Pinot Noir is widely regarded as the most challenging varietal to both grow and make. Yet the resulting wine is the deep love of wine aficionados around the globe. At Tantalus we are in love with Pinot Noir. We strive tirelessly to produce the very best the land and the varietal will allow us.

The 2008 Tantalus Pinot Noir presents a myriad of flavors and aromas. Notes of ripe cherry and yellow plum with wild strawberry and rhubarb tart, lift out of the glass. Light spice and earth aromas also command attention. On the palate the wine is in the herbal and savory spectrum complemented by bramble, Bing cherry and the rhubarb again, which ties in nicely with the nose. Medium in structure, the wine fleshes out in the mid palate and a zip of acidity carries the wine through to the back of the palate where it lingers, inviting another sip.

2008 was an interesting growing season for us. Partly because the summer days were full of sun but not overly hot and partly because we made an educated decision to turn our already sustainable vineyards organic. The vines already seem more in balance and the resulting wine also contains the tension and vitality that comes from something that is truly at one and in tune with its natural surroundings.