2005 LaZarre Hahn Estates Bien Nacido Vineyard Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir

13.5% alc., 275 cases, $50. Adam LaZarre is a former Navy radar specialist who developed a fondness for wine while in the Navy. After his college training at Fresno State, he was brought on board at Hahn Estates in 2001 to revamp and revitalize the brand. He quickly brought the Hahn Estates lineup of wines many accolades and along with Paul Clifton, he proceeded to develop the wildly successful Rex Goliath brand which sold to Constellation Wines for $30 million dollars. The two of them then went to work developing the Cycles Gladiator label. LaZarre produces a small amount of two Pinot Noirs under his own name with grapes sourced from Bien Nacido Vineyard and Sierra Madre Vineyard. · Complex scents of cherry, oak, cardamom, and iodine. Plenty of sweet and racy red Pinot fruits with plenty of lift and lively acidity on the finish. A great food wine. Reviewed December 16, 2007

Winery: LaZarre
From article: Pinot Noir Shootout Prelims