2018 The Vice Pinot Noir Carneros Napa Valley 750 ml

You always cover the cork with your thumb when opening a bottle of bubbly.

You always make eye contact when you toast.

And you’ll never pay $25 for a single-vineyard Pinot from a top Carneros vineyard.

Every once in a while, something we accept as a gospel wine truth is thrown into question. 

Today, the 2018 The Vice Pinot Noir Carneros Napa Valley is doing the soul-shaking. It’s an elegant and explosive Pinot from a Carneros vineyard that we can’t name, but is often mentioned in the same breath as Sangiacomo and Hyde—one whose 2018 estate Pinots are selling this very moment for $35 to $65. 

We have this single-vineyard Carneros Pinot for $25 per bottle. Bright, red-fruited, and primed for early drinking, it’s laden with fresh red cherries complemented by cherry-cola, spice, and vanilla notes and resolving in a juicy and mouthwatering finish. This is from a (secret) star vineyard and great winemaking team, and it’s priced to stock by the case. 

A Pinot like this is possible for $25 because, well, 2018. “It was phenomenal, with so much crop and such a high quality,” The Vice proprietor Malek Amrani told us when we chatted over a glass of his fantastic Pinot. “It’s the best vintage of the decade, between quality and volume.” 

That means that there was so much stellar fruit out there that world-class wineries were able to make all they wanted, and the fruit they sold to other wineries was as good as the grapes they were keeping for their own vineyard-designate bottlings. 

Since we first discovered their wine at a bistro in Napa, The Vice’s profile has been steadily rising. We’ve read rave reviews from Forbes, USA Today, Jetsetter, and more. They’ve got a stellar winemaker at the helm: Vance Rose’s résumé includes stints with iconic estates including Rosemount in Australia, Donum in Carneros, Ehlers in St. Helena, plus Napa's Grieve Family Winery and Double Eagle.

Couple that expertise with fruit sourced from an impeccably farmed cool-climate vineyard, and you’ve got a Pinot that way outperforms its price. We can’t give away too many identifying details, but the site that gave is the 2018 Vice Pinot is at the northern tip of Carneros, bordering Mount Veeder. The rows are planted north-south, allowing them to get maximum and varied sun exposure throughout the day, and ushering the afternoon breeze from San Pablo Bay through the vines. This invigorates the Pinot, fostering the brisk acidity that translates to verve in the glass. 

Ripened in the warm sun, cooled by a stiff breeze, then aged for nine months in 40% new French oak, this is a robust and ready Pinot noir that’s destined to disappear quickly.