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| Insights: Wes´ Tasting Notes | |||
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Wes Hagen's Tasting Note ArchiveWes Hagen's Picks for Santa Barbara Wines and World-Wide Pinot Noir (other varietals follow the Pinot notes)
Pinot Noir14 Santa Barbara County Pinot Noirs, Vintage 2000 (10 Santa Rita Hills, 3 Santa Barbara County, 1 Santa Maria Valley) Tasted 2/1/02
The tasting: a local dentist I know (who has started a small Pinot Noir vineyard) invited about 6-7 couples over to taste as many local Vintage 2000 Pinot Noirs as he could find, with a strong focus on the Santa Rita Hills area of Northern Santa Barbara County, a newly established AVA roughly between Buellton and Lompoc, California. We tasted the wines at a leisurely pace with little discussion, and taking a lot of notes. The general sentiment expressed by those in attendance, both afficianados, wine geeks and the uninitiated was that this was the finest flight of young Pinot Noirs that most of us had ever had the privilege of tasting. The first nine wines were spectacular, and the high marks on many of these wines may have been higher if they were not in such astonishing company Trying to remember the last time I tasted 9 random Pinot Noirs in a row that were rich, delicious, complex, fruity and balanced -- well, I can't remember the last time I was so blessed at a tasting. Pinot Noir is ephemeral -- it can be a difficult varietal to grow and produce, and usually about one out of three bottles that I open is truly pleasurable. To find a region and a vintage where 8 out of 14 Pinot Noir wines received an 'excellent' rating in my notes is rare, to say the least -- a true indication that the Santa Rita Hills is a special place to grow and make Pinot Noir. These wines were tasted blind from Riedel 'Burgundy' stemware, notes and ratings were made before the wines were revealed from their bags. They are presented in the same order that they were tasted. Melville Pinot Noir, 2000, Estate, Santa Rita Hills: Dark garnet color, hints of turbidity. Lovely and intense aromas of cherry and strawberry, clean and effusive. Nice and intense on the palate with lots of alcohol, nice depth and purity of fruit, vibrant, clean, with hints of clean earth in the finish and more melted tannin than harsh angles. A really superb 'standard' for 2000 Santa Rita Hills wine. *** Huber Vineyards Pinot Noir, 2000, Estate, Santa Rita Hills: Dark garnet color, fairly clear in the glass. Nice blackberry, currant, coffee references in the nose, dense fruit with hints of sage and briar. Complex, fruity and hint of herbal qualities made the mouth-feel of this wine remind me of good young Burgundy. Some oak and char flavor, especially in the finish. Good acid, delicious, I susupect the wine would be great with somewhat assertive Pinot Noir-friendly foods. ***- Sanford Pinot Noir, 2000, Rinconada Vineyard, (barrel sample), Santa Rita Hills: Nose is far too ripe and dense to be varietal -- smells more like a blend of Zinfandel and Petit Sirah to me with plum, prune, cassis and currant flavors -- very sweet, juicy, fat black fruits. In the mouth the wine is exceptionally sweet, ripe and extracted. To me the wine is clunky and top (fruit) heavy without much substance in the midpalate or finish. The fat fruits in the wine are not without charm, but this is Pinot Noir pretending to be something else in my estimation, and loses the elegance and balance that I seek in the varietal. Touch of green olive on the finish of this wine. Those who like inky, huge monster Pinots will likely go crazy for this one. Lacks strong acidity ** Bonaccorsi Pinot Noir, 2000, Santa Barbara County: Medium to dark garnet color. Red berry, raspberry, strawberry are evident in the nose with spicy elements of vanilla, and hints of baking spices/fruitcake, sage. Lovely spicy, fruity nose. In the mouth the wine is clean, balanced and tasty with excellent elegance, zippy structure, and a clean, solid finish with a hint of fruit and soy sauce. Lots of new French oak evident in the lingering finish as well. Great Santa Barbara County bottling. *** Sanford Pinot Noir, 2000, Santa Barbara County: Medium to medium plus garnet color. Nose shows sweet red berry fruit, cranberry, vanilla, hint of clean earth, sage, briar and perhaps a touch of funk/tar/mercaptan that blows off. Some silkiness already apparent in the mouth with decent elegance -- mature fruit but not overripe -- some oak in finish as well. The wine is still tight and somewhat one dimensional (dumb from bottle shock?), but does have balance, tastiness and good acidity **+ Clos Pepe Estate Pinot Noir, 2000, Santa Rita Hills: Medium to dark garnet color, unfiltered, but fairly clear. Nose exhibits clean red berry and strawberry aromas and hints of chalk and minerals. Big and assertive in the mouth, oak is still a bit rough and unintegrated, but the wine is big and melted up front with good tannin and acidity in the finish. Some chewiness and aging potential here. *** Casa Cassara Pinot Noir, 2000, Santa Rita Hills: Medium garnet color. Nose exhibits good fruit -- red berry, raspberry, strawberry. In the mouth the wine lacks weight -- it's light and tart and quite tight still. Tasted a bit like young fruit from a young vineyard. Nice chalk and minerals, some elegance peeks through the acidity and tartness. Tastes like taut young Burgundy to me from a decent Vintage. Given 5 years this wine could certainly smooth out and be very nice. ** Brewer-Clifton Pinot Noir, Rozak Ranch, Santa Rita Hills: Medium garnet in the glass. Clean berry fruit in the nose: cherry, raspberry, complex fruits with briar/sage and some chalky minerals. Great intensity in the mouth, chewy, tight and tart finish that shows its youth and bottle-ageing potential. Good acid, not overoaked, but good oak flavor in finish. ***/***- Clos Pepe Estate Pinot Noir, 2000, 'Vigneron Reserve', Santa Rita Hills: Medium to medium plus garnet color, quite clear for unfiltered wine. Aromas of ripe strawberry, raspberry are lifted by a decent amount of alcohol -- big, tempting nose that smells of sweet fruits. In the mouth the wine is fat and sweet with loads of fruit -- effusively fruity and pleasant, some melted tannins with good acid structure. Nice lingering hit of oak on the long finish. *** Babcock Pinot Noir, 2000, Mt. Carmel, Santa Rita Hills: Color is a deep, dark garnet, clear in the glass. Nose reminds me of the 'rustic' wines of Oregon... mushrooms and forest floor, perhaps some mercaptan, toast, kola nut, cherry, cranberry and berry In the mouth the wine is big, no doubt, with perhaps too much new oak for my taste, chewy, dense, perhaps a bit overripe with loads of alcohol and not quite enough acidity for structure. The nose threw this one off for me, and it never quite recovered, althougb I suspect the wine would show better by itself at table. Overpriced for the quality, go for the Babcock 2000 SBC over this, and save some money *+ Babcock Pinot Noir, 2000, Grand Cuvee, Santa Rita Hills: This is one of those wines that if one went by smell alone, one might dismiss it and move on. The