Thomas Fogarty Rapley Trail Pinot Noir Santa Cruz Mountains 2017 (750ml) *

High-elevation Pinot Noir from California's Santa Cruz Mountains tends to trade weight for tension, and this 2017 bottling from Thomas Fogarty's Rapley Trail Vineyard leans into that cool-climate style. It sits pale to medium ruby in the glass, a single-vineyard expression built more on lift and detail than on power.

The nose is perfumed and inviting, all violet and dried lavender folded into tangerine, blueberry, sliced strawberry and crushed raspberry, with a saline note and a dusty, earthy undercurrent beneath. On the palate it is medium-bodied and silky, layering those aromatics across a frame of firm, fine-grained tannins. There is real vibrancy here, a taut, slightly nervous energy that carries through to a long, spicy finish.