WEEK 1--WB Virtual Tasting For Charity--Pinot Noir, Benefiting Laura's House

WINE TALK
41

Beautiful nose of raspberry and black cherry with an underlying hint of new leather and black tea.

Taste is flooded early with Plum, Cherries and other savory red fruits. It carries a strong balance through the finish with an interesting tango of oak, new earth and sweetness that leaves me wanting more.

The second glass developed a much deeper level of complexity after an hour of decanting. Richer, darker fruits come through after the wine opens up

42

Welcome to the party, John. But, uh… what are ya’ drinking? :wink:

43

Kyle, come on, this is a blind note. You gotta guess the specs. John, what do we win if we guess?

44
  • 2001 Domaine Michel Gaunoux Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard 1er Cru (11/24/2015)
    I poured this into a decanter about 6 hours ahead of time. On first opening, the wine reveals very little. Even at 6-8 hours, this is still gradually crawling out of its hibernation.

As to expected from this producer, this is a lean, stern, old-style Burgundy, and it probably would be better 10+ years from now. But with time and air, it does reveal many charms, though they are subtle and demand some attention. There is a cool, tart red cherry fruit, pine and sage, and some really rocky mineral to a long finish with high acids. This was pretty clean - I might have hoped for a little bit of funk and earth, but this bottle goes to the cool pine forest creek side of the spectrum.

I left one glass for when we returned late from dinner, and it had opened more to show some more sweetness to the red fruit. I think this wine could work now with a very long decant, but clearly the better play is to put it in the back of the cellar for the distant future.

Posted from CellarTracker

Photo in separate post below.

45

image.jpg
Damn software and the sideways photos. Oh well.

46

2009 Domaine Newman Monthelie. Pop and pour. Nose shows wonderful mineral components–more rocky than loamy. A bit of spice. A bit of cherry. But the mineral dominates. Fruit comes forward more on the palate. Well balanced. Good structure. And glorious acidity. It’s just starting to develop some complexity, and I think it has a decent future ahead. Enjoyed with grilled flank steak with red wine reduction, celery root purée, and roasted asparagus.
IMG_0596.jpg

47

Very pretty Sammi, Chris! Had one about 8 years ago - sweetest dog!
Oh - wine board…hmmm, nice Burgundy! [snort.gif]

48

Tonight, I explore the counterpoint to the St. Innocent…

2004 Evesham Wood Pinot Noir Seven Springs “En Dessous”
Dark red color with some smoky tints at the rim, light transparency. Nose offers up black raspberry, black cherry, raspberry, and some herbal/black truffle elements. Palate is day and night in contrast to the St. Innocent - dark, black fruited, no notes of brown sugar; I wouldn’t call this as a 2004 for lack of the signature. Gulp. Gulp. Glug. Swirl. Blackberry, pomegranate, black cherry, some tea notes lurking, maybe fennel. So much poking in and out on the framework here. With time, some tannins show up, but this is really lovely. Wine of the week. So far. Kudos to Russ on this one. Fantastic.
IMG_0322[1].JPG
Cheers,
fred

49

Germanic folks, should that be die or der?

50
  • 2012 Rhys Pinot Noir San Mateo County - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, San Mateo County (11/24/2015)
    Popped and poured after a day of salt and sun in The Keys. Cranberry, dark cherry, a little green stemminess, great spice with dominating clove. Love the acid balance.

Posted from CellarTracker

Kyser is a fan!

51

Thanks Frank! Must be cuz my 'doo is almost as good as yours! neener

Since no photos with my notes, I will pledge a matching donation for every note that I post…

…and here are a couple more for tonight:

2005 Arcadian Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir - Coravin’ed a glass with dinner - wonderful nose of spicy red fruits with some nice earthiness. On the palate, turns slightly darker, with a cross of red and black cherries and a hint of licorice. Very easy drinking although there is a touch of heat on the finish.

2005 Arcadian Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir - Coravin’ed a glass with dinner - this one has a slightly riper, fruitier nose leaning more towards a raspberry scent. On the palate, a little more acidity, with more of a tart raspberry/cranberry flavor profile. Maybe a little bit of a white pepper note, and a little tang on the finish.

Both are enjoyable now, not sure if I would sit on either of these much longer.

52

Atta boy, Paul. Nice. Mr Brunson, your photo is not displaying. Counselor, love as always the fluffy white dog. Fred and Brad, great to meet you. You’ve all earned $10 donation TNs, too.

