2014 Loring Wine Company Pinot Noir Keefer Ranch Vineyard- USA, California, Sonoma County, Green Valley of Russian River Valley (11/12/2016)
A slightly subdued nose of dark berries and camphor. Palate shows a complication that I truly love; some rose petals, some orange peel and some dark cherry pie compote. Classically structured and Cali in approach, this has great purity. I love the bing cherry note stuck right in it’s heart. Back to the complication: This possesses many layers of goodness it’s hard to chose any one quality to celebrate, so I will celebrate it as a whole. Near perfect balance and deft tannic structure make this a true ‘ager’ while it so pleases in the here and now. Love the exotic tea note and truly dig that orange peel and it’s all wrapped within some nice weighted density.The Keefer distinctiveness is evident and all remains on the palate for long past its downward trek. What a treat. (93 pts.)
Great question. Certainly darker and more layered. Serious where there is a slight more playfulness as with all the Sandlers, save for the Boer, but with the same intensity and verve. Happy to have them both.
Have a lot of Loring wines and even with the screw top am finding that they are aging wonderfully. Have been drinking the 07 wines and are really good.
Pleased to see this note on the finished product, Mike. From my barrel tasting notes with Brian a year and a half ago…
"2014 Loring Wine Company Keefer 114 clone Pinot Noir in twice-used Seguin-Moreau American barrel
raspberry-cranberry nuzzie. Spicy–the spiciest thing I’ve tried from Keefer. Good length.
2014 Loring Wine Company Keefer Pommard 5 clone Pinot Noir in twice-used Ermitage barrel
More perfume and lilting fruit to this bouquet, cinnamon and meatiness even. Spicy too, but much more pure raspberry with a sweet curl, more of what I’ve been used to from Keefer fruit.
2014 Loring Wine Company Keefer 777 clone Pinot Noir in once-used Meyrieux barrel
This is se-xy. Lovely baking spices and raspberry/strawberry coulee for the sniffing. Delicious and plush already, perhaps missing full length, but still deep enough for my liking. Me likey"
Several years ago, I tried a few PNs and I found them quite big. While I enjoyed them for what they were, they struck me as a Pinot made for Zin lovers. Still the case?
Yes, they’re still the same, more or less. I like that they’re big on personality and fruit, but still don’t go down the boozy or “hot” road, generally speaking. They’re definitely not for the AFWE crowd. And, as pointed out earlier, they tend to age well.
This year is my first trying the Loring pinots and my wife and I really like the big style. I am trying to find other pinots of similar style in the $20 - $30 range as a daily drinker but am overwhelmed by all the choices and am missing a bottle at a time. Would anyone be able to share some recommendation for similarly styled wines?
Brian does some entry level wines from the same fruit that does not make the cut for the single vineyard wines. These give you an idea of the style for less $. He sells them on futures at very reasonable prices. The appellations are typically S Rita Hills, SLH, etc. Adam Lee at Siduri has a similar program as does Pali. Brian was the first winemaker at Pali. I just bought some of the 2014 Pali pinots for mid $20s and they are very nice; great for week nights when you don’t feel like sacrificing an expensive wine.
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