TN: 2009 Pinot Days Grand Tasting

WINE TALK
1

2009 PINOT DAYS GRAND TASTING - Fort Mason Festival Pavillon, San Francisco, California (6/28/2009)

Another terrific Pinot Days Grand Tasting, with way too many good Pinot producers for any human being to sample in a four hour period, as usual. Fortunately, in the last few weeks, I had a chance to sample a lot of producers that I try to keep tabs on – e.g., August West, Sojourn, Bjornstad. I also attended three of the Saturday seminars, and two of them were focused on the '07 vintage, so on Sunday I was able to focus on producers I hadn’t tried for a year or so, or that were new to me. I still didn’t make it, though, to several of my targets before wine and time ran out.

This was an impressive showing for the '07 vintage in California. Even though most of the '07s are very tight at the moment, they are showing good structure, nice acidity levels, and great potential for aging. And I was definitely detecting a trend toward lighter styled, higher acidity, more food friendly Pinots than we had been seeing in recent years–a very welcome trend indeed. Some of the most impressive Pinots out of the over 110 I tasted yesterday were one or more from Abiouness (new to me), Baton, Chasseur, Clos Pepe, Coterie (a new producer), Derbès, Fort Ross, Gainey, Keefer Ranch, Keller Estate, Londer, MacPhail, Mahoney (new to me), Peay, Pisoni and Winderlea (new to me).
Abiouness
Nicole (at Saturday seminar)

Baton

  • 2006 Baton Wines Pinot Noir Laguna Ridge - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
    Baked cherry and roses nose; solid, rounded cherry, tart cherry palate with structure; medium-plus finish (92 pts.)
  • 2007 Baton Wines Pinot Noir Laguna Ridge - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
    Nice ripe cherry, cherry pie nose with depth; solid tart cherry, black cherry palate, tight yet; medium-plus finish 92+ pts. (92 pts.)

Belle Glos

  • 2007 Belle Glos Pinot Noir Meiomi - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
    Plum, cherry nose; tart plum, cherry, innocuous palate; short-medium finish (84 pts.)

Chasseur

Clos Pepe

  • 2008 Clos Pepe Estate Pinot Noir Rosé of Pinot Noir - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills - Sta. Rita Hills
    Light tart peach palate with good acidity; medium finish (90 pts.)
  • 2007 Clos Pepe Estate Pinot Noir - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills - Sta. Rita Hills
    Tight, focused, tart cherry nose; nice tart cherry, berry palate, structured; medium finish (91 pts.)
  • 2006 Clos Pepe Estate Pinot Noir - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills - Sta. Rita Hills
    Mineral, tart red fruit, sous bois nose; tart red fruit, mineral palate with good structure and acidity; medium finish 91+ pts. (91 pts.)
  • 2005 Clos Pepe Estate Pinot Noir - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills - Sta. Rita Hills
    Bretty, earthy nose; tasty, tart cherry, mineral palate with spunk and depth, structured; medium finish (92 pts.)
  • 2000 Clos Pepe Estate Pinot Noir - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills - Sta. Rita Hills
    Mature, mushroom, mineral nose; tasty, very Burgundian, mushroom, mineral palate; medium finish 91+ pts. (1/3 whole cluster) (91 pts.)

Clos Saron

Coterie

Couloir

Dain

Derbès

  • 2004 Derbès Les Pinots - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
    Hibiscus, rosehips nose; tart red fruit, hibiscus, rosehips palate; short-medium finish (90 pts.)
  • 2006 Derbès Pinot Noir - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
    Sous bois, baked strawberry nose with a touch of brett; tasty tart red fruit, sous bois, mineral palate with depth; medium finish (92 pts.)

Domaine Serene

Enkidu
Phillip

  • 2006 Enkidu Pinot Noir Tina Marie Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
    Smoky, baked strawberry nose; tart rhubarb pie, mineral, tart cherry palate; medium-plus finish 90+ pts. (90 pts.)
  • 2007 Enkidu Pinot Noir Kiamberell’s - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
    Appealing tart cherry, baked cherry nose; velvety, solid, tart cherry palate with depth and good acidity; medium-plus finish 91+ pts. (91 pts.)
  • 2007 Enkidu Pinot Noir - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
    Tart cherry, rhubarb, cinnamon nose; rhubarb, tart cherry, cinnamon palate; medium finish (90 pts.)

