Fromm “La Strada” 2002 Pinot Noir (Marlborough) – Towering, for sure, but more of a concrete edifice than a true work of architecture. There’s dark fruit with concentrated aromatics, black earth, a fine and very adult appeal to the head as well as the heart, but there’s also layer upon layer of structure (almost all of it a silkily ripe tannin), and while it does not overwhelm the wine, it dominates it. This is not a pinot for zinfandel lovers, as so many modern interpretations are, but it just might be a pinot for Bordeaux lovers. (2/09)

Fromm “La Strada” 2002 Pinot Noir (Marlborough) – Intense and brooding, with a mille-feuille of tannins enveloping the dark berry fruit. There’s acidity, too, and the wine’s no modernistic leaden monster, nor is it particularly thick or hard, though a physical sensation of depth is its primary characteristic. But I’d consider drinking rather than holding this wine, and even then with the right, structure-scalpeling food. (2/09)

Fromm “La Strada” 2002 Pinot Noir (Marlborough) – Black roses, dark cherries, and morels still full of earth; this was a brooding wine in the first flush of its youth, and it’s a brooding wine now. There’s really quite a striking amount of soil here. While the tannic portion of the structure has softened and integrated with the fruit to an extent, it’s still quite present. But as the wine aerates and the more vivid fruit aromatics start to fade, the earth starts to seem infused with lead. And it is a heavy wine…there’s no mistaking that. I don’t know what to think about this wine’s future; based on the structure and the amount of youthful fruit it had at release, it should be nowhere near maturity. But based on this performance, some suspicion seems warranted. It’s a very compelling wine, albeit decidedly far to one end of the pinot noir spectrum, but I do wonder if the vaunted/feared Fromm structure might have been too much for this particular wine. (1/09)