2006 Peay Scallop Shelf Pinot Noir
Earth and baking spice aromas. The soil aspects aren’t loamy or foresty, more of a subsoil quality. Black cherry fruit driven with some additional spice having a bit of a woody (possibly stemmy?) element. Prickly mouthfeel. Ripe pinot style but not overly so. Enough acid to facilitate the midpalate. Mild tannins felt mostly on the tongue with a bitter chocolate sensation, minus the bitter. Decent length. No heat, other than the suggestion of warmth - 14.2% abv. Nice wine. I enjoyed this considerably more than the rounder 06 Pommarium.
RT
Thanks for the notes.I’ve been hiding mine!!!
Nice note Richard. If you haven’t already, seek out both the 05 and 07 of this. Wonderful wines.
04s and 05s are gone. The overall style seems to have gotten a bit rounder over time and drifted towards the edge of my strike zone. Fine stuff for Cali PN enthusiasts.
RT
Nice note, Richard. Had this out of half bottle last year, and it was positively smoking good. Just a juicy, delicious wine.
Hmm, I think if you tried this, or almost any other Peay Pinot, side by side with most other Cali Pinots, you would find a noticeable difference. I consider Peay to be at the more elegant, tame end of the spectrum as far as ripeness and concentration levels.
Last time I had the 06 Scallop was back in April, where it showed a mix of strawberry/raspberry/cherry fruit, and a lot of the spice you refer to. They don’t use any stems, do use some new oak, but it is generally kept in check. Everything comes down to personal taste, of course.
Regards,
Alan