From a vineyard on Ribbon Ridge immediately west of Bergstroms’ winery, planted only in the last half dozen years, and monopolized by them, the 2011 Pinot Noir Le Pre du Col leads with scents of licorice and tamarind; smoky black tea and nobly fungus; lemon and grapefruit oils; not to forget dark cherry and plum, with an emphasis on their pits. (I would have sworn blind that this was influenced by whole clusters and stems, but it’s not.) The palate is correspondingly complex and piquant, pungent and tart-edged, with abundant primary juiciness, fine-grained tannins, and fine focus of flavors. Finishing with rapier refinement and penetration, along with a cyanic glow, this memorable Pinot is likely to merit attention through at least 2022. Much of this site has not yet been planted, and the existing plantings didn’t begin producing – and then in highly limited quantities until the present instance – until 2008. “Our grandchildren will figure this vineyard out,” says Bergstrom – but it tastes to me as though he has it pretty well figured out already! - David Schildknecht