The blind group got together to try 8 CA Pinots. This night was notable to me for two reasons. First, it’s the worst one of these tastings I can remember. The wines were generally mediocre or worse, and atrocious QPR, and I think that was more or less group consensus. Second, I was able to guess all of these wines blind, and had pretty good confidence in all my guesses. I’ve never tasted wines where the producer signature was more obvious.
Anyways, the wines:
Group’s 8th, my T3rd - I thought this was mediocre but fine; no obvious stem, red fruit, some structure/tannins and depth, something savory. Not great but not aggressively bad. 87 points for me. For many in this group, this had some sort of offensive chemical smell which I couldn’t pick up even after it was pointed out, but those who smelled it recoiled from this. It’s the Briceland Vineyards Rhonda’s Vineyard, Humbolt County 2013.
Group’s 7th, my 6th - Oh lord, this is nasty. Aggressively stemmy nose, really weird artificial ripe sweet fruit with high acidity. Like biting into a raisin soaked in vinegar. 81 points. This tastes just like other bottles of Kutch I’ve tried, and indeed, it’s the Kutch Sonoma Coast 2013.
Group’s 6th, my 4th - Plenty of stem here, but the stem is a touch riper than some of the other bottles and not as green and over the top. This has some nice red fruit, particularly in the mouth, but a streak of broccoli pyrazine gives this away as SCM. Reminds me of a less successful 2011 Burgundy. 84 points, and it’s the Arnot-Roberts Peter Martin Ray Vineyard, SCM 2013.
Group’s 5th, my T3rd - I’ve had this before, so I instantly recognize it. But it’s a really weak example - like someone turned down the intensity / concentration down halfway. Light red fruit, just a touch of stem but not out of balance, touch of oak, good acid. This is tasty but where’s the beef? 87 points. Worst bottle of this I’ve ever had - Littorai Savoy Vineyard Anderson Valley 2013. This was my bottle, ordered direct from Littorai and put into temp controlled storage. :*(**
Group’s T3rd, my 8th - Overripe, overstemmed, over the top. Low acid, high alcohol. A sweet dark juicy mess of a wine. Yuck! I would pour this down the drain if I opened at home. This is for people who like purple drank Napa cab. 80 points. It must be the bottle that lists its ABV at more than 1% higher than any of the others - the Joseph Phelps Freestone Vineyards Sonoma Coast 2012.
Group’s T3rd, my 5th - Lots of whole cluster, candied red fruit, probably the most candied of all the wines, reminds me uncannily of watermelon jolly rancher. It’s nice and savory on the finish but the candied fruit and stem is tough to get past - also, a touch short / light. How does a wine that seems like it was picked so early have such a candied fruit profile? Weird wine. 82 points. Copain Les Voisins, Anderson Valley, 2011.
Group’s 2nd, my 7th - This screams that characteristic overripe dark fruit and really green stems, which means it must be the Rhys. And it is. The acid is nice and this is much longer and more concentrated than, for example, the Copain or Kutch, so I kind of get why some at the table like it, but it just tastes like plum and STRONG green bean to me. Not my thing, hard to even swallow this. 80-81 points. Rhys Alpine Vineyard, SCM 2012.
Group’s 1st, my 1st - Total outlier compared to the rest of the group. Lots of tannin, lots of structure; plum, spice and a touch of VA on the nose. Shut down. But the tannins are fine, if a touch drying, and this actually tastes like what I think Pinot should taste like, with rich but not sweet fruit lurking under the structure. Lots of potential here. Good, but not great. The faint note of Worcestershire sauce is a dead giveaway as to the producer. Poor QPR. 89 points. Clos Saron Home Vineyard, Sierra Foothills 2012.
![[smileyvault-ban.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/4/426cc97ad8dd530c8304b0918ca75ff841d4d950.gif "[smileyvault-ban.gif]")