TN: pinot/burgundy

WINE TALK
1

Tasted blind, we only knew the grape was pinot. Served in pairs, drunk out of Riedel Sommelier Burgundy stems.

  1. 2004 J. Dann Willamette Valley Oregon Pinot, $24
    nose: milk chocolate, light cherry, light spice, touch of wood, very very light green wood
    mouth: medium body, cherry, long finish but one dimensional
    Score: B-

  2. 2006 Sineann Lachini Willamette Valley Oregon Pinot, $42
    nose: milk chocolate, chocolate cherries
    mouth: medium full body, chocolate
    Score: B-

  3. 2005 Vincent Girardin Echezeaux, $125
    nose: earth, chery, dried leaves, mint
    palate: full bodied, cherry, earth, light leaves, possibly and Eschezeaux?
    Score: B/B+

  4. 2004 Pousse d’Or Santenay, $45
    nose: light asparagus, celery salt
    palate: medium-full body, asparagus, astringent
    Score: D

  5. 2006 Kosta Browne Somona Coast Pinot, $48
    nose: milk chocolate, light minerals, light oak
    palate: full body, chocolate, light oak, touch of minerals, Kosta Browne?
    Score: B+

  6. 2005 DuMol RRV Green Valley Pinot, $60
    nose: smoke, very very light char
    palate: full body, smoke, simple, medium tannins, light chocolate
    Score: B+

  7. 2007 Luca Uco Valley Mendoza Argentina Pinot, $30
    nose: light smoky, dark fruits, light chocolate
    palate: bitter, chemically, bug spray, light cherry, S. American
    Score: F

  8. 2007 Hamilton Russell Hernel-En-Aarde Valley, South Africa, $36
    nose: bandaid
    palate: aldehydes
    Score: F

I note here I swapped out for new glasses after the last 2. I find rinsing with water really is not good in tastings due to the change in surface tension on the glass surface.

  1. 2006 Martinborough Martinborough Terrace, Martinborough New Zeland Pinot, $40
    nose: milk chocolate covered cherries, wow, great nose
    palate: medium body, tart cherry, NZ?
    Score: C+/B-

  2. 2004 Yarra Yering Yarra Valley Victoria Australia, $40
    nose: chocolate, light green stem, light celery, light smoke
    palate: medium body, light green stem
    Score: C+

  3. 2003 Ca’ del Bosco Pinero Lombardy Italy Pinot, $80
    nose: very light chocolate, very light earth
    palate: medium light body, lightly corked
    Score: flawed bottle

  4. 2003 Seasmoke Southing Santa Rita Hills Pinot, $46
    nose: light leaves
    palate: medium body, earthy chocolate, Seasmoke?
    Score: B

Commentary:
A very diverse set of wines. I’ve never had pinot from Australia, or South Africa. I was quite pleased in that I guessed 5 of them by region (Echezeaux, Kosta Browne, Luca, Martinborough, Seasmoke).

The dried leaves in the Echezeaux troubles me a bit as I own a case of this wine. I’m not a fan of dried leaves or herbal in my wines and I’m only hoping it is a passing stage as it is very young and at 4-5 years of age may be closing down??? The mint everyone got, some said eucalyptus, and it led us down towards Oz or US but the oak treatment, to me, clearly put it in France and with the full body had to be GC.

I’ve never been a huge fan of Oregon pinots, thinking, generally, the climate is too cool for my palate. The B- scores reaffirm that I should not be buying them in any quantity. NZ, ditto.

The Pousse d’Or was canned by most people. I’m thinking a flawed bottle although none of us determined the exact flaw. Asparagus and astringent cannot be what the winemaker was looking for. But I could be wrong as I drink so few Santenays.

S. America is below the NZ and Oregon pinots in my mind and this tasting confirmed that. I woudl say it was flawed but I get a LOT of chemically wines from S. America with smoky components so I’m thinking they just aren’t there yet.

S. Africa was new to me, and I cannot make heads or tails out of it other than I’m praying that bottle was flawed.

Is the Seasmoke doing what it should? The light leaves bothers me a bit, so I’ll need to open one from my cellar and follow it for an hour to see if this was bottle variation or if these are “going leafy” on me.

2

I like the theme. Did you find the order was so random that comparin wines side by side difficult? I only say this because I often miss a more elegant wine when drinking amongst higher alcohol, more powerful bretheren.

3

Not quite a bummer Philip in that I got to try a few wines I never would. And got to try some wines that I own but didn’t need to open my own bottles. Did I want more higher scoring wines, you bet. But did it give me a feeling for what not to buy, and when to open some of my wines. Yes. Worth the $45 admission fee.

On the pairings, it wasn’t totally impossible. The Oregons were paired, ditto France and Calif. Argentina and S. Africa make a decent pairing, both trying to be up and coming regions. NZ and Oz, probably because they are “neighbors” but I didn’t ask the host if that was his reasoning. Italy vs. Calif is really the only “weird” pairing. Since the Italian was corked, I didn’t need to compare.

For anyone who runs into “pairing conflicts”, and it does happen, I tend to just have some plain white bread in-between the 2 glasses. TAking my time sniffing and taking notes. It isn’t perfect but that delay, with the bread palate cleanser does help. Doing 4 tastings a month also helps I think. YMMV. 12 tastes over 2.5 hours allows plenty of time to reset your palate as necessary.

4

Hey Jeff,
I’m not sure the 04 Pousse D’Or was necessarily flawed. Almost to the last bottle, all of the 2004 red burgs I’ve have drank have had a really nasty green streak that is similar to your note. The only wines I’ve had that weren’t nearly as bad have been the Fourrier wines. It’s so bad that I pretty much avoid all 2004’s. The whites are better, but the reds are tough. Anyone else echo the sentiment?

5

The 04 whites I’ve had so far have been rocking. You know Burgundy far better than I do, and I haven’t had any 04 Fourrier, but from my very crude / small sample size I am hazarding to guess that the “riper” producers did better in 04 than those who picked earlier.

6

BTW Jeff, The 06 Bouchard Clos des Chenes is losing the oak and picking up some really sexy spice elements, definitely improving and starting to shine. However the 06 d’Angerville 1er is on fire and it’s not a fair comparison. Both have picked up a lot of weight, and the d’Angerville just keeps getting more and more aromatic.

Now back to housecleaning.

7

And Jeff, does sound like an interesting, if not necessarily hedonistic, tasting… I’d be bummed though if I brought the Girardin and some jackholes brought Pinot from S Africa and S America [diablo.gif]

8

In this group one person provides the theme, all the wines, and the bread/cheese. We then divide the actual cost by the number of people. So one person has full control and we rotate monthly. There is thus no “risk” of someone bringing the Echezeaux and another bringing the S. African.

9

I was mildly poking fun at your and Chris’s exchange in the other thread :slight_smile: Interesting tasting though I think one could (somewhat) predict the results hehehe…