wine certainly shows hints of mercaptan in the nose, a funky, mushroomy smell that is somewhat balanced by vanilla, red berry fruit and a gamey/leathery bouquet. In the mouth the wine is much more magnificent than the nose would suggest. Complex flavors of bright fruit, heavy oak influence, clean earth and elegance fight it out, and the wine turns much more delicious when drunk. This is one for table, and again, would shine without the company of such clean, effusively fruity wines that were included in the tasting. If the wine was cheaper, it might have scored higher. ** Babcock Pinot Noir, 2000, Santa Barbara County: My favorite wine of the tasting, and one of the cheapest wines on the table! What a bounty! What a bargain! Medium to medium plus garnet color in the glass, certainly filtered and brilliant. Lovely ripe strawberry, cherry and raspberry aromas from a clean and healthy fermentation. In the mouth the wine is big, delicious, clean, and fresh with wonderful intensity and a long finish. Wet stones are hinted at, adding mineral structure to the overall balance and integrity of this delicious blend. Finish is already softening, although there's plenty of acidity and structure to make this wine go 5 years in cellar without much effort. A good hit of new French oak is noticeable on the finish, but does not obscure the clean fruit and minerals. Perhaps the best $20 Pinot Noir I've ever drunk. Premier Cru quality on a Village budget. **** Melville Pinot Noir, 2000, 115 Indigene, Santa Rita Hills: Medium plus garnet color in the glass, good clarity The nose is pretty. Strawberry, raspberry and cherry fruit tempt the nose with their effusive aromas. In the mouth the wine is huge and chewy, very intense, balanced, tasty and complex. Balance is achieved between the great fruit, evident minerals, judicious use of oak (to let the SRH fruit shine through) but to coat the finish, and good acidity My favorite of the two Melville wines, and one that will shine in the company of any Pinot Noir, from anywhere in the world. ***+ Foxen Pinot Noir, 2000, Santa Maria Valley: Medium to medium plus garnet hue. Nose shows fruity and feminine aromas of cranberry and cherry Quite evident that the Santa Maria fruit produces a more serene and feminine style of Pinot Noir, one without the denser berry aromas of raspberry and strawberry Just a hint of funk here -- some tar/kerosene, and even a hint of tropical fruit, like mango. In the mouth the wine shows nice sweet, fat red berry fruit, some elegance in the midpalate. A solid, decent version of SMV Pinot Noir. **
My Favorite Pinot Noirs from: World of Pinot Noir -- Shell Beach -- 2/10/01Babcock 1998 Pinot Noir, Grand Cuvee (Estate), (Western) Santa Ynez Valley: Great dark color. Nose exhibits toasty oak, vanilla, dense black and red berry fruit. In the mouth it's about the same -- toast, tar, dense and power-packed fruits; huge and extracted. Even with this much flavor it has a wonderful elegance in the middle of the palate that exhibits chalky earth. Intense with a hunk of finesse in the middle. Still tight but YUM! *** Babcock 2000 Pinot Noir, Grand Cuvee, Barrel Sample, (Western) Santa Ynez Valley): Again, good dark inky Pinot juice that smells of toast, yeast, oak char, dense red and black fruits with a hint of chalky minerals. Soft, delicious, juicy but not sweet -- super-oaked but chewy and fruity. Still tight but is PACKED with Pinot goodness. Like a good Volnay on steroids. *** Baileyana 1999 Pinot Noir, Edna Valley, $21: Densely packed nose of sweet red and black berry fruit, lush and lovely with spice. In the mouth it comes alive with dense, spicy, delicious fruit, admirable elegance and intensity. Finishes light, tart, but with some length. Quite a nice wine for the price. *** Brewer-Clifton 1999 Pinot Noir, Santa Maria Hills Vineyard: In a site that usually offers jammy black cherry, eucalyptus and mint, Steve and Greg have done an admirable job making a serious Burgundian style wine from this site. Full whole-cluster fermentation gives the wine much more texture and tannin. The nose shows chalky earth, strawberry, black cherry, hints of dry herbs and suggests good 'grip' in the wine. In the mouth the wine is delicious and textured. Very earthy and masculine, quite a feat for a SMH wine, with great style and a big chewy finish. Rough now, but cellar for 3-5 years for excellent results. ***- Cambria 1999 Pinot Noir, Julia's Vineyard, Santa Maria Valley: Nose is packed with assertive red and black berry fruits, dense with great color and a hint of vanilla from French oak. In the mouth it is focused, concentrated and delicious with spicy fruitiness, nice elegance evident in the mid-palate, oaky and smooth on the finish. A little more earthiness and complexity and this shoots easily to three stars strong. ***- Cambria 1999 Pinot Noir Benchbreak, Santa Maria Valley: Nose is elegant, juicy, alluring, even after the 20 Pinots before it. In the mouth the wine is smooth and refined with great elegance, oak and vanilla on a long, but tight, finish. Nice effort, admirable concentration. ***- David Bruce 1998 Pinot Noir, Russian River: Nose shows vanilla, cherry, red berries, some rich spice. In the mouth the wine has admirable intensity, yet is still tight and rather angular. Not overtly complex, but quite tasty. Earthy and elegant with great length of finish. ***- David Bruce 1994 Pinot Noir, Russian River: Red berry fruit, tar, violet, earth, spice evident in the nose. In the mouth the wine shows earthy, forest floor flavors -- delicious and still somewhat bright in the fruit department. Light bodied, feminine, compelling juice, with nice elegance in the middle and drinking rather well. *** Edna Valley Vineyard 1997, Pinot Noir, Unfiltered, Edna Valley, $16.50: Nose shows sweet red fruits, quite enticing with a hint of sagey herb. In the mouth the wine shows nice feminine flavors, red fruits, with admirable elegance and balance at this price point. Delicious, some earth evident, light bodied, somewhat angular finish, but I'm drinking this ALL day for under $17. *** Flowers 1997 Pinot Noir, Camp Meeting Ridge, Sonoma Coast: Compelling nose packed with red fruits, kola nut and a hint of mint. In the mouth the wine shows pretty, juicy fruits -- nice balance, good elegance in the middle of the palate, finish is still a bit short but this is a very pretty wine. *** Flowers 1999 Pinot Noir, Camp Meeting Ridge, Sonoma Coast, $55: Nose shows off the richness and ripeness of a complex, concentrated wine. In the mouth the wine exhibits delicious red berry fruit, nice elegance -- admirable balance. Tannins are still evident -- still angular in the finish, but appropriate for the youth and 'bigness' of this wine. Sweet fruit throughout. Nice wine, little expensive, though. ***- Hartford Court 1998 Pinot Noir, Arrendel Vineyard, Russian River, $60: Curious to see the vineyard designation was copyrighted, and then someone told me that this is a Kendall-Jackson Company and it all made sense. Have to give the wine props, though. This is a delicious effort from a difficult, but sometimes spectacular (if not tight and angular) vintage. Alluring