Thursday, December 15, 2022

By Farr Côte Vineyard Pinot Noir

 Many of you will be familiar with the Farrside or Sangreal Pinot Noirs of By Farr. These are quite distinctive from each other, with Farrside being very savoury and structure focussed, whereas Sangreal emphasizes dark fruit flavours. Over the last decade, By Farr has experimented with a high density vineyard, the Côte vineyard. This hillside vineyard faces north, north east and east in three sections. Tasting the 2016 By Farr Côte Vineyard Pinot Noir is my first experience of this wine. 

I was gobsmacked. This is again quite a different Pinot profile. The wine is quite perfumed on the nose. On the palate, red and dark cherry is the dominant fruit flavour, but the main impression is the smooth character of this wine, which caresses the palate with immense charm. It is a great blend between fruit and savoury characteristics. The wine shows great finesse, supported by fine and detailed tannins, which leads to a very long finish. This is a softer wine than the other two mentioned, but do not be fooled; it has great intensity.

Score: 98/+++ 

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