Balletto Sexton Hill Pinot Noir 2022 (750ml) *

Cool-climate Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley tends to trade power for perfume, and this bottling from Balletto leans into that idea. Sexton Hill is the winery's coldest site, planted in 2008 on ground that sits at a few hundred feet just off Bodega Highway, close enough to the coast to keep the fruit slow and measured. The 2022 vintage shows a riper side of that equation, medium to fuller in body, but still very much a wine of place.

The color runs to a deep magenta ruby, and the nose is on the darker end of the Pinot spectrum: black cherry and black raspberry, with a savory streak that brings tea leaf, violets, and a whisper of umami spice. It fills the mouth without weight, framed by ripe, unforced tannins and a thread of freshness that carries the finish. Drinkable now, though a year in the cellar will let the savory notes settle and gain resolution.