nose with lots of red fruit and hints of spice and kola nut. Tight and focused in the mouth with tasty red fruits, hints of earth and forest floor. Great elegance and balance, quite delicious. ***- (minus for over $50) Hartford Court 1995 Pinot Noir, Arrendel Vineyard, Russian River: Nose exhibits lovely red fruits, berry and cherry, oak, vanilla, hint of tar, violet and rose petal. In the mouth it shows excellent balance, elegance and intensity. Drinking very, very well, and would improve with food. I was quite impressed with this wine. *** Leroy 1998 Pommard, Premier Cru: Nose shows a complex core of earth, subtle red berry fruit -- compelling with fresh rose petals and hints of vanilla and 'sauvage'. In the mouth the wine is tight, dry and lovely for this youngster, who reveals only hints of its character for the future. I found the wine to be dumb in the mouth still -- hints of mid-palate mineral elegance, earth -- still very tight and very angular in the finish. What a shame to have drunk the wine so young. **+ Leroy 1986 Pommard, Les Vignets: Color was brickish with slight turbidity. Nose exhibits a laser-focused core of cherry, strawberry, violet, tar -- bottle aged flavors, but still pure and vibrant -- hints of dry herb and kola nut. In the mouth the wine is wonderfully complex and elegant -- great chewy finish that kept my pen still for many moments. The wine is drinking rather nicely today, but I found the finish was still a bit tight and angular. *** Ojai Vineyard 1999 Pinot Noir, Santa Maria Valley, Bien Nacido Vineyard: Nose shows lovely, compote-laden red and black berry fruit with hints of balanced herb. Extracted and sweet in the mouth with very intense fruit flavors, nice clean earth and lovely stuffing. Elegance is developing in the middle, and I expect it to find better balance in the next three to five years in cellar. A nice wine to purchase for the long term. *** Ojai Vineyard 1998 Pinot Noir, Santa Maria Valley, Bien Nacido Vineyard: Adam Tolmach and I had a nice long conversation about this wine. This was a vintage that I originally found a reductive edge to the nose (sulfur), and as hard as I tried to find any hint of stink or funky edge, there was NONE present on 2/10/01. So this is my first opportunity to retract my tasting notes and post new, more accurate ones. Nose was clean and fruity with hints of leesy richness, complex notes of tomato relish and sage. Nose is lovely and compelling. In the mouth the wine shows a focused core of red and black cherry and berry fruit, chalky and earthy notes in the middle, which builds to an admirable elegance and a rich masculine finish. Glad I got to try the wine again -- quite nice, and makes me wonder why I smelled funk back a few years ago. *** Ojai Vineyard 1998 Pinot Noir, Pisoni Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands: Nose is huge and sweet, full of fat black fruits, vanilla, and clean earth. Massive, rich and super earthy in the mouth with admirable underlying acidity. Balance is developing. Elegance and mineral complexity in the middle of the palate is evolving, and should be profound in five to seven years. Complex, compelling, masculine and delicious -- and should improve significantly with patient cellaring. *** Saintsbury 1998 Pinot Noir, Reserve, $38: Vanilla on the nose with strawberry and lovely cherry fruit. Nice focus in the aromas here. Perhaps a hint of mint and sage? On the palate the wine shows suppleness unusual for its youth, excellent mineral intensity and elegance in the middle of the palate. Pure and lovely and feminine. Structured and balanced, a wonderful Pinot Noir. Excellent expression of varietal flavor without being 'ordinary' in any way. Priced fairly as well. *** Siduri 1999 Pinot Noir, Gary's Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands: Big, juicy, fat red and black cherry/berry fruits in the nose with complex hints of earth and baking spices. Focused and intense in the mouth with admirable balance. Rides the fine line between extraction and elegance quite well. Good length and focus in finish. A wine for the future that'll be hard to stay away from while it cellars. *** Siduri 1999 Pinot Noir, Pisoni Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands: Nose is still 'ornery' and grapey (vinous) with some black berry fruit, inherent richness and hints of chalky earth. In the mouth it's chalky and rich, full of stuffing and delicious fruit. The wine is balanced and the elegance is firmly intact and expected to increase with 5-7 years of proper cellaring. The wine is still angular and unevolved, but that will be worked out with patience and a dank, cool place. An impetuous and masculine youth waiting to reveal it's elegant pedigree. *** Testarossa 1999 Pinot Noir, Sleepy Hollow, Santa Lucia Highlands, $32: Nose is dense, masculine with black cherry, dark berries and hints of oak and oak toast. In the mouth the wine lives up to its aroma and bouquet -- (again) dense and concentrated, lots of toasty oak, elegance is still developing in the middle as the fruit needs to step back and the oak needs to integrate. Delicious and certainly worth the wait for it to find further balance. ***
Pinots from the 2000 International Pinot Noir Celebration, McMinneville OregonThe International Pinot Noir Celebration is a yearly Summer event that takes place in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. The long name is commonly reduced to its abbreviation, or more commonly, 'summer camp for drunks'. It attracts the biggest and brightest stars of the Pinot Noir firmament -- Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat, Ursula Hermacinski, James Halliday, Jasper Morris, David Lett (Poppa Pinot) from Eyrie Vineyards, winemakers from New Zealand, and Burgundian producers with famous last names (LeClerc, Drouhin, Montille, Mugnier, Gambal, Bichot, etc. ad nauseum). And even though California gets slammed on a regular basis at the IPNC (even though many of the winemakers received their education at Davis), they even asked a few winemakers up from Williams and Selyem, Flowers, Siduri and Sanford. The tickets for this vaunted event are handled by lottery, and I understand more than 2000 revelers seek less than 400 tickets reserved for non-industry folks. The event was a perfect mix of casual and elegant. I went barefoot for most of the long weekend (July 28-30), in shorts and a vineyard t-shirt. The sommeliers wore tuxes the first few days, and as it grew hotter (they call THAT cool climate viticulture?), they wore tux tops and shorts beneath. The lunches and dinners were prepared by some of the best chefs in Oregon and on the Left Coast -- emphasis on local salmon, seafood and game was evident, and the wines poured as if from a gushing fountain. Morning seminars focused on the ageability of Pinot Noir (Oregon and Burgundy), and tastings and seminars in the afternoon offered participants endless tables of both young and cellared Pinot. Quality was all over the board. I was generally pleased with the 1998 vintage world wide -- big, hard, unevolved, deeply colored wines that will certainly benefit from cellaring. I was