Virtual Tasting--PINOT NOIR from anywhere. May 5th - May 12th

This is a virtual event, meaning anyone can participate and post tasting notes. The objective is to taste within the same wine theme and then bring back tasting notes and experiences about the wines you drank.

I am attending a small non-geek event tomorrow and I have set a theme of Pinot Noir so I can bring back a handful of notes to share what I tasted. So, with that in mind, let’s do Pinot Noir from anywhere through May 12th. Don’t lurk…post.

St. Innocent in the queue.

Does it have to be from anywhere?
newhere

For you, Mr Fancy Pants, it has to be from Nowhere. [tease.gif]

Everybody knows this is nowhere

Shoot, all I have is Pinot from somewhere!

OK smart asses, now that you have had your fun, start posting some notes. I’ll get us started, and I will have a handful more tomorrow if the small group comes through on the challenge to open some Pinot Noir during our small get together.

  • 2013 Copain Pinot Noir Monument Tree - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (5/4/2019)
    My final Monument Tree in my cellar, from 375 for what it’s worth, too. Opened about 90 mins ago, and had a glass at room temp (about 67f). That pour tasted of candied red apple, the kind you would eat from a stick. Enjoyed that note, then decided to chill the wine down a little bit. As the wine comes from the cooler temp back towards the room temp, it now fills in with cherry, raspberry and that same red apple impression, plus a note of herb that was present at both temps. My last bottle of this was in mid-2018 and I found the wine a bit savory and more older world, but this bottle drinks more in between old and new world, and overall is in a real nice place. Expressive, with a deep core of red apple, herb, acidity with a texture that is beginning now to smooth out.

Posted from CellarTracker

I’ll pull something tomorrow Frank.

2001 Williams Selyem Central Coast

Opened at a house concert seeing Martyn Joseph, who was as great as the wine!

Subdued fruit…not corked, Kevin. Subdued in a slightly austere way with some Christmas candle flavors: bayberry, a touch of “cool spice” (slight clove/all spice/cinnamon,) with quiet amounts of dark berry. Someone mentioned faint fennel notes. Those notes seem to be fruit meeting “fine grained” oak.

No overt sour cherry, no stickiness to the palate, but good top palate and back of throat finish that lingered well.

No overt oxidation, with nice mature flavor profile.

I would drink this again on purpose.

Google Martyn Joseph for a treat, he plays guitar like Bruce Cockburn!

2016 Daniel Rion Vosne Romanee 1er Cru Les Chaumes side by side with 2016 Daniel Rion Vosne Romanee 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts.

One of my favorite producers, seeing what their newest releases were like.

Tasted against Peter Michael 2016 Clos du Ciel and 2016 Domaine De La Cote “La Cote.”

We served them blind and people had to guess origin…not tough! Only two people missed any, and only one miss each.

The Les Chaume was classic structure and earth/tart-savory fruit, fabulous acidity and looong finish. The Beaux Monts was very similar, but I would give the slightest advantage to the Les Chaume. I like this winery’s style and they make wine that my brain says, “Ohhhh, yeah, Burgundy done right.”

The Peter Michael was more overtly California, but really subdued in terms of the “bright pinot” characteristics we see from many producers. Very complex, dark berries, and we all chatted about the types of faint notes I mentioned in the Williams Selyem tasting: fennel/anise, clove/all spice…all way in the back. really good balance with oak being present, but only as an enhancer, not a prominent/overt flavor.

The DLC was overtly oaky at first, almost too much so…but this faded through the evening and then wine came into great balance after about an hour of air after splash decanting. It seemed like a Cali wine trying to be French, which I mean in a good way. More sour cherry, but still in keeping with going for wines that were not too “pinot forward.” I will continue to toss this winery’s fine offerings into tasting to see if I ever catch anybody calling it French! I enjoy these wines a great deal. (This was the wine the two people guessed wrong on.)

All in all, all four wines improved when we started dinner…they are classic food wines. Fine to taste alone, but with a meal (we had racks of lamb, broccolini, cauliflower, saffron rice, and sauteed mushrooms…so an earth-food palate, as well. Classic matches and you can’t go wrong with any of the four!

Yay, may!!!

2004 Flowers Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
Cork was pristine, color bricked, nose… oh the nose… old worn out wine nose. Fruit is still present in the fotm of strawberry and cranberry but oh the nose. I might give this a look later but I need to open something else for the evening. Found a Windy Oaks in the wine fridge. Notes to come.
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Lingua Franca AVNI Pinot Noir 2016

This is my second night drinking from this bottle, although it has been open for 3 days. I was impressed with this wine on night one (theres already a thread about that), but it has really gained some earthy complexity that I love after being opened for a while (with the cork, in the fridge). Its got some really dark but still bright crisp cherry and spice notes, but the nose on this night is dominated by earth. Punches above its price for sure.

