Inundated with new wines, most of which I shouldn’t touch. Pobega’d a few because my pinot-loving uncle was in town:
2012 Peay Ama Estate Pinot Noir:
PnP: initial notes of orange peel, cranberry, a touch of cardamom and vanilla gave way to red berries and a hint of baking spice. Mouthfeel was restrained but silky, with fine tannins. Acidity seemed modest and the finish was long, but I felt the balance was good. This is very young and right off the UPS truck. lacking the elegance and aroma of Scallop Shelf but lovely nonetheless.
2012 Sojourn Silver Eagle
Delicious but certainly more forward than the Peay. More rhubarb, cinnamon, baking spice and deep red cherry. A slightly sweeter mouthful, similar acidity and finish.
My palate is taking me to more AFWE leanings by the day, it seems. A year ago the Sojourn seemed veritably austere and now seems on the riper side. I might have a stroke of someone snuck me a glass of Kosta Browne. I think the Sojourn will be lovely if given enough time to develop more secondary flavors. The Peay is outstanding out of the gate.
Why exactly shouldn’t you touch them? Because they’re crap now and they’ll be transformed into something magical in 30 years? If indeed “outstanding out of the gate”, what is the point of keeping them? The point of keeping a wine is so that it becomes better than what it is today. Seems like you liked the wine - go with that!
I liked them both today. Both have a lot of potential upside in terms of developing secondary and tertiary flavors. Both on the “fresh fruit” side for me right now. Sometimes it’s hard to establish how well an American pinot will age - still working on that. I find they’re not like Bdx which, to me, are downright unpleasant young but remarkable over time. I’ll get back to you in ten years with the result of my experiment in aging domestic pinots…
You don’t. And some wines that are pretty good out of the gate do in fact transform into something magical.
In my experience however, most don’t. Some hold on, in which case you may as well buy the most current vintage. Some gradually just fade, and some become really crappy. So when I’m trying to decide whether to leave a wine in the cellar or not, I consider things that I want to happen. Maybe the wine is pretty oaky right now and I’m hoping that oak will somehow integrate over time. Maybe, as Noah suggests, the wine is super-tannic and I’m hoping those tannins will soften over time. Maybe the wine just seems disjointed, which I can’t really describe but sometimes strikes me as having several different tasting experiences at the same time, some good, some not as good, and I want that to change into something smoother.
But if a wine is really good and really complete, as in “restrained but silky, with fine tannins”, as well as modest acidity and good balance, where do I expect that wine to go? Would I want the tannins to be finer or the acidity to become more modest or the balance to go away?
Not trying to argue, just curious. I have probably a few hundred wines that I’ve kept too long so now I’m extra cautious about not drinking something that’s good today in the hopes that it will be even better tomorrow.
I would only say that, as much as I enjoy the experience of “fresh” pinot, I love the experience of older wines much more in general. What I expect to happen with moderate age is for aromatic complexity to develop. I wouldn’t go in expecting a bad wine to suddenly achieve balance (though it happens) and I don’t expext time to erase faults (though that sometimes happens too).
Right now my opinion is that I like an aromatic ally interesting wine that’s “tired” more than a well-balanced but aromatically simple wine. I’m a nose-in drinker and seem to tolerate more on the palate…