Steve Heimoff, Wine Enthusiast's West Coast Editor, recently reviewed a host of Pessagno wines, for the September 2008 issue. The following scores and comments were impressive and we thought you might like to see for yourself.
"This is a very low-production, best-of-barrels selection by the winemaker. It's an extremely tight, young wine, austere and almost searing in acidity, with a yeasty taste from sur lees aging. If you're looking for opulent, immediately accessible Chardonnay, this isn't for you. But the wine has tantalizing hints of grilled pineapples and nectarines, and the powerful structure suggests cellaring. Stash this away for a couple of years."
"Pessagno has a perfect track record with this cool-climate vineyard, consistently producing Chards of this caliber. The wine is tight in acids and flinty minerals, even showing new oaky tannins. But the exotic nuances of roasted peaches and grilled pineapples suggest cellarability. Best after 2008."
"Here's a savory, delicious and varietally true Pinot Noir that drinks well right away, but has the structural integrity for the cellar. With crisp, dry flavors of cherries, pomegranates, cola, tobacco, and Chinese five-spice, it appeals for its exotic immediacy, but has the density to evolve for 5 to 6 years."
"This is a half-bottle of Sauvignon Blanc grown in the Arroyo Seco, one of the best sources in California for crisp white wines. With residual sugar of 18.4%, it's very sweet, but it's not a sugar bomb. You'll find complex flavors of pineapples, apricots, vanilla custard, honey and creme brulee, backed up with firm acidity that makes the wine finish clean."
"Very sweet and delicious, a true Port-style wine that's high in acidity and packed with tannins. But the sugar level is so high, it makes the wine drinkable now. The flavors are of chocolate, red currants and vanilla."
"Pale in color but powerful in flavor, this Pinot is perfumed in cherry, cola, rose petal, roasted cedar wood and pepper aromas, with similar flavors. It's dense and full-bodied, and austere and unrewarding in youth. But it seems to have the structure to age. Best 2009-2011."
"The great sweetness of this wine makes it's success. It's just delicious, offering up a mouthful of chocolate-covered cherry candy flavors with the sharpness of cassis. Crisp acidity and fine, dusty tannins make it elegant."
"Light in structure and made for early drinking, this Pinot is crisp and dry, with cherry, cola and minty flavors. High acidity gives it a searing taste that calls for rich fare, like ahi tuna tartare."