Though I’ve been drinking wine for some 30 years and am drawn to pinot/Burg, I’ve had relatively little experience with Thomas Pinots. Prior to the 2005 vintage I’d heard a lot of whispering about them (much like I heard about Jacky Truchot’s wines), and the few times I’d tried them I was impressed by their understated beauty. After early high praise of the 2005s I was able to source a good amount from John at the winery (750s as well as magnums), and have been intermittently trying them for the past decade. I drank at least a half-dozen bottles with friends between 2009 and 2015, and to be honest I was mildly disappointed as each bottle seemed a bit “clunky,” without the perfume and grace that I remembered from my prior experiences.
Tonight I learned that I was completely off in my drinking window for these wines. I opened up a 750 this evening. Although the nose was at first restrained, over the next hour it developed into frigging showcase of aromas wafting out of the glass. Cherry, allspice, cinnamon, a bit of cola. Silky smooth, with nothing out of place, fruit up front and a bit of spice and menthol on the back end. Beautiful wine, and one of the best domestic pinots I’ve encountered in my 20+ years of drinking them (along with early 1990s W-S).
Has anyone else had the chance to drink the 2005 recently?
2005 was a dynamite vintage, but structured, acidic, and modest in fruit during it’s youth. It’s evolution in bottle was quite slow(IMO) but has proven out over the past 2-3 years. I absolutely love the vintage.
Nice note. 2008 tonight…tasty, expressive, a bit of funk and deceptively sweet fruit. Open for business after 30 minutes. I only have a couple of 2005s left. Patience with Thomas (10+ years) is usually rewarded.
I have a few bottles of the 2005 left. I recently had the 2001 from Magnum. Not sure about the provenance as I bought them from Brown Derby in St. Louis several years after release, so they traveled cross country twice and spent some time in the retail shop. But it was pristine with years to go. Lovely, lovely stuff. I do think they go through a dumb phase.
This wine brings back a fun memory for me, as my first foray with Thomas was the 2005 consumed in 2008. My wife and I got married in 2007 and one of my closest friends gifted “us” a pair of tickets to the Sunday round of the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines as our wedding present. Some Wine Board folks decided to do an offline in Del Mar on Saturday evening during the US Open and we signed up to attend figuring it would make for a fun experience. One attendee brought the 2005 Thomas (along with a stunning '97 Ridge Monte Bello) that blew my mind…it was lithe, floral, structured and underpinned by loads of acidity. It was one of those wine moments where I can still recall so much about it…the setting, the friends we made, the great food we had and the new pinot producer I just had to research and subsequently acquire some bottles from (only to learn about the old school mailing list process Thomas employed that I’d have to navigate). Then, of course, we got to see fireworks on Sunday between Rocco Mediate and Tiger Woods in one of the greatest US Open finishes I’ve ever seen.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane and I’m happy to hear that this 2005 showed so well…I don’t have any of them myself (all of mine are later vintages resting peacefully in my cellar), but I’m not at all surprised to read that it showing so well these days.
As good as a vintage as I think 2005 is I would love to take it and drop it into our laps now. So much more knowledge, better equipment, better farming and, really, better everything not the least of which would be an additional 14 vintages under the belt. All those things we have now (forgot to mention 14 more years of vine age) that we didn’t have then and those wines still kick ass. It’s a great Pinot Noir vintage and if we had it now it would be that much better. I’m sure of that.
Hard to argue with 14 more years of vine age and winemaker age…I would kill to get 05 again, although I feel like my 2017s lean that way. We were in early compared to 05, but the abvs are similar and so is the structured red fruit with plenty of acidity.
Still, clusters this year are much more like 05, and the cool growing season is not terribly different.
Apologies for the thread drift.
It’s great to hear the 01 magnum also showed well. One of the most under rated vintages and, while very different than 2005, very much one of my favorite vintages.
I joined the Thomas list with the 2012 vintage, but I have a couple of 2004 and 2011 magnums. I don’t have much experience with older Thomas, but discovered a 2007 Thomas at Woodard Wines a few years ago and enjoyed the bottle at Thistle that evening. Beautiful wine.
The Brown Derby is one of a very few non PNW retailers to carry JT’s wine, so the 2001 magnum was probably waiting for a good home. Glad that you enjoyed it.