For those who may have grabbed but not tasted them yet, these are superlative delicious.
The Berserker Day wines were the 2012 single-vineyard Chehalem Pinot Noirs. The wines were the Arbre Vert, Hawk’s View, and Muirfield Vineyard Pinot Noirs.
I could not pick a favorite. Great, brilliant structure, perfect acid balance, long finish. tasted together and each time I tasted one, it was my new favorite of the three. Ranking them is akin to simply saying that your favorite will be the last one tasted.
I would call them slightly AFWE, but I mean that only as high praise! These are very well crafted, with bright but subtle fruit (the winery calls it a lighter style, and I agree, but packed with subtle red berry flavors.)
They are eminently enjoyable now, but will live a good while, I suspect.
They are the antithesis of some of the new fave purple monster pinot noirs from Cali.
If you like a lighter style, these will be the bomb on your palate.
They kinda remind me of some of the Calera pinots, somewhat.
Anyway, I posted this quick note today because I got their April Fool’s email offer and will be buying from the current offering and wanted anyone who may have also purchased but not yet tasted them that these are fine wines worthy of acquiring!
I also cracked one of the Muirfield bottles as soon as they showed up. I don’t drink a lot of US wines, but this might be a keeper.
Not heavy or extracted, with lots of red fruit and plenty of acidity. Tannins are integrated and mostly in the background. Delicious is absolutely right, this is a terrific wine.
Thanks for the update, Anton. i did not get any of these on BD but if I find one locally or see one on Adam’s emails, I will snag it and give it a try. Sounds right in my wheelhouse! </cliche warning>
Opened the Muirfield tonight… and wow!! I’m getting herbal red fruit with a medium/bodied mouthfeel (although appearance is a bit lighter than it tastes). As Daniel mentioned above, the tannins are well integrated and the acid is great. I’m really enjoying this right now… there’s a soothing quality to it. Thanks, Adam!!!
My favorite of the bunch was the Hawk’s View. The others were also very good. Unrelated to Berserker Day, I have some Keefer Ranch and Novy Papera Zinfandel being held for cooler weather. The Keefer’s was a home run when I tasted at Adam’s tasting here in Dallas. My wife is a Zin lover and she thought the Novy Papera was excellent and a real bargain compared to some of the others that she likes. Just admit it. Adam makes great wine!
Wish I could agree with the above, but apparently my planet is Bizarro World to your earth. Or maybe vice versa. Or perhaps both.
I really dug a case of Novy Grenache a handful of years back, but these pinots don’t do as much for my palate, and it assuredly ain’t because they’re too delicate.
I guess where I agree is: nobody should hesitate to try one fearing it’ll be too AFWE.
Not sure if you are responding specifically to our Oregon Pinots or not. I think our Oregon Pinots tend to be a good bit more AFWE than many of our California Pinots, which is only natural given that they originate from the Chehalem Mountains AVA. If you haven’t tried the Oregon stuff let me know. Would love your thoughts.
I’d also love to know what Grenache you particularly liked. Those wines tend to be out highest alcohol wines, as I generally find a correlation between brix and ripeness in Grenache (and Viognier) that I don’t find in Pinot and Syrah.
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