TN: Wed Night Wines - Mostly Blind Pinots

WINE TALK
1

BBer Greg Malcolm was in town last evening so a small group assembled in the rural Bucks County woods for some BBQ and beverages (Pinots served blind).

2005 Mas Cal Demoura L’Etincelle VdP L’Herault, Languedoc, France
Hosting allowed me only a few glimpses of this eclectic light colored but “orange-ish” flavor profiled wine. A slightly oxidative style, controlled ripeness with floral notes and plenty of lanolin edged apricot fruit. Dry with good acidity. Nice rich finish. Pretty sure this is an eclectic field blend of several southern France white varieties.

2006 John Thomas Pinot Noir, Oregon
Started out with some very light oak that transitioned to a more woody whole-cluster character. Very earthy with smokey whisps combined with excellent balance and wonderful integrated red fruit intensity. Bright acidity escorts the fruit through the midpalate. Satisfying long finish with plush tannins. No adverse ripe 06 vintage characteristics. It took the group on a bit of a roller-coaster ride as the evening progressed. The expressive nose would open and shut at random. The earthy rich fruit would tighten up and release fairly unpredictably. The overall trend seemed to be a sinusoidal shutting down. This was a Pinot version of "American Graffiti"with Richard Dreyfus’s white corvette driving dream babe, drifting in and out of vision.

2005 Varner Hidden Block Pinot Noir, California
Higher toned than the Thomas the ripe red fruit had more of an elegant strawberry character with plenty of glycerin-ed texture. A wonderful fruit driven and feminine midpalate. Good acidity, intensity, and length. Yielding tannins. A bit more complexity would’ve sent this off the charts. I was quite impressed by the control and subtle style here. Picked it blind as northern Cali. Need to buy more Varner!

2008 Cartagena Pinot Noir, Chile
Easy going and red fruit-dominated in style. Nice acidity. Soft and smooth. It lacked the interest of the previous wines but was soundly made. Decent finish. A very respectable QPR pinot for < $25. No mistaking it as anything but new world, despite my incorrect guess of CA.

2002 Le Cadeau Pinot Noir, Oregon
The nose initially struck me as Oregonian with some sous bois and earth. Served colder than desirable, an integrated red fruit profile emerged as the wine warmed. Good acidity and overall structure. Easy tannins and decent length. The fruit profiled seemed to dominate over time and unfortunately, traces of heat intensified as it neared room temperature. The fading earth had me guessing riper styled Cali Pinot. Listed at 14.1% abv, the alcohol was just too obvious for my preference.

2000 Witness Tree Vintage Select Pinot Noir, Oregon
Soft and very elegant presenting an engaging package of red fruit, good acidity, fine midpalate intensity, and a smooth long finish. I noticed an initial aromas of soft oak which faded. Pleasing minerality and a captivating suave charm. I was surprised not to pick up more earthy mushroom OR character. Balanced and properly proportioned. One of the best Witness Tree Pinots I’ve ever tasted…which I normally equate with being darker fruited, slightly riper and a bit more robust.

2004 Bruno Clavelier Chambolle-Musigny Combe d’Orveaux, 1er Cru, Burgundy
Evidence is mounting that I’m fairly immune to the whole green issue…or just picking the right bottles. No overt flaws here. Spice, minerals and sous bois and perhaps the faintest hints of pine forest if you were really stretching. Wonderful fruit integration and black cherry leanings promoted by excellent acidity and structural balance. This wants to be elegant but is still too youthfully tomboy-ish to qualify as the belle of the ball. An enticing midpalate and fine length. I’m fully expecting this to become a gorgeous beauty in several years. (FWIW, had an 04 R. Chevillon NSG Roncieres 1er a few days ago and no green issues there either).

2003 Jean-Claude Belland Corton Greves, Grand Cru, Burgundy
Big burly and brutish compared to the previous wines. 03 is certainly the Cali Burg vintage. Good acidity, ripe black cherry and light sous bois with linear fruit intensity and a rough tannic finish. Despite double decanting and 4 hours of passive aeration, this needs 5 - 10 years minimum. Jumbled rather than shut down. No excessive heat. There’s potential but it’s way too early to call.

2002 Seghesio Zinfandel Port
Nearly frozen…which really helped to keep the alcohol in check. Very good match with the rich flowerless chocolate cake. I was delighted to find enough acidic cut to balance the rich sweetness of the dessert. Ripe Blackberry with some prune notes. Plenty of particulates…but nothing too crunchy. Not really my style of wine these days, but this was the right place and time for it.

Nice way to spend a Wed evening.

RT

2

Hey, how come I wasn’t invited [stirthepothal.gif] !

3

Richard,

Great notes, from a very enjoyable evening.

The initial nose on the Thomas was just flat out kickin’. This is on an encouraging trajectory and it will be interesting to track as it continues to develop and settle down. An intriguing random fist paring with the Varner. As you mention, two very different wines, but both very good.

Of the wines that I had previously tasted, the ‘02 Le Cadeau was the biggest surprise. A nice wine, I did not detect any heat, but it definately showed riper than I expected. The Bruno Clavelier was intriguing. Definately no green meanies here. If there had been, I think the acidity would have scared them away! Lip smackin’ good and one to watch.

All-in a great night of good food, wine and company. Many thanks to you and Joanne for hosting.

4

Our pleasure Greg. The Thomas, Varner, Witness Tree, and Clavelier were all lovely and showed the finer qualities of the grape across a nice wide spectrum of styles/terroir. Last night I followed up with the Chilean Pinot and the Corton. The Cartagena became more linear and internationally generic. The Corton fruit developed some ripe “on the edge of raisin” characteristics with faint traces of heat. My remaining 2 bottles of Corton will become an aging experiment.

Looking forward to next time, perhaps accompanied by a dose of the Bobster. [shock.gif]

RT

5

Nice stuff. Thanks for the write up. I like the Varners (check out the chards if you haven’t) especially at their price point. Glad the Clavelier showed well. I am going to dig out some 04s for another visit here in the next few months. I haven’t drank a alot but for the most part I seem to be more immune to the meanies.

Jason