Decided during some of this quarantine time at home to work on my tasting skills, so thought no better way than to compare two wines from the same vintage, producer, and vineyard, but from different microclimates.
2017 Goodfellow Family Cellars Pinot Noir Long Acre Whistling Ridge Vineyard
1st of 2 bottles. Pop n’ pour into a GGG glass, side by side comparison with the 2017 House Block Whistling Ridge Pinot Noir.
Predominantly red fruit on the nose (raspberry, strawberry, pomegranate) that is a little more sweet and fragrant than in the House Block bottling. Good dose of organic soil, baking spices, and a touch of granite. The wine is elegant yet formidable, with good tension, coating the palate and tongue with bright red fruit and baking spice notes lifted by its mouthwatering acidity. The wine’s aromatics shut down after about 45 minutes, with just some faint tart cherry, wet leaves, and baking spice. This definitely needs time, and I’ll be saving my remaining bottle to open at least 10 years from now.
2017 Goodfellow Family Cellars Pinot Noir House Block Whistling Ridge Vineyard
1st of 2 bottles. Pop n’ pour into a GGG glass, side by side comparison with the 2017 Long Acre Whistling Ridge Pinot Noir.
Tart red cherry, red raspberry, strawberry, dried blueberries, and lilac on the nose evenly balanced by organic soil, wet leaves, and graphite. Compared to the Long Acre, I find the fruit profile more red/blue and less ripe, with more savory and organic earth notes present. When I first opened this the aromas reminded me of the 2013 Beta Cabernet Sauvignon Vare Vineyard, though clearly they are different wines from different sites.
Similar to the Long Acre pinot noir, this is elegant and weightless on the palate yet has great tension. Long finish consisting of red fruit, wet forest floor, and graphite with vibrant acidity. I did find that there was some angularity to this wine that I didn’t see in the Long Acre. The wine’s aromatics similarly shut down after about 45-60 minutes. This needs time to develop, but I anticipate like the Long Acre it will be spectacular in 7-10 years.