Mail Road, Mount Carmel Vineyard Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills, California, 2018

Overview of the Wine
MAIL ROAD is a project born of a commitment to place.

We strive to produce wines of uncompromising excellence and distinction. Impossible-to-forget wines. Wines that open hearts and engage minds. Wines that are powerful, yet graceful and balanced. Wines that reveal the passion and uncompromising craft that went in their creation. Fifty miles northwest of Santa Barbara, California, on a steep, south-facing cliff, a short few miles from the Pacific Ocean, Mail Road meets its end at the geographic center of The Sta. Rita Hills AVA, the historic and iconic Mt. Carmel Vineyard. The wines produced by Mt. Carmel fruit are remarkable in their lean toward site specifically and marked by deep concentration, exceptional depth, structural complexity and bracing acidity.

Organic.

Grape / Blend
Pinot Noir

Origin
Sta. Rita Hills, Santa Barbara, California

Winemaker Matt Dees Tasting Notes
Mount Carmel Vineyard is the exclusive purveyor to Mail Road Wines.  Mount Carmel Vineyard is located on a steep, south-facing cliff, north of the Santa Ynez River. Established in 1990 by Ron and Nancy Piazza, the vineyard is planted to a variety of own-rooted, organically and principally dry farmed, heritage Pinot Noir and Chardonnay clones. The vineyard is at 800 to 1000 feet elevation, with botella clay, limestone, diatomaceous earth, calcerous deposits and sandy loam soils.

97 Points - Vinous
A dazzling wine, the 2018 Pinot Noir Mt. Carmel Vineyard possesses magnificent richness to match its statuesque personality. The flavors are rich, bold and ample, and yet the 2018 retains so much nuance and vibrancy. Inky red/purplish fruit, lavender, graphite and spice build into the huge, resonant finish. What a wine. The 2018 was done with 6% whole clusters and was aged in a combination of one and two-year-old barrels...Ronald Piazza and Michal Palmer own Mail Road and the Mt. Carmel Vineyard, one of the top sites in California for both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Winemaker Matt Dees sure knows how to get the most out of this fruit. The wines I tasted are off the charts.

96 Points - Jeb Dunnuck 
The 2019 Pinot Noir Mount Carmel Vineyard is more floral and exotic, with a thrilling core of black raspberry and wild strawberry fruits supported by candied orange, violet, flowery incense, and assorted spices. These all carry to a vibrant, medium-bodied Pinot Noir with a classic, focused spine of acidity, a more rounded mouthfeel, ripe tannins, and a great finish. It's another gorgeous wine. Drink bottles any time over the coming 10-12 years or so.

Product size: 750ml