Most of my wine has been in storage and inaccessible for the past three months. Just got it back yesterday and this is the first bottle I opened. I’ve posted several times about Six Cloves, a Berserker Day discovery, because it has quickly become one of my favorite new producers. The winemaker, Sonoe, kindly this bottle along with my most recent BD purchase. 2018 was the first Six Cloves vintage- and what an inaugural effort! When she sent it, she warned to “please drink it soon”. This is delicious now, but really, shows no signs of falling off anytime soon. My TN:
Six years old and this wine looks young- translucent ruby without any bricking. Very aromatic and perfumed right out of the bottle- raspberries, red and black cherries, along with some developed aromas of leaves, forest, oiled leather. There’s an interesting menthol-like smell in the background as well that gives the nose a cool shady character that I really like.
It is so light in the mouth, medium in acid, gentle fine tannins. The flavors are mostly primary- lots of lovely fresh red fruits. The earthiness is there as well, but I find that it is more in the background than on the nose. The finish is decently long and very pleasing.
I love the balance of this wine. To my palate, the fruit flavors lean more New World in profile, but the gentle extract, low alcohol, general restraint, is much more of a traditional approach. I’ve found that some of my favorite wines are from the New World made with a traditional Old World sensibility. Lovely stuff.
Light garnet color. Pine needles, and a melange of spices. Clove, nutmeg and cinnamon play off the cherry and persimmon fruit. But wait, it gets better... light handed red cherry, cranberry and a hint of strawberry is woven into a luxuriously delicate palate. I think my first words were, "Wow, this is incredible!" Exquisite balance on display and it's seamless in its transition from the start to the crunchy tart finish framed by pillowy soft tannins. This is a fantastic bottle of Pinot Noir IMO.
Thanks for the post @Noah_C !! I am glad my 2018 Pinot was still drinking well
This is the first Pinot Noir that I made under Six Cloves!! My palate was developed by drinking a lot of wines from Europe when I was in NY years ago, and it remains the same. Many winemakers look up to that. I am going to release the 2023 wines soon, and they are definitely my favorite old world style, thanks to a cool growing season. I can’t wait to share these beautiful wines with the Berserkers this fall!
@Brian_Tuite, I wasn’t sure how these wines were going to turn out back then, but you have a great sense of predicting the outcome and evaluating the wines that producers can’t even discern! I always make my wines with the aim of bringing joy to curious wine enthusiasts, rather than seeking recognition from professional reviewers. But it was such a wonderful surprise to receive 94 points from Wine Enthusiast for this wine and the Chardonnay from Alder Springs
