2004 Rhys Alesia Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast Sonatera Vineyard

WINE TALK
1

So far this has been my favorite bottle of 2004 Alesia. Last week’s Kanzler was far better then my previous one, so this is a good trend!

Color: Dark ruby. Slightly on the darker side for pinot.
Bouquet: Kind of average - A little fruity - cherry mostly, a slight funk that trends to sous bois. some spice but a bit of alcohol brings it down a notch.
Palate: Alright now, we’ve got a very nice NorCal pinot here - Red fruits mixed in with a touch of dark cherry, light spiciness, and earthy plus a little four-square structure to complement the distinct pinot acid component. And what was really nice about it too was what was missing - no cola and no candied fruit.
Summary - For me this pinot was more then it’s parts. It was a great complement to the beef bourgogne I made for dinner. The structure, which certainly makes it feel like a heavier weight wine then a lot of Northern California pinots, really helped balance it for the rich meal.

2

Eerie, I just opened a 2004 Sonoma. Very tasty, crushed dark red fruits, nice high toned wintergreen (think fir and pine) notes on the nose. Lovely stuff.

3

I had horrible records with the 04. I opened up a Sonatera a week ago and it was all fizz. Same with my 2 Kanzlers and a flawed Family Farm. I bought a lot of 04s and have seen how good the sonatera and sonoma coast could get.

Hopefully the 07s do better but I’m more a fan of their chardonnay.

4

Oddly, I don’t care for the Chardonnay that much - it’s a bit too Cali for me. Well made, but just not my thing. The 2 Kanzlers I’ve had hand this bottle have all been lovely - sorry to hear yours were seeing some refermentation. Did you contact them?

5

I’ve made a point to attack my 04s lately to see if they were victims of the 04 Rhys curse. TN for my 2 bottles of Sonatera:

9/23/2009 flawed bottle: much less spritz than the last bottle. red berry, dirt, and a slight metallic taste. (203 views)
9/23/2009 flawed bottle: spritz and foul. down the drain.

Chileno:

9/20/2009 flawed bottle: Band aid nose. Poop in the mouth. :frowning: (154 views)
9/20/2009 flawed bottle: Band aid nose. Unbalanced and shrill in the mouth.

Family Farm:

9/23/2009 flawed bottle: brett, brett, brett. (228 views)

All the above went down the drain. I unfortunately have 1 Family Farm and 2 syrahs left i’m dreading to open. My last Kanzler I expect to be okay, but I wouldn’t be shocked…

The lone 06 PN and all the chards I have tried still make me a believer.

6

I have had pretty clean bottles of the 2004s, except for the Syrah. Two bottles left of the Syrah, and the first one was so burnt, I’m still hesitant to open one!

7

The 04 Sonatera’s have certainly been mixed and controversial from all that I’ve read. That would mirror my experiences with them as well.

8

This is all very interesting. So far all of my 2004s have been clean, if lacking in the wow factor. I haven’t opened any of the Fairview syrahs yet.

9

Haven’t heard of any issues with the Syrah. A nice peppery bottle with a more Rhone character than Cali to me. The Pinots seem to be all over though I’ve heard of very little issues with the Kanzlers.

10

I think the issue is with the 2004 Chileno Syrah, which is listed as ‘recalled’ on the web site. There have been numerous offers in threads on the ‘other’ board re: credits/replacement, etc. I have a couple bottles, have not braved them yet. Haven’t heard about any issues w/ the Fairview, but I only own the 05.

I did have a bottle of the 04 Sonatera PN last March. No spritz, but definitely low level brett. Other wise I think my note is consistent w/ Pauls.

3/4/2009: Splash decanted about an hour and detected no spritz reported by others. Medium to dark ruby. Good cherry to black cherry. Bigger than I was expecting - probably the vintage - but definitely said Sonoma Coast in a big way - enjoyable. Small amount of brett to be sure. I am not a brett fan, but found this acceptable, not hiding anything, maybe even adding a little overall. However, while I otherwise might let my other bottle age a bit more, I will drink up and decant less, to avoid additional brett.

Despite what I wrote, I still do have that last bottle.

11

Surprising note, to say the least, because all of my experiences with this wine have been terrible.

12

Well, the CT notes are running about 50-50 so not surprising to me.
That’s the problem w/ brett.

I’d crack that 2nd bottle, except it’s 800 miles away right now.

13

My experience with the 2004s have been very mixed, with the exception of the Sonoma Coast, which always seemed to me a very nice wine.

14

Well, the CT notes are running about 50-50 so not surprising to me.
That’s the problem w/ brett.

I didn’t detect any brett in this wine, not even a low-level infestation. No merde, barnyard or general stinkiness.

15

I have opened two bottles, one soon after release and one a couple of months ago. There was brett on the earlier bottle but not so much to make the wine undrinkable. The more recent bottle was shit stew, but Kevin did the right thing and replaced the bottle without my asking for it.

16

Both Kevin (before my above note) & Josh contacted my separately and unsolicited to offer replacements for my bad bottles. My hats off to their tremendous customer service. I’m going to 06 SM PN tonight and toast them…

17

Nice to see that some people are happy.