I’m kind of surprised by this and expect to be fully skewered for it, but we tasted there in October and quite liked everything we tasted. Although the Sandhi CH were my favorites, I really liked the blooms field pinot.
So, maybe I wanted it to be good… but my wife, who is obsessively against knowledge of wineries, etc. thought these were the best pinots of our SBC trip. And both of our tastes generally jive with those of you who have made really negative comments about the wines. So call me confused.
But I’d give you TWO slices of pizza for that bottle, OP!
Thank you for explaining this more eloquently than I could. Not much to add, but I fully agree with you. I want to like them, but every time I try one I end up finishing the night with a cocktail and more than half the bottle remaining. They never seem to budge on day 2-4 either.
Jim, I picked up a couple bottles of your 2017 Mysterious over Thanksgiving. I’ve not had this bottle before…CT has a drinking window of 2019-2029, but what would you say about an optimal time to try one?
I had the 14 domaine de la cote SRH and liked it. Found it to be fruit-forward for sure but did see some earthiness too. High acidity. If I had a critique it would be that component was a little too high and I think of myself as somebody that likes the acid.
The comments here are so darned interesting to read. Yes, it’s possible for one person to dislike a certain wine and go ‘against the grain’ in doing so - and it’s inevitable that others will have differing opinions.
Raj and Sashi make some distinctive wines, and some will appeal to certain folks more than others. And of course, there’s always the caveat that there are only great bottles, not great wines, and that bottle variation will lead to different opinions about the same bottling.
For those who have enjoyed these wines in the past, I certainly wouldn’t let Mike’s not sway you in another direction, or any of the other comments. Yep, in general, these wines will appeal to the AFWE crowd, but not obviously each of the wines. And that’s a ‘funny’ thing about wines and winemakers - we often get ‘pigeon-holed’ into making a ‘certain style’ of wine - and yet often go outside that box.
To me, each wine needs to be evaluated as an individual wine - NOT in the context that it ‘should’ offer certain characteristics based on ‘expected’ styles, etc. Sure, you can point to terror and ‘the past’, but it certainly is possible to use the same methodology each and every year and end up with different expressions each and every year . . .
The reason it’s called that is because of NDA that is built into the fruit purchase agreement. Weird, yes I know but it is what it is and we honor it to keep getting the fruit. It’s 30 year old tightly spaced vines farmed perfectly. It’s one of the top vineyards in the state. That wine should cruise through a couple decades would be my guess.
I hear you - those are some strong words coming out of you, my friend! I have not had enough to come to any conclusion - guess I better get my hands on more of them.
Fair points. But wines and producers and sites have track records and I depend on heuristics like that to inform my purchasing, pairing, and drinking decisions. I don’t have the time nor money to make an individual determination for each wine. A producer who does something drastically different every year or is inconsistent is not one I will ever be interested in buying for my cellar. The great names are great because they have consistently produced great wines. I suppose that’s pigeonholing as “great”.
But back to the topic at hand, I would not put the Domaine de la Cote wines in that category.
I am not a big fan of Parr and all of his BS. But I have had quite a few of the wines. And found many of them to be good - very good with a few great. I would have been perfectly happy hating all of the wines. Prices were not great, but this is Chard/PN from Cali so …