Kinfolk Pinot Noir 2018 | Exclusive $20 Pinot that beat the $60 labels!
Kinfolk Pinot Noir 2018 presents a Pale, limpid ruby color. Starting with an inviting nose of fresh Rainier cherries, strawberries, white raspberry, and allspice. Then displaying a weightless elegance, with supple, satiny tannins and sustained flavors of cherry, violets, and kola. Finally, finishing with a crisp acidity that makes it a no-brainer for pairing with a wide variety of foods. Try it with anything from grilled salmon to roast pork to crab-stuffed mushrooms. Drink now – 2022.
Exclusive Access to the Hush-hush market for top-quality Pinot Noir in Napa!
Winemakers Ry Richards and Britt Nichols explained that there’s an entire hush-hush market for top-quality Pinot Noir in Napa. But only a handful of people have access to it. Because Britt and Ry have California roots that go back generations, and a network of friends and acquaintances all over California’s top wine regions, it would just be a matter of putting the word out there about this project. “Every winemaker wants to have a hand in a $20 Pinot that drinks like $80. That’s the white whale of the wine world!
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A few months later, we all met back up at Compline. Britt and Ry were already seated at the same table, but this time, each seat had three glasses of red already poured and waiting. At our impromptu tasting that evening, our ‘Master of Wine’ exclaimed “this one,” she said, holding up the glass in the light, “I could have every day and be perfectly happy. It’s complex and rich. I love it.” Of course, this is the Kinfolk Pinot Noir 2018, from Napa Valley’s Los Carneros. Definitely a wine that at $20 drinks like it costs more than three times as much as it does.
Winemakers Ry Richards and Britt Nichols seriously over-delivered on their promise. With its bright red cherries, the haunting underpinning of licorice and forest floor, and subtle rose-petal lift as exuberant and balanced as anything from the top producers of Russian River or Mendocino, this is in many ways the liquid embodiment of everything we love about Pinot Noir.
Winemaker Britt Nichols and Carneros
“Carneros is on average a full 10 degrees cooler than the rest of Napa,” Britt told us. “Diurnal temperature swings are dramatic so grapes cool down at night, maintaining freshness. Then, in the morning, the sun burns off the fog and bathes the grapes in the sun. Perfect for Pinot.”
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Winemaker Britt Nichols has more pedigree than many winemakers twice her age. And with time spent at Jordan Winery and alongside legends Nicolas Morlet and Philippe Melka. Like those of her mentors, Britt’s wines are deep in color, rich, and intensely concentrated. Most of all, these are also wines of great class, sleekness, and polish.
