Charlatan is the very finest Pinot Noir we make. In fact, only three barrels were ultimately selected for the 2013 Charlatan, and just 69 cases were bottled.
Michael Scorsone has been a long-time friend and an honorary member of our family. Through our relationship with Michael we are able to source superb Dry Creek Valley fruit from the Emmitt-Scorsone Estate, located two miles west of the town of Healdsburg. The grapes produce a lovely, soft, medium-bodied wine full of red fruit and spice.
Six bottles of Perception Charlatan Pinot Noir, the finest barrels of Pinot produced by Perception in any given vintage. This package includes two bottles each of the 2018, 2013 & 2012 Charlatan.
Charlatan is the very finest Pinot Noir we make. In 2012, it represented less than five percent of our total production, and was crafted as a selection of our best barrels of Pinot Noir.
John Balletto has been a family friend for a number of years and we are fortunate to work with fruit from his family's vineyards. This wine is produced from the Burnside Road Vineyard, located at just under 1,000 feet of elevation and about 10 miles from the Pacific Ocean. This unique micro-climate provides one of the rare places where Pinot Noir can ripen slowly to produce wines of depth and distinction.
The initial nose is full and fruit driven, offering up ripe notes of rich red cherry, wild strawberry and toasted oak. On the palate, the wine is big and fills the mouth, dominated by ripe Bing cherries accentuated with notes of cola and vanilla. As the wine opens, it begins to show added complexity, offering up nuances of rose petals, mushroom and forest floor. The finish is long with lingering candied cherry and cola, giving way to a refined, well integrated tannic structure and mouth-watering end.
