I am glad to see some discussion of IPOB NYC. It was our first year attending an IPOB tasting and I have to say we were pleasantly surprised. The trade tasting was by far the best attended (by top Somms) of any trade tasting we have poured at. The consumer tasting was also fantastic for us and we were impressed by the discerning palates and folks with real interest who came by our table. Maybe we are ‘unknown’ enough to not attract the big name seeking obnoxious types, but for us, it was refreshing to not have to deal with drunk people or those who say “Just pour me your favorite wine.” In fact, I never once poured less than the full four Pinot line-up for anyone who came by. We have attended the other big Pinot tastings and have decided to bow out of one due to lack of serious Berserker type enthusiast (or maybe just too many who are not) and another we can just barely justify being part of. The fact that I believe fully in the vision behind IPOB and that there is this common thread binding the wineries together of producing wines that “pursue balance” certainly helps. Many of the producers are making inspiring wines and it is great to get to try them all in the same place at the same time (spitting is essential). I would think many in the Berserker community would enjoy the tasting and probably more than any other large commercial tasting.
If anyone is interested in the panels, the videos are online at http://inpursuitofbalance.com/#/conversations. Of course, without the wines, it is not as enlightening, but there were definitely some interesting points made. I had many folks come up and tell me that they really enjoyed the Panel I was on (if you go to watch this one, it is after the Ted Lemon keynote) as it gave them insight into the winemakers perspective on trying to nail the pick and what factors influence it. The website also has info on the upcoming San Francisco tasting and the new IPOB being held in Houston. We would love to see more Berserkers at these events, i.e., insightful and knowledgeable tasters.
Yes, I’ll be there. Good fortune has me in the Bay Area for business that week. I decided to do this tasting over the World of Pinot Noir (which is near where I live).
Bradley, great post. I agree, it was probably the most ,‘humane’ large tasting I have ever been to. Sorry i missed you. You were in a tight corner i think. I will return next year and explore many more. See you there!
Looking forward to more of what you describe in Tokyo Bradley. It is a very intense crowd here and although language issues may pop up, in general communication happens very easily.
If you or any of the others need a hand explaining something or understanding a comment, grab me, I will be in the room.
Hoping to get some of you out for some fun a light yakitori or something too. We’ll see.
Funny part is when work kept me from going, I transferred my ticket to a colleague - he likes wine, even occaisionally buys off of winebid, but isn’t a Berserker level geek, and has never gone to this sort of event. His report was that he enjoyed the tasting very much, but couldn’t stand how pushy and aggressive the crowd was!
At the Pinot Days tasting a few weeks (I was pouring) ago the crowd started off decent (although those in the pre-tasting seminar were a bit sloshed) and went from good to bad that by 3pm it was a drink-fest. By 3:30 people would have put rubbing alcohol in their glasses if it were on the table. If you have ever been to a Zin in the City event, you get the same, just with more purple teeth.
Monday’s event was a good mix of civility and although spitting slowed down by about 7:30, the crowd stayed …civil. What amazed me was the age of many. One guy in front of me at Sandhi seemed to be 15 and very Urkle-like. his knowledge of what he liked seemed very well thought out and his opinions were more like that of a person who has been drinking for many years and not a first year computer major. Boy, did I feel old.
I still can’t get the Domaine De La Cote Pinots out of my mind. I think the most difficult thing about a tasting this good is how you wish you could just keep tasting.
Also, I had a sit down with Tom Fogarty last night (not part of IPOB but certainly fits the criteria) and the wines were stunning. The '11 Chards were off the charts. I really need to plan a visit to the Santa Cruz Mountains one day soon.
If anyone is interested, I put a piece up on my blog about my IPOB experience, with lots of pictures and my tasting notes. The Cellar Table
Hi Frank, I didn’t take notes as I was with customers but remember the Wind Gap for its vibrancy of fruit - a brightness, if you will; the Copain Kiser En Bas was exceedingly balanced; the Big Basin Lester had a really nice notes of herbal and floral mixed in with a healthy fruit profile and the Pomarium was killing it right out of the Gate - usually that wine needs 5 years - if it is drinking this well now, in 5 years it should be a beauty.
Eric, I’m glad to see DDLC getting some love around here. I’ve posted previously about how I thought many on this board would really like the wines, and the few postings thus far seem to be quite positive but they just haven’t gained traction like some of the other board favs have.
One thing I would like to know, if you or anyone else can chime in, is how they compare to some of the Rhys wines. Everything I’ve heard about Rhys makes me think I’d be a big fan, but due to several reasons I’ve never had one. Based simply on some of the descriptions I feel that the two would be similar, at least structurally?
In the case of the Domaine De La Cote, I find them to have a much more exotic profile compared to Rhys. In my experience, Rhys tends to show more density with darker fruits and herbal woodland tones. The La Cote wines have more spice, high-toned fruit and in often cases a dried citrus note. I love both styles.
Just to add to this, I find most Santa Cruz Pinot to have more of a sappy texture than most other AVA’s. This isn’t a bad thing–just different.
What a horrible name for a winery. Every word in it is commonly used so a wine-searcher search is buried in hundreds of different producers. Anyone know where it’s available?
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Based simply on some of the descriptions I feel that the two would be similar, at least structurally?