WINDY OAKS OPEN HOUSE - Windy Oaks Winery (5/3/2009)
A quick tasting of some of the current offerings from Windy Oaks during their wine club open house. I’ve got bottles of each of the wines tasted so I will be able to revisit each one in the future to get a better impression and properly score the wine based on an evening with the entire bottle, rather then a small tasting pour.
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2007 Windy Oaks Estate Chardonnay One Acre Schultze Family Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
This was just recently bottled and at the moment, it is showing a lot of oak on the nose. Has good palate presence and the oak is not super heavy but does need some time to integrate. I’ve got a few of these to lay down for a while and hopefully they will catch up to the 06s, which are awesome. I have no doubt it will come together nicely but it might take a little while. 13.9% abv -
2006 Windy Oaks Estate Pinot Noir Diane’s Block Klein Family Mountain Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
More fruit forward then the other offerings. Very tasty and an easy crowd pleaser. A lot of people were going back for seconds of this wine. There is a strong malolactic fermentation influence on the finish and the oak is prominent, but not dominant. -
2007 Windy Oaks Estate Pinot Noir Terra Narro - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
A new, low priced, offering by Windy Oaks. This is fairly simple and straight forward but still has nice fruit, good acidity and a surprisingly long finish. At $23, this is a great value and represents the winery’s lineup quite well at this entry level price point. 13.9% abv. -
2007 Windy Oaks Estate Pinot Noir Estate Cuvée Schultze Family Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
For me, this was the surprise of the lineup. Excellent from start to finish with wonderful red fruit and not too heavy on the oak. Mouthcoatingly smooth texture. Delicious and drinking great right now. These are the ones to enjoy while you age your reserves. 13.9% abv -
2006 Windy Oaks Estate Pinot Noir Wood Tank Fermented Schultze Family Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
I had a brief taste of this last fall and didn’t care much for it as it was a little over the top “woodsy” for my tastes but in the last 7 or 8 months it has changed a lot and really rounded out nicely. The oak has integrated quite well in that short time frame and the fruit and earth elements are showing much better now. Reminds me of the Reserve.
Posted from CellarTracker