Varner Spring Ridge Vineyard Upper Picnic Block Pinot Noir 2014 (750ML)

95 VM / 95 WA

The 2014 Pinot Noir Upper Picnic is all class. Silky tannins and expressive, perfumed aromatics give the wine unreal finesse. Just as compelling on the palate, the 2014 is absolutely exquisite in its understated, nuanced expression of the Santa Cruz Mountains. What a gorgeous wine it is. The Upper Picnic is the most elegant of these four Pinots. Antonio Galloni – Vinous Media

Wafting from the glass with notes of ripe red cherries, cassis, dried flowers and subtle hints of pencil shavings, the 2014 Pinot Noir Upper Picnic Block is beautifully supple, satiny and medium to full-bodied on the palate, with an ample and expansive core of sweet, ripe fruit that's balanced by succulent acids and plenty of incipient savory complexity. It's a beautifully balanced, giving wine and a superb valedictory vintage for the Varner brothers. Drink it now or over the next decade. William Kelley – The Wine Advocate