2021 Occidental Bodega Ridge Pinot Noir
99 Points - The Wine Independent: Medium to deep ruby-purple colored, the 2021 Pinot Noir Bodega Ridge Vineyard opens with profound earthy notes of damp soil, black truffles, charcoal, and crushed rocks, leading to a core of fresh blackberries and mulberries, plus a waft of wild sage. The medium-bodied palate is taut and tight-knit with black fruit and earthy layers supported by silt-like tannins and bold freshness, finishing very long and savory.
98+ Points - Vinous: The 2021 Pinot Noir Bodega Ridge Vineyard is a wine of pure and total sensuality. Dark red/purplish fruit, orange peel, cinnamon, new leather, cedar and sweet pipe tobacco give the 2021 striking aromatic presence to play off its mid-weight personality. The 2021 Bodega Ridge is all class, but it is the most reticent of the wines today. It manages to bring together all the elements that define these wines, namely serious fruit concentration, backed by vertical, explosive structure.
97+ Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: The 2021 Pinot Noir Bodega Ridge Vineyard is tightly coiled to begin, slowly unfurling pure aromas of raspberry and pomegranate, shiitake mushrooms, iodine, pipe tobacco, licorice and tremendous floral perfume. The light-bodied palate is more open at this youthful stage, bursting with expressive red fruit. It's structurally seamless, its powerful, velvety tannins balanced by focused acidity that drives the wine forward, and it has a very long finish with a kaleidoscopic array of spicy accents. It gained weight and nuance for several days after the bottle was opened and will be long lived in the cellar.