Trail Marker - Quink Vineyard Pinot Noir Santa Cruz Mountains 2021 750ml (12.9% abv)

only got 6  bottles! 

DREW HUFFINE: Winemaker/Owner

Drew is a purist who likes wines that are well-balanced and have a “certain something” about them that defies description. Over the years Drew has created wines for many well respected wineries but after he married Emily, she convinced him it was time they create their own wine. No mortgage. No kids. Let’s do it! Trail Marker was born.

Drew entered the wine world while attending UCSB, adjacent to Santa Barbara’s wine country. While pursuing a masters degree at Cal State LA, Drew worked at Colorado Wine Company. There he met Kent Humphrey of Eric Kent Wines. Kent encouraged Drew to head north to work a harvest. From there, Drew was off and running. He worked at Copain, DuMol, Kosta Browne and Wither Hills and was the winemaker for Tuck Beckstoffer Wines then R2 Wine/Roessler Cellars. In 2018, Drew became the head winemaker for LIOCO, in addition to Trail Marker.

APPEARANCE: garnet stained glass

AROMA: Black Tea, orange blossom, star anise

PALATE: Blue plum, licorice, pomegranate

FINISH: beguiling length

ACID: high

BODY: light

AGE-ABILITY: 8-12 years 

crisp red fruit and dusty earthiness. There is an intermingling of salinity and elegant red berry on the nose. While the translucent ruby color might suggest a watery wine, this is anything but the case... lovely raspberry on the front end, flowed by dusty cherry and bergamot tea on the mid-palate leading to a bright but long finish.

PRODUCTION: ~70 cases

region: Santa Cruz Mountains, CA

varietal: Pinot Noir 

style:  light bodied red

farming/cellar: sustainable and organic methods - Fermented using native yeasts and majority whole cluster and pressed to once used French oak barrels aged sur lie for ~10 months in once used French oak

pairing: tea smoked duck or chicken,  Sichuan eggplant or mapo tofu, citrusy slaw, bok choy with garlic