There’s a rustic charm and elusive aromas on the nose. Could it be leather or smoke, wet hay perhaps? The RSM Vineyard – named after Rex Scott McClellan, Milla Handley’s husband – is an organically farmed high high-elevation, wooded site. This pinot noir emerges from the surrounding woods showing red fruit, mushroom, and forest floor, as if to define the typicity of cool climate pinot noir from Anderson Valley.
This is an excellent medium medium-bodied wine that was built to age. It’s balanced and drinkable now, and it has apparent soft tannins that will continue to settle into the mix over the next three to seven years. We paired this wine with Idaho rainbow trout, broccoli walnut pesto pasta (Source: NYT), and arugula salad. I wish you could have been here for dinner!
Get to know winemaker Randy Schock, and why he chose this wine as most emblematic of the Handley brand.