I’m not the world’s biggest fan of Russian River Pinot, but this is captivating. The aromas jump right out of the bottle, and carry all the way through the long finish. There’s a transparency to the aromas and flavors, with a hint of spice accenting ripe berry fruit that never seems heavy. Honestly this is much too drinkable to come in 750ml bottles. It should be liters or magnums. Bravo!
I have to agree, I do like the wine. I have my last bottle slated for thanksgiving.
I personally rank both his pinots up there with other top ca producers. People simply haven’t discovered this one yet. I suspect once they do, you will be waiting a year to get on his list like so many others I am waiting to get on now.
I think his fitschen needs a few years to truly come into its own, but the rrv is drink now and smile.
Thank you for the kind words and I do agree that that wine is drink now and smile! It makes me happy to hear that description; when assembling my 2009’s I really made the effort to put together an appellation wine that showcased the RRV with an immediacy of a voluptuous wine but with a layer of refinement and most importantly balance. I purposely chose to de-stem all of the fruit for this wine to give it a looser texture on the palate but there is quite a bit of acid (from one vineyard in particular) that really brings it all together for me. This is quite different from how I put together the single vineyard wines where they see quite a bit more stem inclusion for additional structure and grip and a touch more new oak from a broader variety of coopers. The goal being to be able to lay down the sv’s while you crack the appellation wines.
I am racking and assembling my 2010’s this week for bottling and this is the last big hurdle for me, trying to build that roundness into the RRV blend that is still graceful and balanced. The good news is that means that there is quite a bit of drinking in store for me while I figure it out!
Refinement and balance are perfect descriptors for your RRV wine right now. The SV is a bit tougher, but your philosophy for the wines makes sense. Thanks for hte insights. I’ll rest my remaining SV bottles.
And thanks again for a wonderful drinking experience.