Beautiful deep sparkling garnet color - darker than usual for Kathleen’s pinots. Deep black cherry fruit with a hint of violets, cherry cola and crushed rocks on the nose. Quite deep, dark and sweet on the attack with lots of black cherry, cola and minerality. A little more robust and masculine than the 05 with even a longer finish. Another very strong effort
Nice note, Jud. I enjoy reading specific notes like this on Kathleen’s wines because they are often contrary in style to what many of the CT ‘reviewers’ prefer, which, assumably, is the bigger Kosta Browne style of wine.
Definitely…there’s some produces that require a bit of tasting note translation. As a lover of those lighter styled pinots that almost seem to be on the verge of no longer not being cool, it’s easy to get the wrong impression based on opposing palate preferences. Since the bigger style preferences seem to be more prevalent, I usually must check past notes taken by the taster to attempt to calibrate.
Question: was this the Olivet Grange Vineyard? I thought the appellation wine was only made in 2006.
I also noted the darker color on the Inman OGV, and I’ve seen the same deeper hue on a few other RRV/SC pinots in 2006. Wonder why that is?
It was the Russian River appelation wine, not the OGV, and it was 2006. You are correct that her pinots are usually in a lighter style, but this one edged toward the bigger bolder style, without losing its finesse.
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2006 Inman Family Pinot Noir - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (7/14/2010)
– popped and poured –
– tasted non-blind on Day 1 and Day 3–
NOSE: initially light and tight, with pleasant “Pinot berry” aromas; raspberry; very light oak in the background; a hint of old baseball glove (sweat and leather, I suppose); the NOSE did concentrate with a lid on the glass for a few minutes; some spice; a bit of alcohol; this did open-up some with air; hint of funky (Fr. cheese) smoke; slight citrus note on Day 3.
BODY: clear; rustic garnet color of medium-light to medium depth; medium-light bodied.
TASTE: initially: a bit austere, with light fruit flavors, and kind of watery – diffuse flavors; perfumy; red berry; this did gain considerable weight with air: greater spiciness and depth of fruit; still has a weak mid-palate; medium length finish (41 sec.) of medium intensity; a mild bloomy rind cheese note emerged on Day 3; 14.1% alc.; well-balanced; drink now or over the next couple years. Good QPR at $16.
B: 50, 5, 12, 15, 7 = (89 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker
Her vines are young enough that the resulting wines seem to get richer each year just from more vine age.
I’ll pass…06 is drinking well, and there are so many better options IMO, especially from this region!
Not if you like light floral red-fruited wines
+1. To my tastes the 05 OGV is one of Kathleen’s best wines, showing none of the cola and lots of florals and lip smacking fruit.
Sure…at $16? (as noted above by Brian and here???) Not likely…
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2006 was the first year that Katheen made the RRV, but she will be producing it in every vintage now. She clearanced the 2006 in preparation for the move to her new facility at OGV, but the 2007 is worth a look even @ $30 MSRP.
Re: style - this and the thorn ridge are definitely more forward than OGV, for early drinking. The OGV remains the one to lay down - the 2007 will do especially well with time. I help pour at many of the RRV events for Kathleen & Simon so I’ve had several chances to taste the 2007’s and I think they are some of the best wines she has produced yet.
If you enjoy Pinot syrup to serve with your waffles in the morning, then yes there are better choices…
One thing my TN doesn’t mention that merits mentioning: I really liked how this wine was devoid of the usual “RRV cola.” Truth be told, this came across more like an elegant SRH or SLH Pinot than it did a RRB Pinot – that is a “plus” in my book.
To your chagrin, I don’t look for ultra cheap “deals” when I’m shopping for Pinot Noir. To me, spending a little extra for a far superior wine is worth it…but I’m sure you bottom feeders are picking it up by the caseloads.
-salute
Are your feelings hurt because you have been exposed as a fruit bomb pinot drinker?
Ty, if you sincerely believe that price as anything to do with quality for just about any commercial product, then you are a corporate marketeer’s dream! 
Make sure to read the pretty words on the back label of those “better” pinots, they are worth at least $20 added to the final retail price.
+1
Yes, and you’ve been exposed as a sophomoric cretin who’s wine tasting syntax is limited to superlatives like “fruit bomb”…most unfortunate!
salute!
Such as??
Brian - stick with the OGV and RRV from Inman - while the Thorn Ridge will always maintain a nice level of acidity, it does shade into the cola side of things, especially in riper years like 2006. Thorn is a Ted Klopp property that sits on a ridgeline in the Sebastopol Hills. It is only ten miles from the ocean, so it sees a lot of marine influence, but it is also above the fog line so it sees much more sun than most vineyards on the RRV floor. The result is very different wine that has nice acidity paired with the dark fruit/cola notes. Depending on your preferences, that could be good or bad.