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2000 PINOT NOIR, BIEN NACIDOSanta Barbara County2000 was a very good growing year; the only problem was that a lot of the pinot in the area was over-cropped. At Bien Nacido we had our section of the vineyard crop thinned not once, but twice, and it was well worth the effort. We got rid of all the clusters that were not going to ripen properly and evened out things so that each vine would bear about the same amount of crop, and none would be overburdened.
Informed people will tell you that many 2000 pinots from the Santa Maria Valley are light and insipid, and perhaps most of them are (I actually haven't tasted any of them). But you can't say that about our Bien Nacido pinot: it is dark, rich, and just delicious. None of that weird herbal tomato thing going on here; it is all just pure fruit and a joy to drink.