Rivers Marie Pinot Chardonnay Release January 17th

Joe_G_a_l_e_w_s_k_i · January 10, 2012, 5:46pm

Rivers Marie and Saxum on the same day…

I’ll be in for at least a couple sonoma coasts, my favorite QPR pinot.

The release of our 2010 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noirs and Chardonnay will begin one week from today, Tuesday January 17th at 9am Pacific Time. As in the past, this release is via email only. You will receive an email with your username and password as the offer goes live. Production quantities of each offering vary widely so some items will go faster than others. We do, however, have a much more limited pool of buyers in this first wave so we don’t anticipate the chaos of last year. Though some may sell out before the offer window closes, not everything will disappear in 4 hours as with the '09s. We can’t go so far as to say all items are guaranteed but we can say this release is much better thought out than last year’s. There will be a second wave that opens a week after this initial release.

Mark_F_r_a_n_k_s · January 10, 2012, 5:54pm

I have no room!!! I’m gonna buy anyway, but sheesh this is getting bad!

N_Justl · January 10, 2012, 5:57pm

Guess I am in the 2nd wave. Hopefully there is some left by then!

FYI… Made my first purchase in August with the Cab release.

Paul_H_Galli · January 10, 2012, 6:07pm

I have to state that I have been mightily unimpressed with how their Pinots and Chards age…

TTT

CJ_Beazley · January 10, 2012, 6:12pm

Hey N, how long were you wait-listed? Also, is this how it works, if you don’t receive the e-mail you don’t get any allocation? Thanks

N_Justl · January 10, 2012, 6:20pm

I signed up for the list in early April 2011, and was able to purchase the Cabs during the 2nd wave in August 2011.

Corey_N · January 10, 2012, 6:22pm

Paul,

I have a good amount of the Pinots aging but none of the Chards (had a 2008 B. Theriot and LOVED it) – would be very curious to have you expound upon these sentiments.

TIA

Glenn_L_e_v_i_n_e · January 10, 2012, 6:23pm

I keep reading how their Theriot doesn’t age; care to elaborate a bit here Paul. I have 07-09 and have not popped a cork yet?

Brian_Love · January 10, 2012, 6:28pm

Me too on the timing for purchasing the cabs and didn’t get an email on this one either.

Joe_G_a_l_e_w_s_k_i · January 10, 2012, 6:40pm

I feel the 2006, 2007 and 2008 pinot noirs are doing quite nicely. I think they need 3 years minimum. For example I tried a 2009 sonoma coast pinot and was not impressed at all - I assumed that it needed more time in the bottle. I have no experience with the chardonnay. I have been much more selective with the single vineyards as I have not witnessed a substantial quality difference between the sonoma coast and the SVDs.

CFu · January 10, 2012, 6:47pm

It’s ok, they’ll probably age better than the 09 Rhys Santa Cruz Chard. Same Price point yes?

Paul_H_Galli · January 10, 2012, 6:52pm

If you search my notes, I was not impressed by this particular bottling…

TTT

drsugarman · January 10, 2012, 7:13pm

Anyone with the 2007 Chard should drink up IMO. 2008 & 2009 are find to hold.

Russ_Williams · January 10, 2012, 7:20pm

The '07 chard should absolutely be drunk now. Something happened with this vintage that caused the wine to prematurely age. I am also concerned about some recent notes on the '08 mentioning spritz. At this stage I’m on the fence about ordering the chard.

Glenn_L_e_v_i_n_e · January 10, 2012, 7:21pm

Premox California Chard?

J_Singleton · January 10, 2012, 7:25pm

Cabs and pinot/chard are different lists I believe.

Thomas_Rivers_Brown · January 10, 2012, 7:42pm

Not exactly, more a winemaking error on my part. I touched on it briefly in the 2008 vintage mailer. The 5 barrel 2007 lot of Chardonnay was being sampled for ML completion as a single lot. What we didn’t know at the time was there was a single barrel not finished with ML that was giving us a false negative for the lot. Basically 4 barrels sat unsulfured while done with both primary and secondary fermentation while 1 barrel finished secondary. Those 4 barrels galloped along the aging curve while sitting unprotected. At bottling and for the next six months or so that wasn’t easy to see but when early cracks developed, it became obvious. Starting with 2008, we treated every barrel as an individual wine catching each as it completed ML and sulfuring it appropriately. All the Chardonnays have been bottled cold fresh off of unstirred lees so you do occasionally see some residual fermentation CO2 in them. I can assure you the 2010 is very solid having had it now 10 or so times over the last two months but of course if there’s ever any issue, reach out and we’ll correct it.

gene_keenan · January 10, 2012, 7:59pm

Thomas Rivers Brown:

Glenn L e v i n e:

Premox California Chard?

