2004 Sea Smoke

[hhlodesign]

I have a friend who is not going to use his entire allotment from Sea Smoke this year. I was wondering if I should buy some. He says these are very hard to get and worth much more than these prices. Does anyone know if these are any good?

Southing Pinot Noir @ $49 each

Ten Pinot Noir @ $69 each

Thanks.

[Brad Ballinger]

In the "for what it's worth" and "my two cents" categories, I've had The Southing one time (2002 vintage). I can think of plenty bottles of Burgundy I'd rather spend $50 on. And I can think of other Calfornia or Oregon Pinot Noir wines I'd prefer that I can walk into my retailer and pay less than $50 for.

The Ten is 100% new oak, so if that's your preferred style, you may like that. The Southing is 65% new oak.

But. . . If youwant the wines for less than "market value," then the prices are fair. The Southing is being offered on Wine Commune for $71 by some seller who wants to captitalize on the limited availability.

Also, if you care what James Laube of Wine Spectator had to say:

What impressed me most about the Sea Smoke bottlings is that they showed more individual character than they have in past years. The Botella bottling (92–94 points, $29 as futures), is one of the greatest buys from California today. While both the Southing (89–91, $45) and Ten (92–94, $65) bottlings also offer depth and complexity, the Botella should be the wine you stockpile.

[djsexyb]

i have to admit that i not not terriblely well versed in pinot noir, but i just sat down with my morning coffee and the fresh Binny's sale list and found the Southing for $45.99. so the price, i guess, is about par, though i am not so sure as to how limited/scarce these bottles are since they have presence in a major market distributor such as binny's. my two cents.