Single blind tasting of Mid to High-end domestic Pinots ($50 and up). The person that brought WOTN got their dinner paid for (and more important, bragging rights!). The Marcassin was thrown in to see if an expensive 99 RP wine would stand out. Well, I guess it did, but not the way we thought it would.
2007 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Russian River Valley- USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
Decanted 3 hours. Blackberry kirsch on nose. Big and bouncy, bordering on Pamela Anderson-style, but the balance is just so perfect. Very RussianRiverVallyesque. WOTN out of 8 mid-priced pinots in blind tasting. (94 pts.)
2005 Domaine Serene Pinot Noir Jerusalem Hill Willamette Valley- USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
Decanted 3 hours. Black cherry nose, and dark fruits on attack. Very low acidity. Hot alcohol on finish. Tied for last place at blind tasting of 8 mid-priced pinots. (91 pts.)
2003 Marcassin Pinot Noir Marcassin Vineyard- USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Decanted 3 hours. Dark red fruits on nose. Red cherry, light-to-medium finish. Very light acidity. Boring. I wonder if we would have liked it more if we knew what we were drinking. Came in last place in single-blind tasting of much cheaper pinots. Not a flawed bottle, but an unpleasant herbal quality appeared after an hour in the glass. (90 pts.)
2006 Aston Estate Pinot Noir Clone 777- USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Cloudy and dark, with a little good-stink on nose. Sweet med-dark fruits, slight carmel on finish. Nice balance, no hotness or alcohol on finish. Beautifully made. #2 out of 8 mid-priced pinots in blind tasting. (93 pts.)
2006 Beaux Frères Pinot Noir The Upper Terrace Beaux Frères Vineyard- USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge
Decanted 3 hours, but still closed on the nose. Light cherry finish followed by a hot biting finish. Alcohol not integrated at all. These BF wines seem to always show poorly at single blind tastings. (90 pts.)
1999 Arcadian Pinot Noir Garys’ Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
Burgundian nose with a little truffle and earth floor. Beautiful dusty rose on top of light plum fruit, reminiscent of a mid-range Vosne Romanee. Aging fast and after an hour Elvis had left the building. But for an hour, really beautiful. Too bad 1999 is considered old for most domestic pinots … it takes Burgundies 30 years to become so ephemeral. (93 pts.)
2004 Dehlinger Pinot Noir Reserve- USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
Perfumed, flowery nose. Brite acidity that pops, but the dark cherry fruit is too candied for my taste. (90 pts.)
2001 Kistler Pinot Noir Kistler Vineyard- USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Nose is pretty closed. Nice high-pedigree dark fruit, but low acidity makes it a wine that seems to be past it’s prime. Flabby and losing the fruit after just an hour. (91 pts.)
Lisa Redwine and her staff at The Shores did a fabulous job with the service. For anyone looking for restaurants in SD … this is a great place for wine dinners. Lisa is one test away from being the first female MS in San Diego, so you can be sure your wines will be handled correctly! Posted from CellarTracker
Good Notes. May we assume that all the wines were decanted for 3 hours before tasting? The notes are not specific on this. If not, that could create a bias with the tastings.
The 06 KB we drank two weeks ago was so hot on the back end and so cough syrapy that we could not get past it, absolutely horrid. I guess I’m just not a big fan of this style of Pinot having had several now and not one making me stand up and take notice.
I opted to omit that statement. Declaring a KB the WOTN represents a very stylistic statement. Personal taste are personal taste no complaints there. It was good that he put it first so that we understood from the outset what his personal tastes are and how he and the group judges wine.
Don’t know if I’ve ever given a KB a 90+ rating, but I realize that is personal taste also. A cherry coke with an extra dollup of cherry syrup, with alcohol mixed in, describes most KBs to me.
Each attendee decided whether they wanted the wine decanted 3 hours before or not (actually, it was double decanted). The only decanted wines were the ones noted. I agree about Kosta Browne sometimes being too over the top, but the '07 is not what I would call a “Zinfandel Drinkers Pinot” (think Sea Smoke or SQN). It really reminded me of a Rochioli, which is my favorite expression of RRV.
Thanks for the note. I find it strange that the person bringing the Domaine Serene did not decant it. This wines needs about 5 more years in bottle, but short that, at least a 3 hour decant. If one goes to the link you provided on CT, all other the other notes validates this comment. No wonder the D.S.Jerasulem Hill showed so poorly!
Robin did a great job of coordinating everything for this tasting.
As for the controversy re the KB, I really tried to figure out which wine it was, and then not vote for it
However, it was not an over the top fruit bomb, and I actually thought it was the Dehlinger. I have been to several tastings where a KB won, and quite often there are Burgundy snobs in attendance who quite enjoy it.
Anyway, the KB and the Aston were clearly the two favorite wines–both brought by Bruce and Karen.
Oh, and the Marcassin was really just unimpressive on any level. I had an '02 the weekend before, and for some reason it showed a lot better.
Actually, the DS was decanted. Thanks … I’ll fix that note. Steve is right-on that we supposedly “Burgundian” types tried really hard not to like the KB, but hey, that’s why it was single-blind. I thought it was the Marcassin. I’ve had earlier vintages and they were anathema to me. Maybe KB is pulling back a bit?
Great info! I have a friend that recently offered me his entire 07 allotment of KB. He bought everything offered to stay on the list, but needs the money badly right now. I will have to see if he has any of this pinot still left and get a bottle or two from him. I must always try to be open minded on these issues.
Is Marcassin still a $350 wine? I remember when I first got into wine I would read Marcassin-worship in Wine Spectator all the time. But in all the time I’ve been reading the wine boards I don’t think I can recall posts from anybody all that wild about it. Are there still people driving the price of this thing up to $350 (and actually buying at that price)?
A friend found the 2004 version of this wine (a better vintage–2003 is a pretty weak PN vintage for the North Coast IMO) at a restaurant in The OC for $240 (which he loved and he is a long term Kistler list member). Dont know the restaurant though.
As a Zin lover for 30 years I resent that remark! A duel at 30 paces! You bring some tacky overblown CA Pinot and I’ll gun you down with a 2001 Geezer!
(Though I guess with the thread title we should reenter the Cage. Maybe I’ll bring a Potelle VGS since it has that impossibly long neck. I could really beat the crap outa you with that one.)
2001 Kistler Pinot Noir Kistler Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Nose is pretty closed. Dark fruit, but low acidity makes it a wine that seems to be past it’s prime. Flabby and losing the fruit. (91 pts.)
Okay. I’ll bite. “This wine sucks - 91 points.”
Really?
91? Not that points really matter (seriously) but if you’re going to throw this up there with the rest of your notes wouldn’t pulling it back, significantly, make more sense?
As an intellectual exercise do you think you’d have laid 91 points on this wine if you didn’t know who made it?
Robin, thanks for the notes. We share an enjoyment of blind Pinot tastings. I’m in the process of adopting a more buddhistic wine philosophy and your post helps me pursue “acceptance” of our appreciable differences related to Pinot style preferences, WOTN rules, QPR, rating/descriptions, flaws, etc. Different strokes as they say. $350 for the Marcassin…OUCH. Glad you enjoyed the evening.
Yeah, that’s the mid-low Winesearcher price for that wine. I was surprised too. Probably has more to do with the 99 RP points than the Marcassin name. Which also answers to that '03 comment. I’m not fond of that vintage, either, but Mr Parker seemed to like it just fine.
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