($22, Baystate Wine Company in MA, Henry Wine Group in CA): Pinot Noir is finally making a name for itself in Marlborough.  As producers have planted clones more suitable for still rather than sparkling wines and the vines have matured, the quality of Pinot Noir coming out of Marlborough has increased dramatically.  Allan Scott’s 2006 is a testimony to that progress.  When I first tasted his Pinot Noir years ago, it was thin, uninteresting and a disappointment considering how lovely his other wines were.  That has all changed.  The 2006 has a great nose full of ripe fruit and, more importantly, that haunting, hard-to-identify aroma of earth and dried leaves that epitomizes Pinot Noir.  The juicy lushness gives way to the same earthy, leafy component that showed aromatically.  A touch of heat in the finish gives away the 14% alcohol, but hardly detracts. 91 Michael Apstein May 15, 2007