Earth Smoke Pinot Noir, Pyramid Valley Vineyards 2020

Rosehips, wild strawberries, rosemary, oyster shells, peppercorns, violets and thyme on the nose. Wonderfully fragrant and expressive, with tight tannins and vibrant acidity. Delicious peppery, lightly stemmy notes. Lots of tension. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

Deeper, more earthy, more savoury than the Angel Flower. Smells richer and riper. More grip, too. More muscular but still has an echo of the light, lifted floral, ethereal character of Angel Flower and opens to a floral cloud that hangs over the wine. And it has the same stony/dusty aftertaste of the finest tannin texture. Great freshness though this isn't really what you notice because the wine is such a complete whole.

Sitting beside Lion’s Tooth and picked a week to ten days later, this is imperceptibly richer and a tone or two darker than Angel Flower. With a more elemental stance on the palate, again, the name of the wine is truly evocative of its flavour. That it is named after a weed found growing wild in the vineyard is borderline unbelievable, but it’s true. In the same way that Lion’s Tooth Chardonnay was tougher and more unyielding than Field of Fire, Earth Smoke is the more belligerent and belligerent of the Pinot pair. Backward and this time more akin to a brooding, square-cut Morey-Saint-Denis, this wine needs ages but will be utterly astonishing when it finally falls into equilibrium.