2007 Cameron Hughes Pinot Noir Lot 125 Carneros- USA, California, Sonoma County, Carneros (2/2/2010)
Needs some air at this early stage, then the nose opens up. The nose shows sweet cherry, and a big dose of perfume. Not the spicy, musky nature I expected from a Carneros Pinot - perhaps it’s a product of the vintage, but this one seemed sweeter on the fruit and stronger on the acidity and alcohol than I have known from Carneros. On the palate, the acidity again shows strong, but some nice fruit structure comes through - strawberries and sweet cherries - but also a healthy dose of new oak, which is not my style. Finish is a bit syrupy, but not as strong as many CA pinots of late have been, and it has good length. For the price, it’s a decent buy, but I was hoping for more stylistic representation of Carneros Pinot in this wine than I received. (87 pts.)
Todd- That still sounds a lot better than the 2007 Gary Farrell Carneros Pinot I have over the weekend. That was a very mediocre wine. I bet the CH cost about 1/3 of it too. My guess it that this will come together with more time. All of the 07 Cali Pinots I’ve had so far are just too damn young right now.
Disclaimer: I was a Cameron Hughes rep in college.
I think it may come together a bit, but this seems to me to be a wine with a very short term drinking window. The new oak might blend a bit with the fruit, but I wouldn’t give this more than a year max.
