Six Strings Winery

Six Strings is a fairly new (since 2005) partnership between Gary Cornick and Iain Crabb. Both are guitarists - thus the name Six Strings. They started out as home winemakers before pursuing their efforts commercially. Although the brand is based in San Benito County, the duo sources grapes from the Santa Lucia Highlands, elsewhere in Monterey County and Dry Creek Valley. The fruit for this Pinot Noir is from the Mesa Del Rio Vineyard, near Greenfield and just outside the Arroyo Seco AVA. The wine spent 18 months in French oak barrels, about a third of them new, and was bottled unfined and unfiltered.

It’s a ripe, spicy Pinot, with raspberry, cherry and rhurbarb flavors, capped off by a long, supple finish. Not much of it was made - just 170 cases - and it’s priced at $29, which seems fair for a wine of this quality. As musicians, Cornick and Crabb are interested in the synergy between wine and music, so they offer suggested music pairings for all their wines. With this Pinot Noir, they say, something lively, like Latin jazz, is a good complement.

Reviewed March 27, 2008 by Laurie Daniel.