TNs: Some Blind Pinots - Testarossa, Peay, Pali, Evening Land, Cameron

WINE TALK
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Another in a series of blind Pinot evenings at the Christie’s:

2007 Testarossa Palazzio Pinot Noir Central Coast, California
Baking spice with lightly toasted oak giving off hints of fresh baked bread. Ripe yet soft and quite smooth with a simple but clean strawberry dominated attack. A suggestion of loamy topsoil. Fair midpalate with decent acidity and gentle tannins. At cellar temp there was no evidence, but as it warmed there were slight prickles of heat. Scott blind guessed 06 Oregon… Nice wine.

2006 Peay Scallop Shelf Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast, California
Cinnamon and baking spice with some light but apparent vanilla/oak. Red fruited featuring sour cherries. Fair acidity which improved nicely with a little air time (decanted). The midweight but substantial midpalate is followed by firmly massaging tannins. Young and perhaps a bit angular at this stage with more oak than I’d prefer. Based on its showing over the evening, I’d expect it all to integrate very nicely but best not to touch for at least 2 - 3 more years. Served blind to me and surprisingly…nailed.

2007 Evening Land Seven Springs Estate Pinot Noir, Oregon
Considering the manner that 7-Springs changed hands, I was conflicted about buying this. The retailer made a fine offer and I was curious enough to bite. Lots of smoky meats to start, with a bit of baking spice. The red fruit takes a darker black cherry direction with a light earthy component that’s beautifully integrated. The harmonious acidity helps amp up the flavor intensity that extends smoothly through the middle in to a long pleasing finish. The midpalate is excellent. Lovely balance. I want to hate these people…but this is a darn fine wine for $35 - $40. Burgundian to the extent that Scott guessed Gevrey 1er Lavaux.

2006 Pali Inman Olivet Grange Pinot Noir, RRV, California
Light oak to start with a light red fruited profile featuring red cherries. The wine remains feminine and accessible. The lightest body Pinot on the table. I’d prefer more acidity but there was certainly enough to keep the wine in balance. The middle and finish are smooth and enjoyable. A bit of annoying oak reappears on the back end…a little goes a long way with this style of lighter weight Pinot. Served blind to me and even more surprisingly…nailed.

2006 Cameron Abbey Ridge Pinot Noir, Oregon
This wine was the chameleon of the evening. Wait a few minutes and it’d change. Opened and slow ox-ed all day, the reduction still lingered 10 hours later with some light hints of coffee oak. Somehow there’s a citrusy almost grapefruit-like element that mysteriously morphs in to mineral flecked cherries…don’t ask me how! Ripe with good acidity throughout. The middle was a crap shoot ranging from awkward to yumm. The disjointed transition to the finish seemed to smooth out as the wine aired. For the last sips of a glass babied for 10+ minutes, the overall impression was lovely. Much smoother and enjoyable younger, it’s now a gawky pubescent kid. Probably should’ve been double decanted that morning. Hopefully this awkward period will depart over the next few years. Scott nailed it as a 2006 Cameron.

2005 Pax Cellars Syrah California
A wine that was hanging out in Scott’s fridge for several weeks as an experiment. There were things to like about it but this kind of abrupt transition from nuanced Pinots to a big Cali Syrah…is not recommended. Nice wine for what it is…and any other judgements would be out of context.

Scott also served an interesting but slightly obscure 02 Cali Cab which had an interesting leaner style with loads of mineral salinity. Very intriguing although slightly tired after being open a couple of days…hard to place as a typical Cali Cab.

With respect to blind guesses, perhaps Scott is getting a little predictable. Narrowing in on preferred Pinot producers can do that. He’s served me earlier vintages of both the Pali and Peay…and I’ve served him a good handful of Camerons.

RT

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Not a lot of talk, but it’s all positive, regarding that Peay Scallop.
Need to try that one.
Agree with you on the Inman.
Thanks for the notes Richard.

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Nice notes, Richard. What a lot of fun to do the blind tasting … great job. And the Peay Scallop Shelf totally rocks. A marvelous wine in 2006.

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The Pax was the 2005 Kobler Family and the obscure cab was the 2002 Vincent Arroyo Cabernet Sauvignon. I swear there must be a smidge of Petite Sirah in every wine Vincent makes…it never had real cab typicity, even before it entered the tired stage of yesterday evening…more floral characteristics.

Rich’s summary of the Pinots is spot-on. The Evening Land was very eye-opening…and it was an especially good idea to serve this one blind, as the firestorm of controversy could certainly cloud one’s palate with this wine. It was pretty incredible, especially given its youth. After the Evening Land, the Peay and Cameron were vying for second place, continually swapping positions as they morphed in their respective glasses…call it a tie. I’m anxious to revisit the remaining Cameron to see where it goes. The Pali was a close third (nicely balanced with the other red-fruited Olivet Vineyard hallmarks in evidence; I got the oak but I’m not quite the oak-a-phobe that Rich is), and the Testarossa a more distant fourth (skirted the edge of “hot,” …and ultimately fell off that edge for me).

Rich’s blind guesses left me speechless…2 for 2, down to the producer, vineyard, and in the case of the Peay the vintage too. Some luck is involved in this certainly, and as he mentioned I’m going to have to shuffle my “usual suspects” to keep him off guard…but it was nonetheless extremely impressive to witness. [worship.gif]

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Resampled the 3 Californians last evening.

The 06 Peay Scallop was a little shutdown and seemed somewhat tired. It was pretty beat up from the splash decanting followed by an evening on the table, double decanted back to the bottle for the ride home, a night in the fridge and then driven 20 miles to another dinner…all a bit rough on it. The texture improved with the tannins softening.

The 06 Pali Inman Olivet was disappointing. The oak upgraded from annoying to irritating.

The 07 Testarossa Palazzio was the surprise. It pulled itself together, reined in the heat (not quite 100%) and showed all the fruit with decent balance. Only one of the 3 bottles to be polished off last evening.

I’m a Peay advocate, but at $50+, there are definitely other Pinots with better track records (Burgs and New World). It didn’t quite excite me as much as the 05. Very curious to see how it comes together in a couple of years.

RT

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Thanks for the updates, Richard.
Useful info.

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Maybe i’m out of date, but aren’t all the Pali’s made by Brian Loring?

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Where was the nebbiolo? [wink.gif]

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Probably betraying my inherent “wine prejudices” with this post, but if we get together one of these days, I’d appreciate it if you save one of those Evening Land’s for me to try. I often hear guys discuss certain Cali and Oregon pinots as “Burgundian”, and whenever I try one of these wines my usual reaction is that these folks musn’t be drinking much Burgundy.

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Deal…as long as you bring some Nebbiolo and don’t mind venturing out to the boondocks. [cheers.gif]

…and don’t be surprised if you encounter it in a flight of wrapped bottles.

RT