surprised (and a bit disappointed) at how many dirty, Brett and mercaptan laden wines are being produced in Oregon and Burgundy, and even some in California. I even tried a Grand Cru Echezeaux (probably $70+) that was so skunky I thought I was at a Grateful Dead show. I wanted to shout at the top of my lungs to these 'non-interventionist' winemakers, 'Funk is NOT complexity!' So... what did I learn this year at the IPNC? I learned that great Pinot Noir is almost a miracle. Here were some of the greatest winemakers making Pinot from the best vineyards in the world. More than half the wines were flawed, and only one in ten were spectacular. Ursula Hermacinski, Laurent Montalieu (WillaKenzie), Etienne de Montille (Domaine de Montille) and I had a lovely conversation about the '5%' of Pinot Noir that is spectacular and came to the following conclusions. Etienne and Laurent believe strongly in phenolic and polyphenolic ripeness, and believe great Pinot is made from physiologically ripe grapes -- ripe beyond the level that can be measured by sugar, pH and titratable acidity (the usual parameters for picking). Ursula and I rapped about what I call the 'pyramid' theory of winemaking -- that to make a spectacular wine one needs to construct the foundation by pruning the vineyard, the heart of the pyramid through sound farming, and the pinnacle by winemaking. If the foundation or the heart is flawed, it throws the whole wine out of kilter before it is even fermented. To make a great Pinot Noir, every aspect of the vineyard and the winemaking has to be without fault. Only then can the 'capstone' be placed on the pyramid -- a mark of quality that can never be placed on a crooked foundation. Ursula thought I was brilliant... or maybe I was drunk and that's how I remembered it. Regardless, she was the coolest, most down-to-earth wine guru I ever met. Other hard-learned lessons: if you don't spit at IPNC, you die a slow death due to brain dehydration. Alcohol is a diuretic and there's only a few bathrooms around the Linfield College campus where the event is held. I will never again ask what 'sweetbreads' are (hint, they have nothing to do with bread) So that's what I learned. I wish I would have learned how California Pinot Noir ages -- but no luck. Not a single California winemaker was asked to participate in the seminars. (I reference the taste left in my mouth to raspberries -- pfffpb!) Either way, let's get on to my favorite wines of the three day bacchanal. Note on how I assess quality in Pinot Noir: Wine tasting is a subjective exercise. The purpose of these tasting notes is to familiarize you with a number of wines that I found to be excellent examples of Pinot Noir at the 2000 IPNC in McMinnville Oregon. Pinot Noir and Red Burgundy Wine are ephemeral beverages that change with mood, environment, and especially food. I did my best to evaluate each wine using the same techniques and criteria. The wines I chose to include on this list were wines that:
The wines below are listed in the order they were tasted. Domaine de l'Arlot 1989 Nuits-St.Georges, Premier Cru, 'Clos de Forets-St. Georges': Nose suggests aromas of subdued red fruits, leather, violets, dried herbs and minerals. In the mouth it was bone dry, balanced, showed great acidity. Still a touch hard on the finish, oak is still toasty and somewhat unintegrated, but the wine is delicious and complex. Domaine de Montille 1983 Volnay Premier Cru: A Domaine that uses a very long fermentation process and only 25% new oak, the 1983 Volnay showed beautifully in Oregon. The wine is vibrant still, showing bright raspberry, ripe spice and clean, dusty earth in the nose. This is an elegant wine. Beautiful expression of mineral 'terroir' -- better than decent intensity. Not rich, but enough tannin and alcohol to keep it drinking beautifully after seventeen years in bottle. Eyrie Vineyards 1976 Southblock Reserve Pinot Noir (Oregon): From the oldest producing vinifera vineyard in the Willamette Valley. A true wonder of American winemaking, David Lett (aka Papa Pinot) has produced a wine that has aged remarkably well. The wine smells of prunes and dried roses with a hint of earthiness. In the mouth it is still amazingly intense and delicious -- much more vibrant than the nose would suggest. Elegant enough to be a benchmark for aged Oregon Pinot Noir. Nice clean earth in finish -- a hint of astringency/tannin, but this wine really blew me away. Almost twenty-five years in a bottle and still drinking beautifully. Domaine Rene Leclerc 1992 Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru 'Combe Aux Moines': An elegant wine that rides the razor-edge between elegance and masculinity (extracted, earthier, leathery, animal flavor). Sings in the mid-palate, good intensity, complex and well-balanced. This would be an excellent wine to teach an uninitiated palate what good red Burgundy tastes like after 8 years in the bottle. Perhaps a little Brett in this wine, but not enough to undermine the complexity and finesse. Au Bon Climat 1989 Pinot Noir, Bien Nacido Vineyard (Santa Maria, Santa Barbara County, CA): After tracking down Jim Clendenen and forcing my 1999 Clos Pepe Pinot Noir barrel sample down his table's collective throat, I was rewarded with the last third of this rare bottle. It turned out to be a blockbuster example of a fine bottle-aged Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir. Eleven years after vintage the wine showed subdued red fruits on an elegant canvas, painted with leather, tar, dry earth with a suggestion of herbs and tomato skin. Great length and intensity. Smooth and evolved -- just like the man who crafted it. Rene Mure' 1998 Clos St. Landelin (Vorbourg, Grand Cru): I have tasted Pinot Noir from Alsace (mostly Turkheim) before, and the nicest thing I could say about it was it was a lovely attempt at Rose'. Upon seeing the dark purple fluid emanating from the skinny little Alsacian bottle, I was already impressed. That such a rich, extracted Pinot Noir could be made from the mountainous edge of Alsace still amazes me. It offers up aromas of meaty, dark fruits. In the mouth it is still angular and unevolved, but has great acid and wonderful intensity. Offers sublime earth in the finish as well. I can't imagine how a better Pinot Noir could be produced in Alsace. I will be extremely curious to see how this wine evolves over the next ten years. Silvan Ridge 1993 Pinot Noir (Oregon) I really like Bryan Wilson's style -- he asked me my opinion of this wine at an alfresco tasting, and I had to admit it was my favorite out of a dozen other (more vaunted) producers at the table. Pretty nose of red berry fruits, hints of good acid and structure. Great grip and acid in the mouth, clean finish, which was more than I could say for many of the Oregon wines I tasted. Very dry, nice earthiness and balance. If more Oregon wines were made in this style, I think I would buy more wines from up North. Domaine Rene Leclerc 1991 Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru 'Combe Aux Moines': I really liked this Domaine's offerings. The 1991 was no exception. The nose offers up perfumed dried