TN: BOEN 2015 RUSSIAN RIVER FAMILY PINOT NOIR: New Wagner Family Pinot Noir

Berserkers,

I just casually saw this in an LCBO store while browsing and noticed this was a Wagner Family wine. Of course curiosity got the better of me and I had to try it. Another Belle Glos or Emmolo style wine for half the price? But not as cheap as a Meiomi? What could this possibly turn out like? Let’s find out:
BOEN 2015 RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY PINOT NOIR

OVERALL: An affordable quality Joseph Wagner style Pinot Noir that contains the one essential element missing from their Belle Glos Pinot Noir and Emmolo Merlot wines: restraint. Just note the emphasis is still on lush fruit.



This just came into the LCBO. It’s a new wine line from the Wagner family dedicated to the Russian River Valley APA and from what I gather from their website, was just established in 2014 and so far this is the only wine in the line.

I was a little hesitant to try this, wondering if it was going to another Meomi-style wine which unlike the Belle Glos didn’t work for me at all. What I got instead is a pleasant surprise.

Deep ruby purple in the glass, but interestingly it has some translucence unlike the Belle Glos wines which is a good sign. The nose smells deeply of fresh ripe cherries, maybe more so than any other Pinot I’ve ever smelled. The texture is incredibly smooth, nary a tannin to be felt on the tongue and actually reminds me of icewine and a Kutch Pinot Noir in terms of smooth mouthfeel.

On the palate, you are immediately hit with strong but not overwhelming sweet red cherry notes with slight touches of cedar, grass and mushroom. Very easy to drink Pinot and it reminded me in some ways of the young Kutch Pinot Noir I had in Niagara recently or even a Siduri or Littorai Pinot. I’m not saying it’s anywhere near as good as those, which are a very high bar indeed to clear. I’m just saying that there are similar characteristics and this certainly falls more towards that style of Cali Pinot than a Belle Glos.

As soon as those secondary flavors hit me, in fact, that’s when I knew what the difference was: restraint. I have mentioned in my Belle Glos reviews before that the main issue I find with the wine is that all the secondary goodness is there but the primary fruit and sweetness are so strong that you really have to work to get to it – and wine shouldn’t be work (well, at least if you’re not a professional sommelier).

Here, the secondary flavors come to me instead. Whether it’s the RRV terroir or restraint in the winemaking process or a combo of both, the wine hits the sweet spot both literally and figuratively that I would now say is in fact what the Belle Glos should have aimed for in the first place.

Burghounds and purists beware, though; while admirably restrained, this is still very much a Wagner family wine. The sweet cherry flavors are still the prime player here. While the secondary flavors do come through, in no way, shape or form are you going to find Burgundy-style rough-hewn rusticness to the flavors and texture in this wine. This wine will still seem candy-like to dedicated Burgundy red drinkers.

Still, unlike the Belle Glos wines which I describe as Pinot based Amarone, this is much more drinkable due to the lighter touch and is also a good value at $40 CDN. Certainly much better than the related Meiomi for sure, which tries to be a cheaper version of a Belle Glos and doesn’t work out at all. RECOMMENDED as long as you know you’re not getting a Siduri or a Littorai or a Kutch.
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