2005 Peter Michael, Le Moulin Rouge, Santa Lucia Highlands, Magnum (1.5L), [Torn Label]

2005 Peter Michael - The 2005 Pinot Noir Le Moulin Rouge has a dark ruby/purple color, with tart acidity holding back the wines forceful black cherry and raspberry notes intermixed with licorice, spring flowers, and forest floor. The wine is tightly knit and will benefit from several years of bottle age; it will last at least a decade or more. This 121-acre estate with 114 producing acres of vineyard all located in Knights Valley continues to be at the top of their game and I cant recommend the wines highly enough. I was surprised when I showed up at Peter Michael to find both Nicolas Morlet, who replaced his brother Luc, and Luc Morlet himself, were at my tasting. It seems that Luc is still doing consulting work with his brother firmly entrenched at the winery. This is still one of the best-run wineries in the world, and one might quibble over the fact that there are so many different cuvees of Chardonnay, but they are all subtly different in style/personality. The Morlets proclaimed to me that essentially there is very little difference in the character of the Chardonnays in 2005 and 2006, except they thought the acid levels were slightly higher in 2005 and the 2006s were riper. In any event, these are sensational Chardonnays, and readers couldn't go wrong no matter which one they buy.