TN: 1977 Louis M. Martini Pinot Noir Special Selection La Loma Vineyard

WINE TALK
1

Crystal clear mahogany color to clear 3mm meniscus.

Nose of rancio, currant, tire rubber (surprisingly in an OK way), menthol, autumn leaves and fine dust.

Shockingly fruity on the palate. Sweet red cherries, deep cranberry mid palate and finishes with doris plum and a touch of spice.

Hard to find out much about this, but from what I can gather the vineyard was known as Stanly Ranch pre prohibition and probably was the original plantings of pinot noir in Carneros. It was replanted by Louis M Martini with Pinot Noir in 1948, so this may come from those plantings.

A bit of a piece of history and shockingly good for the age and fairly low expectations. a 1977 Martin Ray Winery Lake a few years ago was shockingly good too. At least in the 1970s there was potential in Carneros Pinot. (90 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

2

A birth year wine. Thought i’d give it a try… quite impressed. Not profound (the nose keeps it from being so) but shockingly good for the age and expectations that one would have for this.

3

Stanly Ranch was the site of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay clone experimentation by Louis Martini, who purchased it in 1942, the Wente family and UC Davis. Part of the vineyard had escaped phylloxera during the 1880s.

Some of those older Martini wines had unusual aging capabilities. I am sitting on a mag of the 1970 Special Selection Cab, supposedly amazing juice.

4

Wow - I remember this wine on the market in the late 70s -

Didn’t Beringer bottle some Pinot Noir Reserves from this site in the 1980s?

Great note!

5

My wife’s birth year. How’d you source this bottle?

6

This particular bottle was winebid. But I keep an occasional eye on most of the auction sites for 1977s just to have a stock of them. I’ve learned that 1. Port is prodigious (although huge bottle variation) 2. California was strong and stillis if you like old wines (and the pinots have been a great surprise) 3. Tuscany has a strong year and the best wines from the traditional producers are great when in form