Eno

Eric Kent

Fort Ross

Furthermore

Gainey
Kirby

Gary Farrell

Hangtime

Hirsch

Hope & Grace

Kanzler

Kastania

Keefer Ranch

  • 2007 Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir Keefer Ranch Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
    Nice baked cherry, roses and sous bois nose; tasty, silky textured, spicy cherry palate with integrated oak; medium-plus finish (Swan and Pommard 5; 20% new French oak; 15% whole cluster) (92 pts.)

Keller

Ladd Cellars

Londer

  • 2007 Londer Pinot Noir Anderson Valley - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
    Earthy bramble, mineral nose; tasty, bramble, spicy red fruit palate with good acidity; medium finish (91 pts.)
  • 2007 Londer Pinot Noir Ferrington Vineyards - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
    Tart red fruit, strawberry, sous bois nose; rounded tart red fruit, cranberry, delicate palate; medium finish 91+ pts. (91 pts.)
  • 2006 Londer Pinot Noir Estate Grown - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
    Subtle mineral and tart strawberry nose; spicy, rounded tart red fruit and tart strawberry palate with depth; medium finish (92 pts.)
  • 2007 Londer Pinot Noir Paraboll - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
    Sous bois, light earthy, mineral nose; nice, lifted, tart red fruit, cranberry, tart strawberry and mineral palate; medium-plus finish 92+ pts. (92 pts.)

Louis Latour

MacPhail

  • 2007 MacPhail Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
    Earthy, sous bois, green nose; brambly, round, lifted red fruit, cranberry palate; medium finish (91 pts.)
  • 2007 MacPhail Pinot Noir Toulouse Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
    Light red color with clear meniscus; sous bois, mineral and dried cherry nose; nice tart red fruit, mineral palate with grip; medium-plus finish (92 pts.)
  • 2007 MacPhail Pinot Noir Goodin Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
    Nice light strawberry and toasty oak nose; soft, velvety, tart spicy red fruit, strawberry palate with balance; medium-plus finish (93 pts.)
  • 2007 MacPhail Pinot Noir Vagon Rouge - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
    VA, baked strawberry nose, touch of TCA? NR (flawed)

Mahoney

Mark West

Matrix

Mayro-Murdick

  • 2005 Mayro-Murdick Pinot Noir - USA, California, Napa Valley, Carneros
    Tart plum, cherry and sour cream nose; tart plum, sour cream palate; medium finish (86 pts.)
  • 2006 Mayro-Murdick Pinot Noir - USA, California, Napa Valley, Carneros
    Herbal, plum nose; concentrated plum palate; medium finish (87 pts.)

Melville

  • 2007 Melville Pinot Noir Terraces - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills - Sta. Rita Hills
    Green, green chili, green peppercorn nose; major green peppercorn, tart red fruit and tannin palate; medium finish (88 pts.)
  • 2007 Melville Pinot Noir Carrie’s - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills - Sta. Rita Hills
    Earthy red fruit, menthol nose; tart green, menthol, pine palate; medium finish 88+ pts. (88 pts.)

Merry Edwards
Merry, Ken and Ben

  • 2007 Merry Edwards Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
    Big, sous bois, tart cherry, cherry pie nose; tasty, tart cherry, mineral, complex palate; medium finish 90+ pts. (90 pts.)
  • 2006 Merry Edwards Pinot Noir Flax Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
    Tart red fruit, mineral nose; tasty, tart red fruit, mineral palate with good structure; medium finish (90 pts.)

Orsi Papale

  • 2006 Orsi Papale Pinot Noir - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
    Big cherry, cherry cider nose; cherry, vanilla palate; short finish (85 pts.)

Peay

Pey-Marin

  • 2006 Pey-Marin Pinot Noir Trois Filles - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Marin County
    Nice tart cherry, berry nose; big, solid, tart berry, bramble, mineral and graphite palate; medium-plus finish (91 pts.)

Pisoni
Jeff

  • 2007 Pisoni Pinot Noir Garys’ Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
    Medium cherry red color; sous bois, tart cherry nose; solid, deep, black cherry, iron, mineral, rosehips palate; medium finish 92+ pts. (92 pts.)
  • 2006 Pisoni Pinot Noir Estate - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
    Medium cherry red color with pale meniscus; nice roses, sous bois, tart red fruit nose; roses, tart red fruit, mineral and rosehips palate with good acidity, firm tannins; medium-plus finish (93 pts.)

Sanford

Sarah’s Vineyard

Scherrer

Tudor

  • 2005 Tudor Pinot Noir - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
    Nice red fruit, cherry nose; tart cherry, baked cherry and vanilla palate; medium finish (88 pts.)
  • 2006 Tudor Pinot Noir - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
    Tart cherry, baked cherry nose; tasty, tart cherry, baked cherry palate; medium finish 90+ pts. (90 pts.)
  • 2006 Tudor Pinot Noir Sarmento Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
    Tart cherry, brett nose; tart cherry, spicy red fruit palate; medium finish (91 pts.)
  • 2006 Tudor Pinot Noir Balo Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
    Subtle tart cherry nose; cherry, cinnamon, spicy red fruit palate; medium finish 91+ pts. (91 pts.)

