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DECANTER Before the willful veteran left he founded Goldridgepinot. His 2002 and 2003 vintages were experimental, not commercially released, and the 2004 wines were destroyed in a Vallejo warehouse fire. Yet Jones stayed at the throttle, and in May 2007 released his first Pinot Noir under the Emeritus label, a 2005 from Russian River Valley. The 2005 William Wesley Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir followed three months later. Jones brought with him his Sonoma-Cutrer vineyard manager, Kirk Lokka and hired Don Blackburn as his winemaker. Blackburn says the variety of clones – Pommard, Dijon and a Sonoma-Cutrer selection linked to Domaine de la Romanee'-Conti – gives Emeritus wines their complexity at such a young vine age. Bottling succulence is Blackburn's passion, and the first two wines from Emertius certainly have it. Pinot Noir is Jones' new passion, and while he will always be linked to Chardonnay, he's clearly relishing his new flight plan. Emeritus, Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley 2005
**** 4 stars. Herbes de Provence nose leads to deep, wild raspberry,
black cherry flavours and hints of black tea and truffle. It's a
rich, fruity Pinot Noir, to be sure, yet has a savoury complexity,
elegance and mouthwatering acidity to lift it above the pack. $32;
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For
more than 25 years, Brice Cutrer Jones was known for the stylish
Chardonnays he made at Sonoma-Cutrer in California's Russian River
Valley. Now it's Pinot Noir that has the former pilot flying high,
but only after he sold Sonoma-Cutrer to Brown-Forman in 1999, exiting
in 2001.