I loved the idea of Thackreys Cassiopeia project, for those who are not familiar, he vinified 4 Pinot clones from Anderson Valley separately and then together, I believe farming and vinifying identically. I tasted these over two years and have only just now drunk the blend so I’m including all of my notes on them here. In the end, it wasn’t quite my style of Pinot Noir, but a great educational experience that I am grateful for.
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2010 Sean Thackrey Pinot Noir Cassiopeia Clone 777 Wentzel Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (8/13/2015)
Pours a clear vibrant ruby with a touch of garnet. Very aromatic right out of the bottle with warm cherry pie, a bit of oak spice and then that slight medicinal quality that I love in thackrey’s wines.
On the palate the wine is unctuous, but without much complexity. I can see why this is where it would be a good blending component with the other clones. Its got lush aromatics but doesn’t live up to them with the palate.
I’ve only tried the 115 so far, which had a lush palate and nose as well, though more earth and acidity.
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2010 Sean Thackrey Pinot Noir Cassiopeia Clone 115 Wentzel Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (1/14/2015)
Lovely, long, textured pinot with quite a powerful red berry and floral perfume. Color is a cloudy maroon, and the nose is quite lush with sweet red fruits and a powerful whiff of that classic damp earth and autumn leaves. After a bit opens up to some clove, purple flowers and tart pomegranate.
Fuller on the palate than the color would suggest, with a rich textured mid-palate of red forest berries and decent grounding of acidity.
(92 pts.)
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2010 Sean Thackrey Pinot Noir Cassiopeia Clone 667 Wentzel Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (3/4/2017)
Well I could just fall into this glass. Much better than the two other clones I’ve had to date though I suspect bottle age might be the reason.
Pours a dark but still semi-transparent ruby. On the nose a wave of sweet tobacco and smoke greeted me after pouring, leading into a really well composed mosaic of black cherry and cherry pit, menthol, clove, and wet leaves, the freshness and vivacity of the aroma was very remarkable.
The palate was quite intense with a great deal of freshness and a pronounced oak/vanilla flavor. Quite a long finish with little to no tannin.
The spiciest, and most aromatic of the clones so far, on its own it has far too much oak for me, but still unique and impressive, also reigniting my excitement for trying the blends. Drink now
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2010 Sean Thackrey Pinot Noir Cassiopeia Clone 114 Wentzel Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (3/15/2017)
My last of the clones, and by far the most developed of them too. Pours a dark rose, with garnet hue. Tertiary notes of truffle, mulch, and menthol merge with a broad, expansive aroma of bing cherry. A touch of sweet vanilla is the only prominent oak feature.
The palate is soft and sweet with a light bitterness on the lush, satiny finish. Too sweet and soft on its own for my taste (not enough acidity) and nearly like drinking perfume in its intensity (not that I’ve done that…) But of course this is educational, I’ll judge the final blend more formally.
It’s been wonderful to try these clones as they’ve developed, though the past two have been so much more aromatic and complex with the added bottle age, I only wish I had waited longer on the first two!
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2010 Sean Thackrey Pinot Noir Cassiopeia Wentzel Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (3/23/2017)
Pours a pale ruby with garnet rim, highly expressive nose of morello cherry, raw meat, eucalyptus, some white pepper and a streak of saline. Nose is delightful as it settles into a mulchy phase with plenty of fruit still there to balance.
Quite nice length with a very broad, smooth texture. I disagree that this will get better since it unfortunately lacks freshness on the palate. A shame since the nose is so complex and well composed.
Interesting to see how the components of the blend fit in here as I look back over my notes. I think I would prefer a bit more of the 667 in the blend, to add more of the darker components and acidity.
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