Varner

Waits-Mast

Winderlea

  • 2006 Winderlea Pinot Noir Inaugural Reserve - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills
    Sour cream and baked cherry nose; tasty, creamy textured, ripe cherry, cherry pie, berry palate; medium-plus finish (92 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

2

Awesome notes.
A tour de force.
Always been fan of MacPhail.

thanks for the notes.

Scott

3

Thanks for the superb notes. I wanted to attend this event, but was not able to. I vicariously now have.

4

Richard - as always, thank you. This is fantastic for those of us that weren’t able to attend.

5

What an extremely valuable set of notes, thank you!

I’m pleased to see the kudos for Gainey, as I’ve often thought their Limited Selection wines provided consistent quality and value, and they are WAY under the radar, and perhaps perceived to be ‘too commercial’, as their non-LS wines are widely distributed. I have enjoyed nearly everything I’ve tried of theirs.

I’m also pleased to see the consistent quality of Fred’s (Scherrer) Pinots - not that it was unexpected, of course.

6

Wow! As always, very impressive and comprehensive notes. Thank you so much for sharing.
I attended Pinot Days the one and only time it was in NY and it was an amazing experience, really turned me into being a much bigger pinot fan than ever before.

7

You must have been up all night entering your notes, Richard - thanks for posting these so quickly! I didn’t get a lot of time to get out from behind from the Eno table yesterday so it’s great to see how the other wines were tasting.

8

Thank you as always Richard.

I know of Winderlea in Oregon but have yet to check them out. I’ll make sure to hit them on my next trip down.

Cheers,

9

Todd and others, thank you for the kind words. I always love this event, and try to document it as much as possible (while also tasting as much as I can).

The Gainey Limited Selection was my wine of the seminar the preceding day, at the Southern AVA 2007s seminar (notes on which are in their own thread). That was blind tasting of 15 Southern AVA bottlings from '07, which included both the Gainey non-LS and the LS.

10

I only took a few notes on some local producers - here they are.

Coterie Cellars
A new winery that’s opened up in San Jose, making Pinot Noir, Roussanne and Syrah from grapes purchased from the Russian River Valley and Santa Lucia Highlands. The owners used to be part of a group operating out of a facility in Berkeley. Very promising start; I hope to visit them soon.

2007 Fairview Road Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands $35
Smoky black cherry nose; Smooth, rich flavours of cherry, strawberry and smoke. Nice structure; dry, tannic finish 90

2007 Saralee Vineyard Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley $38
Tighter nose than the Fairview; some fresh strawberry. Earthy, with strawberry and a hint of menthol 87

2008 Fairview Road Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands (Barrel Sample)
Good cherry nose. Lots of sweet, primary black cherry fruit, some underbrush, dry tannic finish. 89+

Varner
One of my perennial favourite Chardonnay producers, and their Pinots are great too. All fruit is from the Spring Ridge vineyard in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

2007 “Hidden Block” Pinot Noir
Lovely spicy cherry nose. Rich, concentrated flavours of cherry, cranberry and sour strawberry. Oak shows on the longish finish. Very good indeed. 92

2005 Neely “Holly’s Cuvee” Pinot Noir
Hint of funk, cherry, cinnamon & sandalwood. Good acidity; balanced and fresh. Nice cherry fruit, some tannin on the finish. Showing well 91

2005 Neely “Picnic Block”
Unusual nose; I got green apple/pear. Very tart, lots of acid & tannin 84

2006 “Ampitheater Block” Chardonnay
Nose showed vanilla & pear and a slightly mature character. Rich and creamy, green apple and pear flavours. Lots of lemon & lime and acidity on the finish 88

2006 “Bee Block” Chardonnay
Fresh apples and vanilla. Creamy lemon sorbet and vanilla ice-cream. Long finish. Lovely 92

Thomas Fogarty
All fruit sourced from their estate vineyard off Skyline boulevard in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

2007 Estate Pinot Noir
Light nose of candied cherries. Sweet cherry fruit, slightly tannic. Pleasant but fairly simple 86

2007 Windy Hill Pinot Noir
Nice sweet, floral nose. Rich flavours of sweet cherry & cranberry, some chewy oak tannins, good finish. 89

2007 Rapley Trail
Earthy, smoky nose. Smooth black cherry & lime flavours. Coarse tannins on the finish 88

Sarah’s Vineyard
Good producer in the Santa Clara Valley, pouring two new single vineyard wines. The Veranda vineyard is an 80 acre vineyard in the Pajaro Valley near Corralitos; the fruit is purchased by several local producers. The Rebhahn vineyard is a 4 acre property planted in 1997 in Scotts Valley by Val Rebhahn. The fruit was used by his Glenwood Oaks label. The vineyard is now being managed by Sarah’s winemaker, Robert Henson.

