Drew Family Wines Drew Faîte de Mer Farm Radiolaria Pinot Noir 2021 750ml

The 2021 Pinot Noir Faîte de Mer Farm Radiolaria is a wild, dynamic wine. It is also quite closed and in need of cellaring. Readers who can wait will find a complex, nuanced Pinot Noir that has a ton to offer. Spice, dried flowers, lavender and blue/purplish fruit fill out the layers, with firm tannins that wrap it all together in style. (Antonio Galloni)

Radiolaria is Jason Drew’s block selection, named for the deposits of fossilized plankton at his estate vineyard. The site, three miles from the Pacific and 1,250 feet above it, has been farmed for three decades under organics, first as an apple orchard, later, by the Drews, for apples, truffles and grapes. Those grapes, spontaneously fermented as whole clusters, fill this wine with red-berry flavor, generous, mouthwatering and vibrant. The way the wine plays in and out of its oak suggests a long life ahead: There’s energy, stamina and a buzzy length of flavor.