2022 Belle Glos 'Balade' Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills
Dark violet in color with aromas of dark fruit and toasted brioche with a hint of baking spice. Bold and sophisticated on the palate with blackberry, boysenberry, French toast, black pepper, and a trace of cinnamon. This wine is beguiled with complexity and a light refreshing approach, yet not overly bold on the palate.
Sometimes the offspring of a winemaking legacy needs to cut a different path before returning to the home nest. Being raised in the cellars of Napa Cabernet icons, Joe Wagner nonetheless decided that Pinot Noir was his calling. His father Chuck taught him the nuts-and-bolts reality of the field work and hose dragging that go to the heart of winemaking, so he wasn’t walking into the Pinot growing challenge wearing blinders. Joe understands that it’s the minutiae of vineyard work that makes great fruit happen. For the last decade, he’s been dialing up the fruit intensity on the top-shelf properties that make the cut for this project, and the wine world has taken notice. Critics, consumers… you name it. The word is out that Belle Glos has become a major player in the world of seductive California Pinot Noir.