Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/935769
88 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } FEBRUARY/MARCH 2018 HAVING ATTENDED MORE than half of the World of Pinot Noir (WOPN) celebra- tions that have unfolded in California's Central Coast region over the past 18 years, this I can say with confidence: There is no better annual event in which to gauge the steady and dizzying ascent of American Pinot Noir. Put it this way: When the inaugural WOPN was held nearly two decades ago, Oregon Pinot Noirs were still commonly considered feeble, Central Coast Pinot Noirs were characterized as mostly herbaceous, and North Coast Pinot Noirs were thought to be predictably fat or coarse. It is not so much solely that our Pinot Noir specialists have begun to nail an amazing balance of varietal intensity over the past decade, though that feat is impressive enough. Instead, as Thomas Fogarty Winery winemaker Nathan Kandler observed following last year's WOPN, it's more so that winemakers are finally getting away from emulating a homogenous "ideal" of Pinot Noir. This year, ardent fans will taste, experience, and explore every nuance of the varietal at the 2018 World of Pinot Noir, planned for March 2–3 at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara resort in Santa Barbara. PINOT-Permutation { world of pinot noir } THE 2018 WORLD OF PINOT NOIR EVENT WILL REFLECT ON THE VARIETY'S DISTINCTIONS by Randy Caparoso The World of Pinot Noir will unfold at the stunning Ritz- Carlton Bacara resort in Santa Barbara March 2–3. PHOTO COURTESY OF WORLD OF PINOT NOIR