TN: 2006 Siduri Pinot Noir, Cargasacchi Vyd, Sta. Rita H

WINE TALK
1

First, my usual disclaimer. We do not make pinot, but I love to drink pinot. Therefore my choice of wines for my personal consumption and my opinions are strictly those of a pinot lover and industry observer. This is my first shipment from Siduri, and the first bottle opened, to share with friends on Superbowl Sunday.

A nice burgundy style bottle with a little heft but not bulk. Love the black label with bright primary art, very nouveau. The cork is definitely a keeper, and underneath the cool randomized design is a very high quality, dense 2” cork.

A rich burgundy red color, no purple tones, very pretty. Not completely clear, but not cloudy or particulate—a good sign, this means perhaps the wine is unfiltered and unvelcorined. A quick check of the website and yes, unfined, unfiltered, and I am guessing it was assiduously racked for a natural, soft degree of clarification.

The aromas are mostly rich berry and cherry, and a touch of earth. It’s a little chilled right now, having just come from the cellar, so I’ll re-visit the aroma again later.

Flavors are crisp, and varietally correct, with a gentle but assertive acidity. Interestingly, the berry flavors are more muted than the nose promises, but I like that. The berry component is recognizable, but it shares the table with earth, portabella, and a tiny touch of tarragon. There is no obvious oak, appropriate for this style of pinot, but a nice sense of structure that is almost subconscious. At 14.1% it is just delectably ripe and not tasting over-extended. After I started leaving the cheese plate alone, a definite minerality starts to come through. Very steely, and it might become unpleasant on its own as a quaffing wine, but the minerality plays rondori with cheese and deep-fried pasta. The tannins seem soft but are a little mouth-puckeringly fresh. I would age this wine for 5 years conservatively if you like soft tannins, 7 years if you love secondary properties, and 10 years as a probably successful experiment.

I like this yards and yards beyond the Bonaccorsi rendition of Cargasacchi fruit, which I felt was so overblown as to not be recognizable as pinot. I last had the Boncarg at Robin’s in Cambria, it was our second pinot off the list to finish with our entrees and everyone at the table was disappointed because the Boncarg was clearly not designed to go with mild curry. Oh well, live and learn.

This version is not only far more affordable but a style that I adore—feminine yet assertive, earthy, sexy and elegant.

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This reads just as well on this forum! Good to see you here and there, Mary.

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Thanks! And just for the record, I posted here first. [highfive.gif]

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I like the Siduri pinots, quite a bit. But NEVER young (ok their basic SLH is ok younger). They rarely show me anything until they reach at least 8 years. And I never plan far enough ahead to stick a younger one in a decanter for the 5 days prior to an event. Glad you enjoyed this one young.

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Jeff, I hope you are exaggerating. [swoon.gif] I would rather taste a wine young and project/pontificate on its development [d_training.gif] than let it sit in a decanter of any type or temperature for five days. This is, like, social commentary, right?

6

Sorry but it is not. I have found the Siduris to be very hard in the past when young. To the point that I would open them, crossing my fingers, see 1/4 the bottle drunk at a party of solid winos, and not touched because it was so hard. Leave it on the counter until the next weekend in the decanter, only to find it open and ready. So a week of decanting for young bottles was mroe than common until I got smarter and realized that I should not pop them until 6,8, 10 years old. GREAT wines, just not fun when young.

7

Ah. In that case, I agree that as we got deeper into the bottle, the minerality and tannins became more evident. We were drinking it with cheese, however, and found it to be a delightful match. Plus our circle of friends are all winemakers, and we are pretty accustomed to sampling young zins and syrahs, so we found it’s youth more interesting than off-putting. I haven’t tried my other Siduris yet, I may crack the SRH soon to see how it compares, but I will definitely save the rest for a while. I’m generally pretty conservative with my aging estimates as I like some zip, so I also agree that this wine has some promising longevity.

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I like zip. What I don’t like is the wine taking my tongue and beating me with it for a few hours. [heat.gif]