Sea Smoke and Caymus

[Dusty_Gillson]

Of the 3 or 4 vintages of Sea Smoke that I have now tried, I seem to like the Southing over the Ten every time. I found the 2010 Southing to be absolutely great with about an hour of air. Full disclosure, I don’t consider myself a fan of “big” Pinots, but do very much enjoy everything from middle-weights to leaner selections and burgs.

[Chris_Seiber]

@John Morris

I found my notes. It was the 2007 Ten (not Southing) tasted in February 2010. My notes: “All oak” on the nose. In the mouth, “Oak, oak spice, a bit hot. Pinot. Sort of hollow. Quite a bit of acidity – acidulated” (my assumption since the acid seemed to stick out). On the finish: “Some hard tannins, lots of acidity.” To my surprise, I see I gave it 81, which is potable in my book.

Ten is their most oaked and biggest pinot. It comes together over a longer time, but I don’t like it as much as the Southing, plus it’s more expensive. I’m not surprised you wouldn’t like it, particularly when it was young.

The Southing is a middleweight pinot (I’d say medium-large from the 2006 vintage on back). It is usually a bit clumsy in its first few years after release, but it really comes together nicely if you can be patient, or at least give it longer aeration. Beautiful fruit, spice and texture. In the last year, I’ve had 2003, 2004 and 2005 vintages and they’re really lovely at that age, and probably for a number of years to come, though I doubt it makes sense to hold them for decades or anything. I have one last bottle of 2002 that I bought on release which I keep meaning to open for the sake of seeing how the wine takes to longer aging.

But to each his own, of course, and I know the label is quite a lightning rod in geek / AFWE / WB type circles.

[Tim_Burnett]

I have not had any post-Curran Sea Smoke—I think her last was 2007(?).

But in my experience, Southings have a short early window—I had a 2005 on release that was wonderful—but after that, they are unpredictable at best until at least 5 years out, and that’s still dicey.

I found every Ten I’ve ever opened to be tight, and I’d recommend 10-12 years age, depending on the vintage. I’ve also never seen anything to support it being better than the Southing bottling.

I think the issue with Sea Smoke, and the difference between it and other big Cali Pinots, is that there is much less red fruit. There is a ton of oak, no question, but frankly, I don’t think the booze is as high either, at least in terms of how it presents. When given enough time, they are distinct wines, and especially the Southing is well-worth it.