I thought it would be interesting to see how a high-production Pinot like Clos Du Bois (Constellation Brands) would fare against a couple of small production boutique winery Pinots when presented to mainstream, non-wine-geek wine drinkers (my family members). I randomly picked a couple of 2012s that I’d already tried and liked from my cellar.
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2015 Clos du Bois Pinot Noir California - USA, California
Tasted single blind alongside the 2012 Sandler SLH Pinot and 2012 Vincent Crowley Station Pinot (Oregon).
Very shy nose but showing some typical Cali Pinot fruit. On the palate, a fair amount of tannin with some restrained new world Pinot fruit. Pretty good depth of fruit with a slight bitter note. Very good.
My guess is the Vincent. After the reveal, was quite surprised as I was expecting a softer, more generic tasting red. Group’s #1 (5 of 10 first place votes), my #2. (89 pts.) -
2012 Vincent Pinot Noir Crowley Station Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola - Amity Hills
Tasted single blind alongside the 2015 Clos Du Bois California Pinot and 2012 Sandler SLH Pinot.
Got virtually nothing on the nose. On the palate, fairly soft but a bit of a tannic bite. Pleasant but seemed tight and not very expressive. My guess was Clos Du Bois.
Group’s #2 (3 of 10 first place votes), my #3. At the reveal, I was a bit surprised because I had a bottle of this just 8 months ago, though this bottle seemed shut down compared to the previous bottle. Recommend to hold a little while longer. (88 pts.) -
2012 Sandler Wine Company Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
Tasted single blind alongside the 2015 Clos Du Bois California Pinot and 2012 Vincent Crowley Station Pinot (Oregon).
Very cloudy, unfiltered appearance. Not particularly fragrant - a slightly funky nose, but in a good way. On the palate, a burst of slightly sweet strawberry-dominated fruit, full with very good depth and concentration. Good balancing acidity with a little tannic grip. Absolutely loved this. My guess is Sandler with almost 100% certainty, as I’ve had this wine twice before and loved it each time and is one of my favorite all-time domestic Pinot.
Group’s #3 (2 of 10 first place votes), my #1 (by a wide margin). Was pretty surprised that the group did not like it as much as I did, though all did like it (but some were a bit turned off by the funky nose). (92 pts.)
Well, it appears that Constellation brands has a beat on the tastes of their target consumers as the Clos Du Bois received 5 of the 10 first place votes. The Sandler got 2 and the Vincent got 3. All of the wines were liked by the entire group however, as not a single person disliked any of the wines. A couple of people did find the slightly funky nose on the Sandler to be a little bit of a turnoff, though. Personally, I was surprised that I liked the Clos Du Bois as much as I did, as I normally do not like these large production wines and usually find them to be generic tasting and bland. Perhaps 2015 is a very high quality Pinot vintage in Cali and has lifted even the low-end wines to a higher level (I’ve not tasted many at this point).
Posted from CellarTracker