TN: 2010 Clos Saron Home Vineyard Pinot Noir

[Berry_Crawford]

@D. Zylberberg

@Berry Crawford

Ive gone through 4 of the 2009s and every bottle Ive had is pristine. I think there must be a good batch and an infected batch.

The other problem is that folks sensitivity to flaws varies widely. It sort of helps to know your own “flaw” profile - I’m hypersensitive to VA, more sensitive than most to brett, less sensitive than most when it comes to TCA, and very insensitive to reduction.
A wine that may seem pristine to Person A may be undrinkably volatile or bretty to Person B.

I believe I am physiologically sensitive to both brett and VA. I am confident that these wines were clean. I don’t doubt though that your wines had issues though. There is clearly some bottle/batch variation.

[Gideon]

@D. Zylberberg

@Berry Crawford

Ive gone through 4 of the 2009s and every bottle Ive had is pristine. I think there must be a good batch and an infected batch.

The other problem is that folks sensitivity to flaws varies widely. It sort of helps to know your own “flaw” profile - I’m hypersensitive to VA, more sensitive than most to brett, less sensitive than most when it comes to TCA, and very insensitive to reduction.
A wine that may seem pristine to Person A may be undrinkably volatile or bretty to Person B.

A very good point and a good advise to whoever wants to understand wine better is to learn what your own sensitivities are - not only in relation to ‘flaws’, but also basic stuff like acidity, astringency, bitterness, sweetness, texture, and weight. And so forth…

My own preferences are very much rooted in my own level of sensitivity to these various elements: my high threshold level to acidity and bitterness are at the base of my preferences of high acidity wines with at least a hint of noticeable bitterness.

[Gideon]

Thank you. As I was reading this thread, I was going to ask what to do with the few 2009 Home Vineyard pinots that I purchased but haven’t tried yet (deterred by a slew of bad notes about the wine on WB and CT). I’ll let them sit in storage a few more years and try one – if it’s not in a good place today, why waste one.

I’m looking forward to visiting next time I have a chance, I’d really like to try all the wines and to meet Gideon.

Ive gone through 4 of the 2009s and every bottle Ive had is pristine. I think there must be a good batch and an infected batch.

The thing is - there are no ‘separate batches’ of this wine - it was all bottled in one go, from the same container. To my thinking, the most likely explanation of these specific bottle variation is made of a few points: one is that bottles tasted at different times may simply be different since the wine has since acquired some characteristic it did not have before. Another, is the transportation and storage issue, which may be especially relevant in the case of a relatively delicate wine made with no SO2. Third is the possible involvement of microbiological activity in causing these characteristics - since the wine was not filtered, different bottles may easily contain significantly different microbial populations.

[Berry_Crawford]

@Gideon

Thank you. As I was reading this thread, I was going to ask what to do with the few 2009 Home Vineyard pinots that I purchased but haven’t tried yet (deterred by a slew of bad notes about the wine on WB and CT). I’ll let them sit in storage a few more years and try one – if it’s not in a good place today, why waste one.

I’m looking forward to visiting next time I have a chance, I’d really like to try all the wines and to meet Gideon.

Ive gone through 4 of the 2009s and every bottle Ive had is pristine. I think there must be a good batch and an infected batch.

The thing is - there are no ‘separate batches’ of this wine - it was all bottled in one go, from the same container

Maybe just random luck on my part then.

[Paul_Jaouen]

@Paul Jaouen

I’ve been buying since I think 2005 and have yet to come across a flawed bottle. I think the oldest I still have is 2006. I’ll pop a bottle next week to see how it is doing.

Well, it took a little longer than I thought to get around to trying the 2006. Definitely worth cellaring this. Probably the best bottle of Clos Saron I’ve had. If you had this blind, you would guess Burgundy.