2013 Arnot-Roberts Pinot Noir Trout Gulch Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (5/5/2019)
Aggressively tart red fruit. No fun to drink.

Posted from CellarTracker

  • 2012 Windy Oaks Estate Pinot Noir Terra Narro Schultze Family Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (5/5/2019)
    Picked this up in an auction lot at Falltacular. Light transparent cranberry color, nose of mushrooms and cotton candy. Zippy red fruit, cranberry and blood orange really mix well. Lively mid-palate, juicy, with a hint of garrigue, maybe pine needle, reminiscent of some Rivers Marie Occidental fruit but lighter. Easy drinking, really enjoyable once the cellar chill wears off, no noticeable alcohol. Very food friendly, mark me as a fan. CT drinking window is way off on this one.


Posted from CellarTracker

Here is a delicious easy to drink Burgundy that can be had for $30.
2017 Domaine Frédéric Esmonin Gevrey-Chambertin “Clos Prieur”
But should be Clos Prieur-bas as it is the village portion of the vineyard. Well placed for a village wine though as far as I can tell.
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Light toast and Asian spices up front, a few darker berries buried under neath. Very nice light to medium feel, easy going palate with good cut to make it great with food.
Perfect match for sautéed salmon with sautéed purple broccolini and Brussels sprouts.

SOME CA PINOT NOIR–TASTED BLIND - In The OC (5/5/2019)

Nothing formal here…just a whim of an idea that worked out. A few people got together, and all of them had CA PN in their cellars so we decided to have one bottle per person, done blind, tasted all together and then we voted for the best wine. The winner ended up split between the Rivers Marie and Kutch, with the Copain getting all last place votes.

  • 2017 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Silver Eagle Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
    Served blind. Came off a bit syrupy for me, then sappy in the palate. Are there some stems used here? Got a little whiff of it on the aroma and seemed to infuse the palate a bit, too. Dark strawberry, brewed coffee, some root beer, a little pinot funkiness and just on the heavier, richer side for me, and overall, this Silver Eagle just didn’t do it for me. Funny thing, in that Sean brought the bottle, and he said before we revealed that he brought the 2017 RM Occidental, which about crushed me as I have that wine on my WOTY list for 2019. Turns it was the Silver Eagle when we pulled off the bag. The world has been saved, order restored!
  • 2014 DuMOL Pinot Noir Ryan Widdoes - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
    Served blind. Sheesh, no TNs on this wine? Is this a unicorn bottling or something? Raspberry, light cola, some oak via a brushing of caramel. Spicy, with the citrusy acidity brightening the fruit. Smooth finish.
  • 2012 Copain Pinot Noir “En Haut” Kiser - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
    Served blind. I gave this some air too before we served it and it still didn’t show all that well. Tarter and lean, with red cherry and cranberry, and a light lift of vanilla. Crunchy with some cherry tomato, too. When I had my final taste of this, it seemed to have put on some weight but in the end, it still seemed a bit crunchy and not like the previous bottles.
  • 2017 Kutch Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
    Served blind. I had one of these a few weeks ago and it was fantastic. Yesterday’s bottle showed equally as good, and to its credit for me, we did it blind without any of my potential attribution bias involved. Blue fruited, pure, medium weighted. Has a little kiwi, juicy red and blue fruit, with the balance of this just pretty spectacular. I have thought the 2015 Sonoma Coast was Jamie’s best AVA bottling, but this one is even better. Bravo.

Posted from CellarTracker

PN, yum. I had a glass of the 2014 DuMol RRV PN that I enjoyed a few months back. Will drink PN for dinner on Sunday for Mother’s Day and report back.

Edit: just remembered/entered a tasting note on a bottle of 2013 Anthill Farms PN Cambell Ranch Vineyard that we drank on Saturday:

Expressive nose of dark red fruit/rose. Tastes of fleshy dark red fruits (strawberries/raspberries) balanced with nice acidity and light touch of savory notes. Nice density and texture without taking it over the top. Good finish/length. Tasty example of CA PN/crowd pleaser. Ready to go now, no need to hold.

I looked up the details on the vineyard Campbell Ranch | The PinotFile My guess is that the Kutch version of this wine would be wildly different!

My name is Nobody! Does that count?

Will open a nice P/N tonight for sure!

I will be cracking a Pinot from ‘anywhere’ tonight with dinner (salmon on the menu)…

Sounds great. Friends loaded the boat with Black Grouper yesterday, so I am warming up the Blackstone…