Medium ruby-purple, the 2019 Pinot Noir The Belles Soeurs has alluring wild red and black berry fruits with wafts of garrigue, Earl Grey tea leaves and Angostura bitters. The palate is silky and intense with layered, graphite-tinged fruit and a very long finish that's notable for its purity and persistent perfume.

Vivid ruby. Expansive red and blue fruit aromas show fine definition, complemented by succulent floral, exotic spices and mineral notes that build with air. Sappy, appealingly sweet and energetic in style, offering boysenberry, Chambord, candied rose and five-spice powder flavors braced by a spine of juicy acidity. The floral note repeats emphatically on the impressively long finish, which features polished tannins and reverberating red fruit character.

The 2019 Pinot Noir The Belles Soeurs is elegant with the perfume of raspberry, cherry pie, dried roses, and cinnamon. The palate is vibrant and tension-driven with rose hip, hibiscus, and orange zest. I love this for its focused and direct nature, which will warrant some time in cellar to unfold. Drink 2024-2037.

Aromas of dark cherry, plum, violet, smoke and cigar box. Medium-bodied with finely grained tannins and bright acidity. Balanced and refined. Harmonious, savory and silky with a succulent, long finish. A little tight now. Unfiltered. Try after 2023.

From its origin as a Shea Vineyard bottling, Belle Soeur has transitioned to a blend fruit from the Beaux Freres, Upper Terrace, and Sequitur, all farmed by Mike Etzel. Today the grapes are picked earlier, and the extraction managed more gently to give a classic red fruit nose with spice on the attack and plenty of freshness and grippy tannins on the palate. There is still plenty of extract, though, and this lingers persistently on the finish.