fruits, hint of balanced barnyard aroma with classic leather aromas of bottle-aged Burgundy. Very intense in the mouth with a semi-rich complexness that in no way compromises the elegance and acidity of this fine wine. Good grip to go with the structure. Finish is long and still just a tad closed and astringent, but mostly pleasant and earthy. Bottom of my tasting notes exclaim, 'Great wine' next to a nice brickish stain. Flowers 1997 Pinot Noir, Camp Meeting Ridge, 'Moon Select'. Beautiful fruit and a wonderful wine in a very difficult and often lackluster vintage. Great extraction, really nice dark garnet color. Cherry and darker berries, hints of masculinity all balanced with good grip and structure. Decent hit of new oak is still somewhat unintegrated. Oregonians thought this was an example of how Californian Pinot Noir can be a little too extracted and jammy, but I say screw 'em if they can't take a viscous Pinot once in a while. Evesham Wood 1998 Pinot Noir, 'Le Puits Sec' (Oregon): Every wine I was offered from this small Oregon producer was delicious. This wine shows why many of the more conscientious Oregon producers vinted fabulous wines in 1998. Pungent berry and earthy nose with complex violet and cola esters. Good purity of fruit flavor, undeniably Pinot, with wonderful elegance and balance. Nice wine to cellar and watch evolve -- still angular, but be patient with this one and be rewarded. Brick House 1998 Pinot Noir 'Cuvee de Tonneliere' (Oregon, Organic): Me and Doug Tunnell had a good long rap about organic farming and how we both hate Monsanto and Roundup in vineyards. After that I thought I might as well try his wine, too. Good thing I did. Beautiful dark color, wonderful extraction without going overboard and losing elegance. Dense, masculine -- but still pretty and balanced. Still unevolved and needs cellar time, but has the bones and muscle of a champion in waiting. To borrow a phrase from a song, 'She's Mighty-Mighty, Letting It All Hang Out'. Argyle 1998 Pinot Noir, 'Spirithouse' (Oregon): Wonderfully complex nose showing reference to red berry fruit, clean earth and cola berry. Well-balanced, elegant, tasty, well-made wine. Good grip -- still needs time, but I thought this was a delicious example of the nice 1998 Oregon Pinot Noir vintage. Arcadian 1997 Pinot Noir, Pisoni Vineyard (Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey, CA): A nice medium garnet color, this wine showed a beautiful varietal nose of bright red fruits, nuances of new French oak (Allier forest), and hints of coffee and cola nut. Chock full of elegant intensity -- very complex and undeniably Pisoni-esque terroir. A very nice wine for drinking or (preferably) to dine. Domaine Drouhin Oregon 1998 Pinot Noir: Beautiful dark ruby color with purple at the edge of the glass. Nose offers up reference to dark, jammy red and black berry fruits, clean earth and a hint of toasty French oak. In the mouth this wine is downright delicious. Elegant while extracted, rich cherry flavors are enhanced by lovely earthy flavors and a lovely long, clean finish. Unevolved and sharp, but with enough acid and monomeric tannin to start drinking properly (as suggested by Veronique Drouhin-Boss) in the year 2008. Chehalem 1998 Pinot Noir 'Rion Reserve' (Oregon): Like most of the 1998 Oregon Pinots I sampled this one showed a lovely dark garnet color with purple edges. The wine smells of strong French oak and dark berry fruits. In the mouth the wine shows nice intensity, good chewiness, but is still quite unevolved in the middle of the palate -- finesse and elegance will have to be earned in the cellar with this wine. Good finish and length, a nice wine from vines ranging in age from 10th to 17th leaf. Buy it up, lock it somewhere cool and forget about it for 10 years. Domaine Bertrand Ambroise 1991 Nuits St. George: A lovely color -- medium garnet just starting to get 'brickish' along them edge of the glass, this wine represents what I consider to be the edge of maturity. Beginning to turn from bright to dried red fruit, leather rearing its head with dried herbs and a hint of cola nut. This wine really sings in the middle of the palate, where great Pinot Noir struts its stuff. Clean and delicious. Balance will be fully achieved once the finish softens a little more. Beautiful dry earth initiates the palate into elegance and complexity. All of this in a challenging 1991 vintage. The winemaker stated this wine was 'hard as nails' when it was bottled. WillaKenzie 1998 Pinot Noir 'Pierre Leon' (Oregon): Concentrated and delicious -- another blockbuster in the 1998 vintage. A bit soft at 3.9 pH, but you might never know it without a hand-held meter. Dark, brooding fruits are framed by clean earth and a dry, rough finish that will smooth itself out in the cellar. With such low acidity, I can't imagine this will go longer than 5 years, but I hope to be proven wrong. Domaine Fougeray de Beauclaire 1998 Bonnes Mares Grand Cru: From the Morey-St.-Denis side of this Grand Cru vineyard comes a wine showing medium garnet color and offering up a subdued nose of red fruits, clean earth and vanilla from the French oak. Even though this wine tasted hard and angular, what gives me great hope for the future is the amazing length of flavor and finish. This is certainly a wine for long-term cellaring -- hints of a great terroir are evident already, and as the wine matures it should be both delicious and complex. Domaine Jacques-Frederic Mugnier 1997 Musigny Grand Cru: Another great wine from the otherwise forgettable 1997 vintage. A highly perfumed nose of bright red berry fruits and clean, chalky earth invites me to taste over and over again (spitting this wine would be tantamount to heresy). The wine's flavors are feminine and lead with earth, not fruit, with beautiful intensity and finesse. They say the 1997's will be ready to drink sooner than most vintages, and this is an excellent example. Fairly soft and approachable for such a young Grand Cru wine, there is still a bit of unevolved tannin on the finish, but not enough to ruin the excellent length and flavors of this wine. Ponzi 1998 Pinot Noir 'Reserve'(Oregon): Another great, unevolved young Pinot Noir from Oregon. Nose offers wonderful earthy notes with dense, subtle, extracted fruits -- red bordering on black berry. In the mouth it is more elegant than it's darkish color suggests. Nice intensity, a bit chewy, very nice but still sharp and monolithic. Great cellaring potential -- should be an awesome wine five years down the line. ...and I couldn't leave this one out: WillaKenzie 1999 Pinot Gris. Did you catch that? This is Pinot Gris we're talking about, and it eclipsed a number of great Pinot Noirs for this spot in the 'Best of the Best'. Bright lemon, grapefruit, green apple and pineapple in both the nose and mouth. Very intense in the mouth -- needs very aggressive foods to compliment it -- try it with a spicy plate of Pad Thai or some other spicy dish. Great sweetness of fruit, residual sugar is completely invisible when wrapped in so much fruit and acid -- I really liked this wine, and wouldn't shut up until they gave me a bottle.