So that you guys don’t think I am sitting back here watching the game played, I am in the mix, too. Been working on some Kutch, at present a bottle of the 2014 McDougall. Stuff is muh-nee.

  • 2014 Kutch Pinot Noir McDougall Ranch - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (11/23/2015)
    This is a reprise, as I tasted this wine just 2 weeks ago, under different conditions. On that night, it was about 8 Kutch releases, all 13s and 14s. And, over dinner and not on successive days. And another thing to mention, this wine tonight follows the reprise of the 14 Falstaff late last week, which will be the same plan for this 14 McDougall, over successive nights. Just me, one wine, one focus. Now, to the wine. I remember this wine well from 2 weeks ago, as it showed an open quality that was approachable and engaging. This bottle too shows that way. The words that come to mind for me right now would be generous, depth, saturating, dark. And in seeing these words, if I read them from another TN writer, I might wonder if the wine was overdone with too much fruit, too much alcohol or stuffing, whatever overdone may mean. I have to say, this ain’t. What you get here is plush, a juicy tone, but lots of generous blue fruit, a delicious, gentle acidity. What about stemmy? Hell, it’s 100% whole cluster, right? It ain’t stemmy. Oaky? No, as it’s done in neutral wood. Whereas the structure and youth was very clear in the 14 Falstaff, as were to me the stems, they do not flaunt much presence here. It’s as if the 'Doug fruit and approach just consumes all of it. Maybe they emerge over the next few days but they’re not here tonight. The wine finishes with a gentle brushing of tannin. I’ll retaste tomorrow and post again…Day 2, man, this is a super wine. It is saturated with fruit, stem accents, and some finishing slate, just a beauty.

Posted from CellarTracker

53

Westchester Wine Enthusiasts, a group that meets at the local Catholic Church and consists of a lot of very nice local people who many here would refer to as “civilians” did Pinot and Beaujolais as a precursor to Thanksgiving. Who chose the theme? The priest. He’s third from the right. The price point. $20. I have been known to cheat. Notes below. This was the last of the crew, who knew that I was going to post this as part of Frank’s challenge.

From left to right (the wine, not the people):

Elouan Pinot Noir, Oregon, 2013. It was wine. Not particularly pinot, with a bitterness at the back of the palate that I did not like.

2009 Cotes de Nuits Villages, Ravaut. I was not familiar with the producer. This was light Burgundian pinot. Fundamentally different flavor profile from the others. It did not have that cola flavor from riper Cali pinot. Higher acidity but balanced, not bitter. A bit of earthy herbal component in it. Someone else said mushrooms. I think it gets better with more age as more fruit emerges but I liked this.

2008 Indian Creek Mendocino. I liked this. The 7 years of age allowed tertiary flavors to start to emerge. There was some sweet dark cherry and an herbal component. The wine was in balance with no negative characteristics.

2013 Biggio Hamina Eola, Amity Hills. I brought this. I was very happy with it. Good balance, red fruit with cherry and some berry.Nice balance and that cola flavor was not overpowering.

2012 Seven of Hearts Pinot Noir Curmudgeon Cuvée Armstrong Vineyard. The Bob Wood Wine. I brought this too. It was corked! Oh crap. Must have been a single bad cork because my other two bottles were fine.

2013 Ponzi Tavola Springs. This is a scheme, not a wine. Bitter throughout. Not worth the ticket at any price. I have not had a Ponzi in years and I recall the last one being similar. Why do they make this stuff.

2013 A to Z. Very nice. I liked this one. Red fruit, some cola, excellent balance and a nice mouth feel. MSRP seems to be about $15 based on Winesearcher and it plays a bit above its weight. This is a well made wine at this price point.

2014 Drake’s Passage, Chile, Casablanca Valley. Not bad at all. Pleasant wine as a daily drinker. Maybe my palate was dead because I had this at the end, but I thought it was well balanced with a light but elegant flavor profile.

2014 Gran Duca Delle Venezie IGT. eh! The Italians should stick to what they do well. This was not it. Noticeably pinot and I would not pour it out at a wedding, but that’s as far as it goes. Too much cola with not enough fruit to balance.

