Wine Advisor
Lingua Franca, Mimi's Mind Pinot Noir 2017
View analysis
Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Erin Brooks
Medium ruby in color and shy to begin, the 2017 Pinot Noir Mimi's Mind slowly opens to licorice, allspice and cinnamon with blackberry and marionberry pie, loamy earth, violets, bergamot and an earthy undercurrent. It’s medium-bodied with oodles of ripe, earth-laced fruits, a pleasantly chalky frame and woven freshness, finishing long and flavorful. I suspect this will get better with a bit more time in bottle.
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Dark, brilliant magenta. Assertive red berry liqueur, cherry cola, potpourri and incense aromas show outstanding clarity and mineral lift. Offers concentrated yet impressively energetic black raspberry, bitter cherry, spicecake and floral pastille flavors. A subtle blood orange flourish adds refreshing back-end cut. Gains weight and sweetness with air and finishes spicy, subtly tannic and extremely long, with resonating florality and a touch of smokiness. 50% whole clusters and 20% new oak.
About the Producer
From the beginning, Lingua Franca Estate has been farmed on low-impact, Organic and Biodynamic principles, practices that were later improved with the advice and guidance of Mimi Casteel. Today, Lingua Franca is training its own dedicated vineyard team in specialized farming and pruning methods led by Vineyard Manager Brandon Hasart. The first harvest began very early, in late August 2015. We made our wine at a custom crush facility, as we had no winery yet. Though the summer was hot, it cooled in time for harvest , and picking went very easily. The team was small and dedicated, composed of Thomas Savre, Junichi Fujita, Josh Wludyka, Siri Stone, David Honig, Nancy Stone-Nilsen and Larry. The wines were outstanding, but we realized that as we grew our own fruit, we would need a facility capable of handling the grapes with more precision. There was no option but to build a facility from the ground up.