Favorite Pinot Noir from 1999 International Pinot Noir CelebrationTasting nothing but Pinot Noir for four days taught me a thing or two about the varietal. It was like learning the language of Pinot Noir through IMMERSION therapy. Burgundy wines were certainly the most complex, Oregon wines were the earthiest and funkiest (also the least consistent), California wines were the fruitiest and biggest in the mid-palate, and New Zealand wines were an interesting mix of the dryness and complexity of Oregon/Burgundy and some nice fruit-forward flavors of California Pinot Noir. After tasting and taking notes on more than 100 international wines made from the Pinot Noir grape, these wines stood out. The following 'favorites' are presented in the order in which they were tasted. I did my best to pace myself, yet I hope what I learned through tasting the wines compensated for a little palate fatigue. Torii Mor 1997 -- Balcombe Vineyard. Oregon. Even though the first bottle was corked, the second bottle came back with attitude! Nice medium color. Nose is varietal with a hint of earth, but clean and uniquely perfumed. Flavors of ripe cherry, red fruits, firm -- nice acid -- great balance. Hint of anise or mint. Touch of tannin complemented by vanilla and oak -- rich and velvety but good structure to boot. Awesome stuffing... I thought this wine was a profound example of what Oregon Pinot noir can do. Torii Mor -- Temperance Hill 1997. Oregon. Beautiful wine, but not as intense or as interesting as the Balcombe. Nice extraction and balanced intensity. Cherry and unripe strawberry esters and flavor. Well made. Torii Mor -- White Rose Vineyard 1996. Oregon. A little funk on the nose -- (Hydrogen sulfide?) but blew off the nose swiftly (5 minutes) to reveal some real good juice. Interesting nose -- subdued fruits and a little barnyard/Brett. Surprisingly vibrant and complex in the mouth... tasted better than the nose implied. Great in the mouth -- balance and finesse -- kiss of oak still evident in this youngster. Ata Rangi 1997 Pinot Noir. New Zealand. Easily the favorite of the New Zealand tasting. Great nose -- raspberry and some animal esters, but clean and balanced. Fruit is deep and jammy -- almost compote -- but the wine finishes balanced and very dry. Good intensity in the mid-palate -- great flavors of red fruits, meat, smoked pork. Some 'chewiness' -- only a touch of astrigency in the finish -- but that will fade as the wine ages. Good finesse. Give it 2-3 years in a cool cellar. Ata Rangi 1994 Pinot Noir. New Zealand. Seriously 'brickish' color for such a young wine. Looked like a ten year old wine in the glass. Drinking beautifully, though, with serious bottle-aged flavors of violets, tar, some fruit left -- gamey and floral. Most folks thought this was Burgundy in the 'Stump the Chumps' blind tasting. Fruit is surprisingly vibrant for the wine's color. Seamless in it's current incarnation -- good intensity -- drink it up now. Not sure the fruit can hold up to more than a few more years. LeClerc Gevrey-Chambertin 1996. Burgundy. Clean nose of animal and fruit. In the mouth it's a Village with a great middle and tight, yet expansive fruit flavors. Real minerality (dare I say 'terroir'?). Complex and bound up in it's lean fruit. Needs time, obviously, to mellow out and spread its wings. LeClerc Gevrey-Chambertin 'Combe-aux-Moines' 1997. Burgundy. Masculine wine. Cold maceration helps the extraction of dark red fruits, good grip and acidity. Seductive, fruity nose with a hint of game. In the mouth it's starting to become silky with age -- but still some monomeric tannin and sharpness. Beautiful wine -- game, red fruits, chalky minerality. Not as fruity in the nmouth as it is on the nose. Give it 5-7 in the cellar to let it find its perfect balance. Porter Creek 1997. Creekside Vineyard. Oregon. Smells of wet earth, red berries. In the mouth it shows a medium level of extract yet nice intensity -- well balanced. Pleasant, well-made wine that shows off the earthiness without letting it take over the fruit. Littorai 1997 Hirsch Vineyard. California. Ted Lemon strikes again. Clean varietal nose -- cherries and a hint of vanilla and wet earth. Silky, expansive in the mid-palate -- lingering finish. This is a great wine. Fougeray Bonne Mares Grand Cru 1997. Burgundy. Medium garnet color. Nice Burgundian nose -- clean earth, vanilla, red fruits -- tight but still seductive. Oak is still strong and unintegrated -- still apparent but not completely out of whack. Clean, balanced intense. Brick House. 1997. (Organic) Oregon. Nice Pinot. Medium-plus extraction -- almost purple. Expansive, clean nose -- perfumed and lovely. Floral, red fruits... deep and tasty in the mouth. Clean, balanced, some intesnity in the stuffing, good finish. Beaux Freres Estate. 1997. Oregon. Great wine -- masculine -- still tight, but what a ride. One of the best wines I had at the Celebration. Luscious nose of deep red fruits -- blackberry and raspberry with cherry hints -- floral terpenes from excellent farming. In the mouthn it's a big chewy pinot that's still tight -- give it 3-5 in the cellar. Fruit is still really, really strong. D. Mikulski, Volnay, 'Les Santenots du Milieu' Burgundy, 1997. Darker color and extraction than most Burgundies shown at the IPNC. Medium dark color -- almost purple. Nose shows cherry, strawberry and a pronounced chalky minerality. In the mouth its seamless and seductive -- nice balance -- some tannic grip that's beginning to soften with a judicious use of oak. Good fruit balance and excellent acidity to frame the wine's flavors. Just a hint of stemminess that might fade as the wine ages. Yamhill Valley 1995 Reserve. Oregon. Medium-plus extract and color. Dark red fruits on the nose -- savage cherry, raspberry -- rich, luscious expressive nose -- oak vanillin broadens the experience. Great intensity in the mouth -- good grip and strong concentration. Balanced oak on the finish... a truly wonderful wine. Ancien 1996 Carneros. California. Visually, mostly garnet with just a hint of brickishness along the edge of the liquid. A pretty perfumed mix of red fruits and vanillin. Juicy strawberries and raspberry. Really nice in the mouth. Great concentration, clean finish and good acid. Balance meets finesse and power. Thomas Fogarty 1996 Santa Cruz Estate. California. Candied black cherries dominate the nose. Tasting reveals some raspberry flavor and a good hint of herbs and heavy Pinot extract. Dry yet expansive on the palate with a finish that is pleasant but still a little sharp. Cellar for 2-3 years for a truly nice wine. Lafond 1996 Lafond Vineyard. California. Santa Rita Hills (Santa Barbara) strikes again. I found some of the most intense wines of the Celebration to come from this little piece of ground between Buellton and Lompoc, California. Intense cherry, red fruits and great concentration, especially expansive on the midpalate. Still tight -- wait for 3-5 years for full enjoyment. Ponzi Vineyards 1996 Willamette Reserve. Oregon. Drinking very well at this point. Good fruit, clean varietal nose with only a hint of earth, which is a style I fully appreciate. Nice mid-palate intensity with Burgundian finesse.
