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/

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.