2007 Estate Pinot Noir, Santa Clara Valley
Sweet cherry nose. Smooth, rich cherry and loamy flavours, nice balance & structure 90

2007 Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains
Nice nose of cherry & oak, slightly floral. Great cherry, earth & cranberry, long tannic finish. 91

2007 Veranda Vineyard Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains
Earthy - almost cheesy - nose. Nice, rich cherry and strawberry with a little spice and a medium finish 87

2007 Rebhahn Vineyard Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains
Aromas of sour cherry, herbs and smoke. Lots of tannin; flavours of dried cranberry & black cherry. Sweeter on the finish. Needs time. 89

11

Richard - thx for the valuble notes. happy to read them as i skipped a cheap Belle Glos offer a month or two back and a 07 Clos Saron case allocation just recently.

12

This is a nice under the radar producer! The 2008 was my favorite with the 07 Fairview a close second. All of them were good drinking wines for the price. Richard, great notes . . .

13

Danger, Will Robinson . . . it’s the bottles.

14

That is a wacky and impractical bottle shape. I trust that market forces will convince them to go to a more conventional shape, as Pax ultimately had to. It’s good juice though.

15

Great notes, Richard, thanks.

BTW, although perhaps a new name to many, Mahoney is actually an old timer. Francis Mahoney was the guy who founded Carneros Creek Winery. One of the best pinot producers in the late 1970’s.

16

Thank you Bennett. And of course you’re right about Carneros Creek. Mahoney and Carneros Creek were featured at my favorite Pinot Days event this year, which I just posted about here: TN: 2009 Pinot Days Seminar - Cali Pinot Legends Richard Sanford, Merry Edwards, Francis Mahoney - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; The '76 Carneros Creek Pinot that was poured at this event was my favorite wine of the whole weekend.

17

OK, I’ll add mine to Richard’s great notes (and Dave’s). First an observation that the wines (majority of which were 2007 vintage) were in general noticeably less ripe and sweet than what I remember from the previous couple of years at this event. I don’t know if it’s more the vintage (which definitely produced lower brix fruit in many places), or pulling back a bit in vineyard and winemaking choices. Either way, it was a welcome relief not to be drinking as much pancake syrup this year [wink.gif] Even with a four hour time frame, religious spitting, I was feeling pretty buzzed after a couple hours. So I quit drinking and helped Andy Peay pour wine at his table, which was swamped. So if I mixed up your pour, or made fun of your shirt or anything like that, my apologies :wink: I have no idea how Richard tasted through 3 times as many wines as I did. I personally wouldn’t trust his notes in the second half of the alphabet [tease.gif]

August West
2007 Graham - very lush and rich, without being overripe, good balance. 91
2007 Rosella’s - nice sweet, lush fruit, some spice. 90

Benovia
2007 Cohn - bit restrained, touch of smoke, lite body, good balance. 91
2007 Bella Una - nice, rich cherry fruit, good balance. 92
2007 Savoy - beautiful nose, nice, reserved cherry/strawberry fruit, good acidity. 92

Bjornstad
2007 Van der Kamp - bit lush, nice cherry/raspberry, touch of wood. 89
2007 Hellenthal - nice fairly lush cherry, bit low on acidity. 89

Clary Ranch
2006 Grower’s Reserve - Light body, decent medium cherry, good balance, seems a bit dilute. 87

Failla
2006 Peay Vineyard - beautiful dark fruit, good acid, touch of wood. 92
2007 Keefer - nice bright cherry, good balance. 91
2006 Occidental - rich medium dark cherry fruit, nice balance. 91

Kanzler Vineyards
2007 Sonoma Coast Estate - rich, slightly ripe cherry, good acidity. 88
I noted that Laube gave this a 96 in the latest advanced Spectator scores. Horses for courses, I guess. Just a little ripe for my tastes, not nearly the complexity I would want for a wine at that supposed level.