Other Pinots
Arcadian Wines 1998 Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard: Classic, varietal and evolved Pinot Noir nose -- pretty red fruits and hints of earth and a specifically Pisoni terroir. Suggests feminine flavors of cherry and strawberry fruit laced with spice and excellent intensity This could well have been my favorite Pinot Noir at the futures tasting, and certainly the most drinkable as it stands. $40. *** Au Bon Climat 1998 Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir: Dry, elegant, Burgundian styled Pinot with nice black cherry flavor with a whisper of dill. Good acid and grip. I bought a 1/2 case immediately and won't touch it until 2002. *** Au Bon Climat 1997 Pinot Noir, La Bauge: Med/light extraction. Beautiful cherry, spicy nose. Classic Santa Maria style Pinot produced with balance and elegance, especially from such a high-cropload year. I found many of the 1997 Santa Maria wines, especially from the Bien Nacido Vineyard thin and a bit weedy. This was an exception. Good acid and fruit balance. ** Babcock Pinot Noir, 2000, Mt. Carmel, Santa Rita Hills: Color is a deep, dark garnet, clear in the glass. Nose reminds me of the 'rustic' wines of Oregon...mushrooms and forest floor, perhaps some mercaptan, toast, kola nut, cherry, cranberry and berry. In the mouth the wine is big, no doubt, with perhaps too much new oak for my taste, chewy, dense, perhaps a bit overripe with loads of alcohol and not quite enough acidity for structure. The nose threw this one off for me, and it never quite recovered, althougb I suspect the wine would show better by itself at table. Overpriced for the quality, go for the Babcock 2000 SBC over this, and save some money. *+ Babcock Pinot Noir, 2000, Grand Cuvee, Santa Rita Hills: This is one of those wines that if one went by smell alone, one might dismiss it and move on. The wine certainly shows hints of mercaptan in the nose, a funky, mushroomy smell that is somewhat balanced by vanilla, red berry fruit and a gamey/leathery bouquet. In the mouth the wine is much more magnificent than the nose would suggest. Complex flavors of bright fruit, heavy oak influence, clean earth and elegance fight it out, and the wine turns much more delicious when drunk. This is one for table, and again, would shine without the company of such clean, effusively fruity wines that were included in the tasting. If the wine was cheaper, it might have scored higher. ** Babcock Pinot Noir, 2000, Santa Barbara County: My favorite wine of the tasting, and one of the cheapest wines on the table! What a bounty! What a bargain! Medium to medium plus garnet color in the glass, certainly filtered and brilliant. Lovely ripe strawberry, cherry and raspberry aromas from a clean and healthy fermentation. In the mouth the wine is big, delicious, clean, and fresh with wonderful intensity and a long finish. Wet stones are hinted at, adding mineral structure to the overall balance and integrity of this delicious blend. Finish is already softening, although there's plenty of acidity and structure to make this wine go 5 years in cellar without much effort. A good hit of new French oak is noticeable on the finish, but does not obscure the clean fruit and minerals. Perhaps the best $20 Pinot Noir I've ever drunk. Premier Cru quality on a Village budget. **** Babcock 1998 Grand Cuvee Pinot Noir: Can you say massive? Feel the muscle that 1-2 tons per acre provides. Drink this wine and then we can talk about the impact of yield on quality and intensity -- and just wait for the 1999! Great color, intense, meaty, incredibly dense -- young, but the bones are there and the structure is intact. Watch this wine shine in 3-6 years when it settles into a comfortable balance. Even at $50 a bottle, I have to give it three stars for potential and structure. *** Babcock 1997 Grand Cuvee Pinot Noir: Called 'The Greatest Wine I've Ever Made' by Bryan. Spicy and Huge!! Very very intense, and as much complexity that I've found in a New World Pinot. It was one of the few wines I've tasted that left me spellbound -- unable to express my thoughts about it. Smelled of cinnamon and nutmeg and lush, juicy fruit AND it has structure and WONDERFUL layers of flavor. Mmmmm.. This wine will not be released for a few more months. Bryan said it was 'dumb' when we tasted it. HA!! Unreal. This wine will cost $40, which seems about right to me. **** Babcock 1996 Estate Pinot Noir: Cherry meets earth and darker fruits. Still vibrant, but starting to show a little funk and bottle-age. Great intensity and complexity. Love to drink this with duck, or anything for that matter. ** Babcock 'One-Ton Per Acre' 1995 Pinot Noir: Thick, fruity nose, still a bit tight for 1995, but flavorful and really minerally. Good intensity but the tannics still seemed chalky and hard to me. ** Babcock 1994 Estate Pinot Noir: Beginning to show great bottle-aged flavors -- classic! Time to drink it up, between now and 2001. Smelled like a bottle-aged Volnay -- leather and tar and violets and red fruits. Awesome mouth-feel and chewiness. Intense! Balanced! Beautiful. And it's almost all gone. Best 'drinking' wine of all the Estate wines I tasted. **** Babcock 1993 Estate Pinot Noir: Smellinhg serious tar/leather/violets and pruniness of a bottle aged bottle of Pinot. Not as fruity or intense as the 1994, but what is? Considerable 'brick' color shows wine is on the way down. As good as some bottle-aged Premier Cru Burgundy I've drunk. If it's in your cellar, break it out while there's still time. Short, dusty finish. Fruit has seriously faded. ** Babcock 1997 Santa Barbara County: Lush, fruity, awesome bargain at $20. Steven Tanzer loved it!! (89 points) *** Babcock 1997 Mt. Carmel: Earthy, musroomy, loaded with F. Frerer oak. If you like it deep and earthy, order it. This wine is not to be released for a few months. $35. ** Babcock 1996 Santa Barbara County. Another delicious bargain weighing in right at the $20 mark. I could go