We had a few wine friends over for dinner on Saturday – a few Berserkers and a few we met through wine. We had informally set a theme of Sonoma Coast vs. Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir. Both area somewhat cooler climate wine areas, but with subtle variations. I did not capture all of the wines that were brought or poured but we had about 20 bottles for 16 people as some of the dead soldiers were thrown away before I wrote down what was brought.
OUTLIERS
2015 Williams Selyem Unoaked Chardonnay (Russian River Valley)
2013 Williams Selyem Burt Williams Morning Dew Ranch Pinot (Anderson Valley)
2005 Sea Smoke Botella Pinot(Santa Rita Hills)
2014 Sanford SRH Pinot
SONOMA COAST PINOT
2007 Rivers-Marie Occidental Ridge Vineyard Sonoma Coast
2011 Rivers-Marie Silver Eagle Sonoma Coast
2012 Aubert Sonoma Coast
2013 MacPhail Mardikian Vineyard Sonoma Coast
2005 Kosta Browne Kanzler Sonoma Coast
2013 Kosta Browne Gap’s Crown
2011 Kosta Browne Sonoma Coast
2012 Ceritas Hellenthal Vineyard Sonoma Coast
2014 Ancillary Sangiacomo Sonoma Coast
2013 Patine Gap’s Crown
2013 Patine Sun Chase Vineyard Sonoma Coast
SLH PINOT
2007 Arcadian Sleepy Hollow Vineyard (SLH)
2014 Kosta Browne Rosellas
2011 Kosta Browne Gary’s Vineyard
2013 Patine Sobranes Vineyard (SLH)
There was not a dog in the bunch. I got to try some of these again from leftovers, which gave me the opportunity to post a few notes. The standouts to me from memory included the Rivers-Marie Occidental, the Williams Selyem Burt Williams Morning Dew, and the Patine’ Sun Chase. Those wines were gone early!
Talking regions, I know there was one or two other SLH wines but of those I remember, the Arcadian was definitely the most subtle and the Sobranes was a bit more fruit forward that the Arcadian, but it was definitely more subdued and less tannic than the two KB’s we had (there may have been another vintage of KB Gary’s but the bottle was not there on Sunday, partially full or empty. Of those I tried, the 2011 Gary’s had a touch of acid and loads of fruit with the Rosella’s being more muted, but still full-bodied. On day three, the Rosella’s was darn nice.
From the Sonoma Coast, other than the Rivers-Marie Occidental and the Patine Sun Chase I mentioned, I really liked the Aubert, the MacPhail Mardikian, and though I only got a small taste of the Ceritas, it too was amongst the best – again not a dog in the bunch… The 2005 KB Kanzler was a little softer than the other wines and had a smidge of oxidation, but still packed plenty of oomph. The ’11 R-M Silver Eagle was quite nice. The two Gap’s Crown wines were probably the biggest wines of the group, and drank quite well.
From the outliers, as I said, the Morning Dew Ranch wine was probably my favorite of the night, and the 2005 Botella was beautiful and showed how letting these age cannot be a bad thing. Lastly, the Williams Selyem Unoaked Chard was a nice starter and no-one seemed to want more whites before we jumped to the Pinot.