2015 Domaine de la Côte Pinot Noir Memorious- USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills (12/15/2018)
Memorable only for the cloying sweetness that rendered it undrinkable. I won’t mince or waste words on this.
Recently opened a 16 Blooms Field and did not enjoy it at all. Will leave the rest for 5-7 more years before even thinking about opening them. Hopefully the funk fades off
This is a bummer considering the '12 and '14 DDLC Ste. Rita Hills appellation level wines (that are less expensive) are pretty decent. Hopefully, it’s just a matter of needing a lot of time for remaining bottles, but considering that people taste recently bottled Bordeaux and Barolo and still give them good scores . . .
Hmm, wonder if a different bottle or if time made that much of a difference, Mike. From my visit at the winery last July.
"2015 Domaine de la Cote Memorius PN
16 months in Ermitage barrels, 50% new. Sunny nose—a brightness of red bing cherry and strawberry fruit. A bit of earth on a second swirl. Drives in from the edges of your mouth to the centre. Lovely sweet fruit and it has shape."
And Adrian, I don’t know if your comment extends into Sandhi product. I have to say I loved their Bentrock Chard in tank:
"2016 Sandhi Bentrock Chard in tank
Apple, pear, lemon and perhaps a twitch of kerosene. Wow. Coats the mouth very nicely—creamy deluxe with sweet lemon and apple. Already near-spellbinding, this has a chance to be more than very, very good. I will be looking for it and would have bought a bottle right then and there if Steve had dropped one under the spigot."
Hell, I didn’t even know it was a real word. I actually had to look it up. Well, if we need another -ious suffix wine I will know not to choose that. We have Notorious, Nefarious (can’t use that anymore), Mysterious and Perspicacious (all the sales people hate me for that one). Parsimonious and supercilious are high on my list if we find ourselves in need in the future!
I’ve enjoyed all the Sandhi Chards I’ve had. Are threy at the level of Rhys? I don’t think so, but if I recall they are half the price or less, and nice for what they are.
I too struggle with the SV wines. They always come off as distinctly salty to my palate, and that’s not really a quality that I enjoy. The SRH appellation wines, however, I usually enjoy quite a bit. +1 on the 2012 being quite good.
I’m also quite surprised over the reactions to these wines. I really enjoyed what I tasted of their Pinot in '12 and '14. I figured the style (light w/ whole cluster) would be popular around here.
I struggle with virtually all of Raj Parr’s wines. For me they seem to be trying to marry high acid and ripe fruit tones that come together in a jarring, disjointed way. I have experienced that with Domaine de la Cote and Sandhi. I don’t like what he has done with Evening Land either. This has been mostly when the wines were served to me blind. I have tried a couple of bottles that I purchased for myself, with consistent, un-enjoyable experiences.
And yet two years ago it felt like I couldn’t find a wine based periodical that wasn’t waxing on and on about these wines. From Noble Rot on down the list, it was like trying to find a radio station that wasn’t playing Mumford and Sons…
2003 Notorious is the only 2003 I still have in my cellar. It’s what you paid me in 2005 when I washed those barrels for you
(just to be clear, because tone doesn’t show in typing and to make sure the snark in my previous post doesn’t carry over:
Jim offered me cash or wine, and I took wine.
the Notorius is up the dial because I washed about 50 barrels for the bottle
it’s in my cellar still, alongside a 93 Cameron Abbey Ridge, an 83 Eyrie, and a 94 Westrey, because those bottles are attachments I have to wineries that were influential to me as a person.)