2005 Etude Carneros Deer Camp Pinot Noir

WINE TALK
1

2005 Etude Carneros Deer Camp Pinot Noir

Estate grown, 14.7% alcohol. This was a gift from our rep at Etude. Straight from the cellar and may be a little cool yet.

Popped and poured. Deep garnet in color, legs on the thin side. On the nose there is musty blackberry, slight stem or greenness with a touch of spice. The first sip is light black cherry, a little stem and spice. Obviously too cold and the alcohol at this temperature is also concealing the fruit.

After giving the wine 15 minutes to warm up, the nose is moving towards black berry, with no stem or greenness. On the palate, hot blackberry, fading to black cherry on the finish. Alcohol still needs to settle to eliminate the heat. I detect ample acidity towards the end of the finish as it dries the mouth.

At 40 minutes, the fruit, blackberry, is gaining ground on the mid palate, the finish is increasing in length culminating in black cherry. While the alcohol is still present, it is diminishing. My thought is this wine is just a youngster and needed a good decant or another 5 years in the bottle. It has potential as a good food wine, just needs some time.

2

At an hour and fifteen minutes, we have something here. The fruit is solid, not over the top and showing some complexity. Blackberry and black cherry are accompanied by a mild, accentuating spiciness. The alcohol has moved to the back and the acidity stays the same on the finish. Food wine. Ham comes to mind. [cheers.gif]