Not exactly, more a winemaking error on my part. I touched on it briefly in the 2008 vintage mailer. The 5 barrel 2007 lot of Chardonnay was being sampled for ML completion as a single lot. What we didn’t know at the time was there was a single barrel not finished with ML that was giving us a false negative for the lot. Basically 4 barrels sat unsulfured while done with both primary and secondary fermentation while 1 barrel finished secondary. Those 4 barrels galloped along the aging curve while sitting unprotected. At bottling and for the next six months or so that wasn’t easy to see but when early cracks developed, it became obvious. Starting with 2008, we treated every barrel as an individual wine catching each as it completed ML and sulfuring it appropriately. All the Chardonnays have been bottled cold fresh off of unstirred lees so you do occasionally see some residual fermentation CO2 in them. I can assure you the 2010 is very solid having had it now 10 or so times over the last two months but of course if there’s ever any issue, reach out and we’ll correct it.

Oy vey. Thanks for the update Thomas. I guess I should pull those out to see how they are.

Lewis_Dawson · January 10, 2012, 8:08pm

I’ve had all the pinots from the '04 - '07 era, most of the earlier pinots, and none after 2007. The R-M style is utterly unique in my experience. And I think distinctiveness is a good thing, generally. There is a blast of glossy, ripe, forward fruit, and it is nicely complex in some of the wines. With this forward, fruit-driven nature, one would expect high alcohol, but most of the wines are moderate % ABV, not as high as I would expect. And there is a core of acidity, perhaps natural, perhaps added, but if added it is nicely done. So the acid gives some degree of focus on the mid-palate. However, there is no real grip, and the fruit-driven finish seems soft, pillowy, lacking in structure to carry the load of fruit. It is not a style I seek out, thus no wines purchased or tasted after the 2007 vintage. But it is clear from reading here that many people love this style.

IMO, asking wines made in this style to age beyond a year or so of bottling is asking the unreasonable. With a few years bottle age, the baby fat recedes and the palate and finish become blowsy and soupy, IMO. All of my TN’s from soon after release are more positive than my TN’s from a year or two or three later… with the single exception of the 2005 Occidental Ridge, a stylistic departure from the R-M norm, and a wine that I rated “Outstanding” (circa 90 points) early last year.

The 2007 chardonnay was quite good at release, but I found it much less interesting last June. Thank you Thomas for an explanation of the cause.

So I guess I agree with Paul about R-M and the risks of cellaring the wines. Just my $0.02.

Corey_N · January 10, 2012, 8:20pm

Lewis Dawson:

Corey N.:

Paul H Galli:

I have to state that I have been mightily unimpressed with how their Pinots and Chards age…

TTT

Paul,

I have a good amount of the Pinots aging but none of the Chards (had a 2008 B. Theriot and LOVED it) – would be very curious to have you expound upon these sentiments.

TIA

I’ve had all the pinots from the '04 - '07 era, most of the earlier pinots, and none after 2007. The R-M style is utterly unique in my experience. And I think distinctiveness is a good thing, generally. There is a blast of glossy, ripe, forward fruit, and it is nicely complex in some of the wines. With this forward, fruit-driven nature, one would expect high alcohol, but most of the wines are moderate % ABV, not as high as I would expect. And there is a core of acidity, perhaps natural, perhaps added, but if added it is nicely done. So the acid gives some degree of focus on the mid-palate. However, there is no real grip, and the fruit-driven finish seems soft, pillowy, lacking in structure to carry the load of fruit. It is not a style I seek out, thus no wines purchased or tasted after the 2007 vintage. But it is clear from reading here that many people love this style.

IMO, asking wines made in this style to age beyond a year or so of bottling is asking the unreasonable. With a few years bottle age, the baby fat recedes and the palate and finish become blowsy and soupy, IMO. All of my TN’s from soon after release are more positive than my TN’s from a year or two or three later… with the single exception of the 2005 Occidental Ridge, a stylistic departure from the R-M norm, and a wine that I rated “Outstanding” (circa 90 points) early last year.

The 2007 chardonnay was quite good at release, but I found it much less interesting last June. Thank you Thomas for an explanation of the cause.

So I guess I agree with Paul about R-M and the risks of cellaring the wines. Just my $0.02.

Lew,

Thank you for your insightful comments. I suppose I should have a peek at some of the older RMs (05/06) in my collection.