decanted if consumed now but it really deserves to be cellared a few years to achieve its full potential.