2012 Navarro Correas Coleccion Privada. Chinese wine. Foo Yuk. Close to DNPIM. VERY BITTER. spit immediately.

2013 Ken Wright Willamette Valley. We always talk about a disconnect between the nose and the palate. There was no disconnect here, but in a bad way. No nose and nothing going on on the palate. Two other people agreed there was just nothing there. Was it just a tad corked to strip out the flavor? I did not sense any. Just boring.

54

Dogs in play, worth at least $20!

55

I’ll add another two to the TN database and the FMIII contribution check. (Pictures to follow.)

Last night, I opened a 2008 Pisoni. It was standing up in the cellar as I was planning on serving it this evening for a dinner for some family friends. I thought it would match well with a planned roast rack of pork. For some reason, perhaps this thread, and the thought of adding to Frank’s contributions to Laura’s House, I was encouraged to open this one up:

2008 Pisoni Pinot Noir Estate - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands (11/24/2015)
Pop and pour and tasted with food (home-made pizza, and then some Gruyere cheeese, in case you were wondering).
Followed for about 3 hours, both with food and then on its own.
Dark deep purple color.
Black cherry and brown spice and some black pepper all emerges on the nose. Flavor of rich dark raspberry and black cherry with a touch of earth and mushroom. While there is rich ripe fruit, there is a good core of acidity that helps carry such richness and keeps the wine lively. Feels big and powerful in the mouth and then the acidity helps lift the wine from sensory overload.
Re-corked and will revisit. But the first impression is good: a delicious wine.


A coupe of nights ago, I opened a Poe Van der Kamp. Another delicious wine from Samantha Sheehan. I have been impressed with everything I have tasted coming from Poe. And, like I need more wine, I went back to the website and ordered a few more along with the Pinot Nouveau.

2013 Poe Wines Pinot Noir Old Vine Van der Kamp Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Mountain (11/23/2015)
Pop and pour and tasted over two nights, both with food and without food.
Cloudy crimson red. Nose of cherry and spice.
Flavor of cherry, cranberry and some spice - cloves and nutmeg. Whole cluster/cool climate vineyard seems evident. This is an inviting wine with richness balanced by the acidity and spice flavors. Well done.

56

I’m very sorry about that, Jay. I’ll get you a replacement bottle.

Byron

57

Thanks for the continued support everyone.

I wanted to also communicate that we have the good fortune of another matching donor, in line with the other two who have already generously contributed. With this news, you can safely figure that every dollar at least through $250 has been quadrupled. When this is all finished after 12/2, we’ll get it all tallied up.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Eve day and look forward to seeing some more TNs and photos.

58

2013 Briceland Vineyards Alderpoint Vineyard

To celebrate the birthday of Linda’s stepmom, her family assembled at local favorite Sun Wah – my first visit since the last time that Chris “Big Sexy” Blum was in town. There was a fair amount of commotion and my note attenpts reflect my actual thoughts while drinking the wine…

Another assemblage of Linda’s family. I’m going to need a drink.…I’ll start on the Briceland Pinot, which Andrew tells me was recently bottled…Oh Jesus, how’d they drain that other bottle already?…Well let’s go about pouring me some Pinot. It appears a deep garnet in the glass…Why does it always take so long to order?… On pop and pour I notice some cherry and grape and…dammit, once again they are ordering everything I cannot eat. Her BIL is such a good guy though, always willing to order the most expensive things on the menu when someone else is paying…after opening a bit the wine is getting darker…more of a black cherry flavor and a hint of oak…Now the sister is trying to order dishes no one else likes so she can take it home to her kids. Not the first time she has pulled this trick, always when someone else is picking up the check…Can’t believe this is only 13.3% abv – I’m digging this:The fruit is fully ripe, no sour notes, yet there’s no sweetness whatsoever…I want to jab my chopsticks in her BIL’s eye…There’s a green herbaceous quality that adds complexity…thank Jesus that the duck is here so her sister will shut the hell up…good acids and tannins are in check; should improve with time sideways but ready now.
image.jpeg

59

I hate to say it, jefe, but you sound like those sages they talk about in the Haggadah disputing whether there were 200 or 250 plagues at the red sea. Just drink and post! [grin.gif]

A pinot will be consumed tonight, notes will be posted and hopefully photo will accompany, though Tran may do the posting of that on my behalf…

As always, Frank, a wonderful idea, your generosity knows no bounds.

Mike

60

[snort.gif]

see above photo with 11 pinots and six peeps. But the notes are all mine. No one else wanted to write TNs so it mattered not.