The 2004 John Tyler Pinot Noir chosen as one of the top 25 Pinot Noirs from a single vineyard in the San Francisco Chronicle

May 2, 2008

The San Francisco Chronicle Wine Selections/ Single- Vineyard Russian River Valley Pinot Noir

RATING: TWO AND A HALF STARS 2004 John Tyler Bacigalupi Vineyard RRV Pinot Noir ($42) Subtle cedar, eucalyptus and spice on the nose plus toasty oak; dry, dusty mineral leads to flavors of roasted cherry and bright strawberry on the palate. Winery only.

Tyler Heck, wine maker at John Tyler Wines, had a bottle of his Pinot under the table, and the barrage of silly questions I asked him paid off when he finally poured me a glass. Tyler makes wine from the fruit grown by John Bacigalupi on his family's historic vineyard in Healdsburg.

Fruit from Bacigalupi Vineyard has been used to make single-vineyard wines by such prominent wineries as Rudd and Williams Selyem. Not impressed yet? In 1973 Chateau Montelena purchased 14 tons of Wente Clone Chardonnay from Bacigalupi Vineyard. Three years later, that Chardonnay was mistaken by judges for a Batard-Montrachet in the Judgment of Paris, winning the competition that shocked the wine world.

Tyler doesn't release his Pinot Noir until he feels it's ready, after over 3 and a half years conditioning in the bottle after aging in new French oak. It delivers a voluptuous front, mid-mouth and back-end flavor that got my mind turning with ways to describe it. In a year that has seen the release of Grand Cru Burgundies that fetch prices around $500, Pinot lovers have no choice but to seek out better values. At $42 a bottle, John Tyler is a smart choice over the collector's items from France. If this went up blind against the 2005 Burgundies in a modern day Judgment of Paris, my money is on fourth-generation winemaker Tyler Heck.

2008 Riverside International Wine Competition

The 2004 John Tyler Pinot Noir won a Silver Medal at the 2008 Riverside International Wine Competition. Over 2,600 wines were entered in this year's competition. Judges included wine writer Dan Berger and winemaker for Louis Martini Winery Mike Martini.

2008 Gold Medal Winner in the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition

John Tyler 2004 Russian River Valley Zinfandel from Bacigalupi Vineyards wins a Gold Medal in the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. This is recognized as the world's largest wine competition with over 4,000 wines entered in this year's competition from over 1,580 wineries. Come and taste our gold medal winner at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition Public Tasting at Fort Mason, Saturday February 16th from 2- 5 p.m

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