Who Makes The Best DOMESTIC PN You've Ever Had. ONLY NAME 1

WINE TALK
61

I haven’t seen any Oregon pinot listed. Why?

62

The single greatest domestic PN I’ve had was the 99 Marcassin Blue-Slide Ridge. It was one of those wines you wanted to just smell for a while before even drinking. One of my top ten wines of all-time. It’s ripe, but a great mix of both dark and red fruits, with (for my palate) enough structure to balance the ripe/sweet quality and not hot. If I could be given any one PN every year, FREE or at a lesser price than it commands, this would be it. In fact I might pick Marcassin as my top producer.
Though in reality, considering price, I’d choose Rochioli. The single vineyard wines are not uber-expensive, are extremely good. They definitely improve and shine with age. At the same, time the estate wine is very reasonably priced and a solid shorter-term drinker.
I really like the Kistler wines too, but don’t feel they are much better than the Rochioli stable, and cost more. They also have a greater number of wines that come across as overdone to me. The 00 Elizabeth was a fantastic wine, but definitely not as good as 99 Marc. Blue-Slide.
Williams-Selyem certainly deserves huge props for dominating in the early/mid 90s. They lost a little lustre in the late 90s.

63

[scratch.gif] Did you read through the posts?

64

Williams-Selyem pinot from the past.

65

My favorite as well. That is what I am drinking in the picture - at Joe Davis’ 50 birthday party.

66

I haven’t had that many of the CA wines mentioned but I’ll go Belle Pente since I like OR better anyway!

67

Rhys and Arcadian are neck & neck for my palate.

68

Can’t pick between Cameron and Rhys

69

Cameron

70

SQN

71

Cobb “Rice-Spivak”
Kalin’s '97 Cuvee DD
Rhys
Littorai
Rivers Marie

72

Not a math major huh Samantha? [whistle.gif]

73

I had a RHYS '06 I think Alpine vineyard with Rob Klafter at Apiary that was pretty incredible. Reminded me of a Morey 1er Cru with a little more punch.
'99 Arcadian “Pisoni” might be my benchmark. Spectacular.
'97 Calera Mt. Harlan was also tremendous.

74

Okay, I blew it. There were a couple of easy ones and ones like Thomas and Cameron I didn’t recognize.

75

Another vote for Mount Eden. Mineral and earthy at the same time, sometimes featherweight, sometimes with some heft, always with balance and a panoply of red fruits… except for the few bottlings with mostly black fruits. Distinctive.

Kevin Harvey has many years to go, but some day Rhys could be best. Quality to date is excellent and progress stunning.

For me, Santa Cruz Mountains is the best American terroir for Pinot Noir that I’ve discovered so far.

I sadly see little if any love for Carneros. No producers IMO a serious candidate for THE best, but so many lovely wines for so long and so little respect lately.


Dan Kravitz

76

Just teasing ya [drinkers.gif]

I am actually pretty surprised that Oregon was well represented. I greatly prefer Oregon but I still think Burt made the best U.S. pinots I have tasted. Lots of them.

Jason

77

Williams Selyem by 35 lenghts.

They have a history of making great wines over 25 years, there is not another producer that can even come close to that track record. Some have had better years and some have had better decades but no one has been as consistently outstanding for as many years.

As for the mention of the producers who have 2-3 vintages under their belt, it’s like declaring Tim Lincecum the greatest pitcher ever. Funny thing is, if you asked this question 3 years ago, many poeple would have said Loring or KB. Now it’s the latest fad, the anti-Loring/KB. It makes me laugh…

Regards,
Steve

78

Windy Oaks is my current favorite.

2006 Proprietor’s Reserve and the 2007 Whole Cluster (even though it’s young, it’s gonna be a stunner)

I have some Arcadian Pisoni… 2006, 2007, 2002, but I haven’t had a chance to try them yet
.

79

Le Clos Jordanne.

Ok, ok, I know I cheated a bit - this is a Canadian producer; but you see, I’m Canadian, so for me “domestic” means something from Canada! hee hee

But seriously, Le Clos Jordanne makes the best Pinot I’ve ever tasted in Canada, period. (Perhaps unsurprisingly, the winery is a partnership with a Burgundian producer.) Canada is still figuring out what grows best where, but I think that Pinot has a great future in a few little corners of the Niagara region; LCJ is a prime example of that.

80

August West.