Pinots are some of the most complex wines out there. While they do have standard characteristics, there is almost always secondary levels of complexity in them. It’s as if Pinots beg to be scrutinized. The Laetitia Pinot Noir Reserve is no different. 

The color on this Pinot is beautiful. The fringe (the lip around the liquid) is clear and the wine displays a boisterous red, almost exclaiming, “I’m good” quality with the color.

The nose on had a few layers of complexity. Standing out in the spotlight was the classic bing cherry, a classic and stereotypical piece to a pinot. But it didn’t stop there. This wine goes a bit deeper in the fruit tray by displaying subtle hints of not-ripe plums. You can smell them sitting on the tree still displaying a sweetness to them. In addition, you also get a black berry resting ever so slightly. It took me at least a few whiffs to get it out. 

The word that accurately describes the feel of this wine on the attack and mid-palate is silky, tart and a tad leathery (ok, so that was more than 1 word). It’s as if I literally had a silky tongue and the wine glided right by, though making sure to drop it’s calling card to each of my taste buds. Very very subtle tannins that should dissipate in a matter of months. The black berries come out bit stronger on the taste, almost sitting 50/50 with the cherries. A scrumptious Pinot with loads of fruit on the palate. The finish is equally beautiful, trailing off after a minute or two longer to linger around. 

Overall this wine is divine. There are no jolts, buzzes or attacks to my senses whatsoever. A big thumbs up to the winemaker for finding the proper length to age these grapes in the barrel. 

As I mentioned before, I’d recommend letting this rest for another year to fully let the tannins go to sleep. 

Price: $40

Where you can get this wine: shop.laetitia.com/

This Chardonnay through me for a total loop. When I first tried the wine, nearly immediately upon opening it, the hints of oak were in this wine, but not enough to be very noticeable. I guesstimated that this wine was stainless steel aged. Yes, I detected some ML guess it had about 60% (the wine has 80%). 

Then I reviewed the winemakers notes and was completely shocked. The wine was aged in 9 months in French Oak barrels. 

Laetitia’s 2007 Chardonnay displayed a beautiful yellow color, with a little bit of gold thrown in there. I wanted to spend a bit longer lingering at the color, rather then trying it. I soon came to my senses and stuck my nose in the glass.

There were traces of oak in the initial sniff along with hints of a bartlett pear and bit of citrus. A faint whiff of lemon could be found if you swirled it around for a bit. It was if it didn’t want to come out of the shadows. A delightful smell overall. This wine does really well if you give it about a 30 minute lag time between opening and sniffing/drinking. I found the aromas to blossom after giving it some time to open up.

The Chardonnay displayed a very even mouth feel. It lightly gripped that back of my tongue with a bit of tannins. It’s a 2007 after all. I’d recommend giving this wine about a year in the cellar to let those tannins disappear.  In addition to a few tannins, a bit more lemon came through with a dab of figs in the background.

The pièce de résistance is this wine’s finish. The length kept going, and going, and going. The lemon that was found on the mid-palate turned to honey on the after taste. Beautiful. The complete mouth feel was still apparent nearly a few minutes after spitting.

What makes this wine that much more appealing is it breaks the $20 mark at $18. The wine is well made, even and balanced. I would give this wine a year more of cellaring before opening, however it is still very drinkable now.

You can purchase this wine directly from Laetitia’s website at https://shop.laetitiawine.com/. They also have a Facebook group page.