Earthy, leathery, with pure fruit and ample tannin, a very honest wine that is still young and quite impressive.
The group I poured the wines for included two younger sommeliers and a friend from the trade who reps Hobo and some other very good newer CA producers, and were served blind, and everyone seemed to enjoy them thoroughly. I was most impressed with the harmony and apparent honesty of both wines. Each was concentrated without being overly ripe or extracted, without any gloss such as obvious new wood.
My only disappointment is that I only bought one of each last year, a mistake I don’t intend to repeat.
Just saw this and figured I’d throw up a note on a wine I tasted this weekend:
2013 Briceland Vineyards Pinot Noir Phelps Vineyard- USA, California, North Coast, Humboldt County (1/26/2015)
I opened this because I saw a favorable review in the Prince of Pinot and thought I’d take another go.
Nose is primarily red fruited, with some baking spice, and white florals.
On pop and pour I got a lot of pure red fruit and spice with enough juicy acid to keep all the components in check. A very pleasant baby powder note appears on the long finish. After a couple of hours of being open, it seemed like the wine closed up a bit, showing a bit of its tannic structure. By the next day, the wine was improved, with the flavors even more integrated and the tannins completely in check.
Slight preference to the 2012 at this point, but this is still a youngster. No reason why shouldn’t continue to age through the end of the decade or longer. Really nice stuff. (91 pts.)
I figured I would like to post my note on the Arneis as well:
I love the nose on this. Last night the wine was pulled from my wine fridge and immediately poured a glass into my new Zalto Universal (and poured into a Riedel Bordeaux glass for comparison as well as a stemless Riedel pinot glass. The nose was much more pronounced in the Universal. It tasted the same, but the Universal just captured the scent much better). It’s a pretty light yellow, almost clear colored wine. The smell really exploded in the glass after a few swirls, very much tropical fruits and banana maybe that I get. On the palate I get some lemon, banana and the acidity is toned down. It’s sort of waxy on the tongue as opposed to a piercing acidic wine. It smelled like there could be some sweetness to it but I didn’t get that when tasting it. The finish is nice and lasts about 15 seconds maybe. Just an overall enjoyable wine.
Perfect timing on this thread! I just got my Briceland care package and tasted the staff on Andrew’s picks.
Briceland Brut
Creamy, lush, fatty fruit in both the nose and body hide underlying acidity. The mousse is a little coarse compared to Champagne, but this is definitely quaff-able and yummy.
Briceland 2013 Arneis
I was surprised to see this varietal on the label, but more surprised at its “correctness” in the glass. Peachy, fresh complex aromas lead to a body with an almost Gruner-like green fruit character. It’s light and fun, but still a serious contender for the “Arneis” crown.
Briceland 2013 Pinot Noir
The light-toned color in the glass leads the mind to expect light flavors, but instead there’s tangy Bing cherry and earth found within. Definitely has a little “funk” or “manure,” (depending on your childhood hahah) but only enough to add complexity and balance. Unexpectedly chunky stuff in the bottle was managed without issue.
Briceland 2013 Pinot Noir Phelps Vineyard
Everything found in the “regular” Pinot above, just turned up and with added juiciness. This is definitely a more “backward” wine right now, but has the stuffing to expand and improve over time (retasted two hours later and confirmed). This has a substantial amount of sediment, but was tasted after a week of rest upright. The wine’s color is terrific.
Briceland 2012 Syrah
Just upon opening, this didn’t smell like Syrah and was a little disappointing. However, upon retasting this two hours later, it was definitely Syrah: juicy, red fruit with hints of baking spices hiding underneath. Medium bodied and fun, it was my favorite by the end.
Plowed through my Briceland BD purchases over the past two weeks and overall I was a fan. I had the wines noted below over one night each, each decanted about thirty minutes. I was surprised by the amount of of sediment around the neck and cork of each bottle, which initially was quite off putting upon popping the cork. However, the juice itself was quite vibrant, with tangy Bing cherries. The Ronda’s vineyard was the darkest in color and was my wife’s favorite. I enjoyed it, the medium body was great with our food, but personally preferred the lighter body of the Humboldt County Pinot Noir, my personal favorite of the three. I would score all three in the low 90s and would recommend. Great QPR and enjoyable wines IMO.
I definitely intend to go back for more, and while this may break the rules and others may have better solves, I recommend a couple good shakes before popping the cork.
I haven’t had any Bricelands yet, but I did order the Bordeaux varietals combo pack at BD, which were futures that haven’t shipped out yet. I’m looking forward to trying them.
I love the 2012 Ronda’s and think it’s going to continue to develop really nicely. I’ve had the 2012 Syrah and Merlot recently. The Merlot was very good with lots of red fruit and nice structure. I actually had a small glass last night that had been open for 5 days and it was still tasting fresh, which makes me think it will age nicely. The 2012 Syrah was very interesting. I had a bottle shortly after it was bottled and I got a lot of purple fruit; very different than previous years when the fruit was sourced from Lake County. My second bottle was all florals, really nice stuff.
