We are always surprised at this winery's successes with Pinot in a place far more noted for Cabernet Sauvignon, but success, it seems, follows success and El Molino hits a home run yet again. Plump and polished and very well filled with lots of ripe, black-cherry fruit, the wine is decked out with an abundance of very sweet oak and has plenty of flesh and a fine velvety feel. It is on the full-bodied side, and its ripeness brings a bit of heat to the finish, but the fruit that is everywhere fights on through at the end and fires real hopes that this one might even be better after a few years have passed. June 2006

Rutherford is a warm place to grow pinot noir and this wine is appropriately large in scale- rich, smooth and sleek. It’s finely integrated for its size, with an ironbound grip in the finish to match filet mignon. April 2006