I have some chicken scratch notes from the morning power tasting at Mending Wall with Will Segui.
Will blinded us on a number of flights and made us think a bit. Was it a vertical or horizontal, what vintage(s) what vineyard(s). Was fun but I couldn’t keep up taking notes.
Flight 1 - Chardonnay
A: Dark Golden, nutty, touch oxidized, bbq char, pineapple, white pepper, nice balance, biggest palate of the 3. Guess ‘09 Theriot. Actual ‘10 Theriot
B: Lighter pale gold from wine A, citrus nose, creamy, high acid, limestone mineral streak. Delicious. Guess ‘12 Theriot. Actual ‘12 Theriot
C: Pale straw color, youngest wine of the flight, muted nose, granny smith apple, lemon curd, nice acidity. Needs air. Guess ‘16 Theriot. Actual ‘16 Theriot
Flight 2 was a new label called Young Hagen. Non-blind
‘15 Young Hagen Chardonnay Sonoma Coast Platt Vineyard - Pale gold, slightly nutty nose, bracing acidity, lemon zest, chalky mineral finish
‘13 Young Hagen Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast Treehouse Vyd - Mushroom, wood, soy, tart cherry, medium weight, slightly bitter finish.
‘14 Young Hagen Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast Riddle Vyd - More oomph than the ‘13, black cherry, some wood, most complete wine of the 3 Pinots.
‘15 Young Hagen Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast Riddle Vyd - Nose not giving up a whole lot, primary red fruit at this time, showing the oak on the finish. Needs time.
We then did a blind 3-some of Rivers-Marie Pinot which stumped and surprised us all. I’ll let the pros leave their notes on these.
Next was another blind 3-some of Rivers-Marie Pinot
A: Dark nearly black color, blackberry, juicy, tart, easy drinking, I said gulpable. I guessed ‘15 Occidental Ridge. Actual ‘09 Occidental Ridge
B: Dark ruby cloudy red, cherry, cranberry, bay leaf, most polished of the 3. Guessed ‘12 Occ Ridge. Aftual ‘09 Silver Eagle
C: Dark ruby cloudy, juicy red berries, great lift and balance. My favorite of the flight. Guess ‘13 Occidental Ridge. Actual ‘09 Summa Old Vine
We followed that up with another blind RM Pinot trio stumper.
Then Mending Wall PS, 3 New release RM Cabs, a vertical of 3 William & Mary Cab Sauvs and the ‘16 William & Mary Proprietary Red. Just an awesome lineup of wines. A tip of the hat to Will for putting it toghether and driving down from Tahoe to work it for us. After that the boys left for Matthiasson and I went to work, after a pit stop at Buster’s for a tri-tip sammy.