Keller Estate
2006 Estate “La Cruz” - lovely medium cherry, nice finish, just a bit low on acidity. 90
2006 Estate “El Coro” - light body, very nice light cherry, good acidity. 91
2006 Estate “Precioso” - beautiful deep medium cherry, good acidity, nice finish, some good complexity. 93

Ladd Cellars
2007 Sonoma Coast - beautiful medium dark fruit, some spice, good balance. 92
2007 Russian River - medium light cherry, good balance, touch spice. 90
2007 Cuvee Abigail - beautiful medium depth dark cherry, nice complexity, excellent balance, some orange peel, very intriguing wine. 93
2006 Moore - medium/light body, very nice bright cherry/raspberry, good balance. 90

Peay Vineyards
2007 Estate - bottling from a block of younger vines, deep, rich, vibrant, excellent balance. 92
2007 Scallop Shelf - medium/light body, great depth, bright cherry, touch of earth, excellent acidity, elegant, terrific balance. 93

Point Concepcion (Cargasacchi)
2007 Estate - beautiful lush, dark cherry, excellent balance. 92

Scherrer
2006 Sonoma County - med/light body, nice strawberry fruit, some earth, good balance. 90
2006 Russian River - nice rich, some sap/pine, good acidity. 90
2006 Big Brother (Sonoma Coast) - more depth, quite rich, good balance. 92

Small Vines
2006 Sonoma Coast - nice medium depth cherry, decent balance 90
2006 Russian River - deep, rich, touch sappy, good acid. 90

Spell
2007 Barton - rich, dark cherry, some herbs/citrus, touch of wood, moderate/medium acid, showing just a touch low acid. 90
2007 Weir - nice dark fruit, touch wood, decent acidity. 91
2008 Giudice (barrel sample, 100% Clone 23) - beautiful dark, floral/lavendar, touch spice. 92

Windy Oaks
2006 Henry’s Block - lite body, very pretty strawberry/raspberry, great acidity, some wood spice. 89
2006 Estate “Wood Tank Fermented” - light body, nice light cherry/raspberry, spice, good acidity. 90

18

Alan and Richard - great notes.

I liked the 05 Varner Pinots much less than you did Richard. I thought one of them was oxidizing and the other on its way. The 07 was pretty good though.

For fans of the 2006 Keefer “Keefer Vyd” Pinot, you should like the 07 too. Very nice.

The Scherrer wines were very good, light but still nicely fruited. Refreshing. As Alan notes, the 06 BIG BROTHER was just a notch better than the other two in terms of depth and complexity.

The 2006 Tudor “Balo Vyd”, Anderson Valley - was terrific and a good find. I hadn’t heard of them before.

2007 Sarah’s Vyd Pinot Noir “Veranda” - liked this a bit more than Richard did but his notes convey pretty well the flavor profile.

2007 Sarah’s Vyd Pinot Noir “Rebhain Vineyard” - dark profile, anise, licorice, tar but in the end I liked it a lot but just behind the Veranda to me.

Note: These wines are pretty well priced for Single Vineyard wines. Something like $35/40 instead of $55/60 which it seems a lot of people are doing these days.

MY WINE OF THE TASTING has to go to Sojourn. The 2007 Sojourn Gap’s Crown Vyd Pinot Noir was stunningly good. In fact the entire 2007 Sojourn lineup was very good but the Gaps’ Crown just rocked. I haven’t really tasted a Sojourn wine in a while and the earliest Pinots were much bigger fruited/oaked. These were a revelation. Dialed back oak, fruit is a little more restrained (but plentiful) and nice acidity/complexity. Must revisit.

Other Pinots of note: 2007 Auteur lineup is very good again. Auteur’s Manchester Ridge Vyd has a pretty significant percentage of whole cluster. I love it and think the wine has enough fruit to support the stem inclusion. Went back for seconds.

19

Oh - Alan, I was looking forward to trying Small Vines after some hype earlier in the year or last year (cant remember) and I was disappointed. I found the wines almost bordering on over the top VA…

Melville disappointed me as well.

20

My first time and a great event…will go again in the future. I did not take any serious notes and I am in total awe of Richard and the notes he produces! [winner.gif] I do have a few general comments that I will get up in the near future. Overall, I was very impressed with a majority of the wines produced in 2007…quite the shocker! [rofl.gif] The leap in quality that California pinot noir has experienced [worship.gif] over the past two decades is simply staggering. Hopefully, prices will remain relatively stable so we can continue to enjoy these wines in the future.


Tony (and Richard and Dave): Thanks for the nice comments about the Sarah’s Vineyard wines. I also enjoyed them and believe they have had a quantum leap in quality…However, I am a bit prejudiced! [stirthepothal.gif]


Cheers!
Marshall [popcorn.gif]