on and on about Bryan's pinots, but unfortunately, those are the only ones available right now. *** Bonaccorsi Pinot Noir, 2000, Santa Barbara County: Medium to dark garnet color. Red berry, raspberry, strawberry are evident in the nose with spicy elements of vanilla, and hints of baking spices/fruitcake, sage. Lovely spicy, fruity nose. In the mouth the wine is clean, balanced and tasty with excellent elegance, zippy structure, and a clean, solid finish with a hint of fruit and soy sauce. Lots of new French oak evident in the lingering finish as well. Great Santa Barbara County bottling. *** Brewer-Clifton Pinot Noir, Rozak Ranch, Santa Rita Hills: Medium garnet in the glass. Clean berry fruit in the nose: cherry, raspberry, complex fruits with briar/sage and some chalky minerals. Great intensity in the mouth, chewy, tight and tart finish that shows its youth and bottle-ageing potential. Good acid, not overoaked, but good oak flavor in finish. ***/***- Brewer-Clifton 1999 Pinot Noir Melville Vineyard: Nice balance of fruit and earth here -- elegant and beautiful. Showing really nicely for third year vines. I expect the flavors and the 'flesh' of this wine to improve with every passing vintage. I expect really nice wines to be coming out of the Melville Estate, and with Greg at the helm of the winemaking there, expect greatness. ** Brewer-Clifton 1999 Pinot Noir Santa Maria Hills: Whatever Greg and Steve did to balance this usually fruit-bomb meets mint site, they did an excellent job. They turned the vineyard expression on its side -- this is a moderately masculine wine which is quite a feat of winemaking! Balanced and delicious. -- when the tannins settle this wine should be truly special. This is my pick of reds from BC this 99 vintage. *** (potential) Brophy Clark 1997 Pinot Noir: Lightly extracted (usual for 1997 SBC Pinot Noir) -- good finesse, flavor and balance. Standard Santa Barbara flavors: cherry, strawberry and a hint of mineral and herb. $18. ** Brucher 1997 Pinot Noir. Bien Nacido Vineyard. As I've mentioned a number of times before, I wasn't a big fan of 1997 Pinot Noirs from BNV in the 1997 vintage. Yields were outrageous and most of the wines are dilute. This wine is a pleasant example of good winemaking in a difficult year. Nose shows toasty oak, red berry, unripe strawberry some charm, hint of sage. In the mouth the wine is charming and simple, not too intense and lush though, a bit tart but drinking well. Put this in the 'to drink soon' category $20. Byron 1998 Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir: Still a youthful light garnet color with purply edges. Nose is saturated with bright cherry, red berry, baking spices, some earth sweet and herb notes all in in balance. In the mouth it is fruity, elegant and tight. Good fruit here, but still tart. Three years in a cellar and this wine may well earn three stars, as long as the fruit stays intact and the herbs don't come to the forefront. ** Calle Cielo Cellars 1998 Pinot Noir: Screams Santa Maria fruit on the nose -- pretty feminine style -- cherries and unripe strawberries, with good acidity and a hint of herbs. Some sweetness in the middle, with a nice finish. Quite elegant, excellent example of standard Santa Maria Pinot Noir in a good year. ** Casa Cassara Pinot Noir, 2000, Santa Rita Hills: Medium garnet color. Nose exhibits good fruit -- red berry, raspberry, strawberry In the mouth the wine lacks weight -- it's light and tart and quite tight still. Tasted a bit like young fruit from a young vineyard. Nice chalk and minerals, some elegance peeks through the acidity and tartness. Tastes like taut young Burgundy to me from a decent Vintage. Given 5 years this wine could certainly smooth out and be very nice. ** Clos Pepe Estate Pinot Noir, 2000, Santa Rita Hills: Medium to dark garnet color, unfiltered, but fairly clear. Nose exhibits clean red berry and strawberry aromas and hints of chalk and minerals. Big and assertive in the mouth, oak is still a bit rough and unintegrated, but the wine is big and melted up front with good tannin and acidity in the finish. Some chewiness and aging potential here. *** Clos Pepe Estate Pinot Noir, 2000, 'Vigneron Reserve', Santa Rita Hills: Medium to medium plus garnet color, quite clear for unfiltered wine. Aromas of ripe strawberry, raspberry are lifted by a decent amount of alcohol -- big, tempting nose that smells of sweet fruits. In the mouth the wine is fat and sweet with loads of fruit -- effusively fruity and pleasant, some melted tannins with good acid structure. Nice lingering hit of oak on the long finish. *** Clos Pepe 1997 Mission Vineyard Pinot Noir (47 cases made). Not to toot my own horn or anything, but this wine is really good. I find myself reluctant to give any more bottles away. It's almost GONE. For our first solo Pinot Noir effort, it came out nice. Massive fruit intensity -- that's what I like, with only a nuance of French oak. Makes me think that I should push for a fruit-forward style in all of my wines. ** Curran 1997 Pinot Noir, Julia's Vineyard: Nose shows sweet, juicy, red berry -- bit jammy, toasty oak. More than a bit hot in mouth, classic Santa Maria Pinot Noir that got a little overripe, good hit of new French oak here as well. Heat threw it a little out of balance for me -- the wine is trying to be elegant, but the flavors are a little jammy and the alcohol throws the finish and middle out of whack for me. Pleasant drinking wine, and my cellar master liked it enough to buy some. **- Fiddlehead Cellars: the 1997 Santa Maria Hills is a knockout!! REALLY expensive at $40+ per bottle, but if you can find it, buy it. Fruit that draws the line between deeply extracted and bright, lean structure, great finish and a lot of good new oak. Definitely on the highly recommended. *** Fiddlehead 1997 Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir: What I love about this wine is the finesse and balance..all elements, fruit, acid and oak are mingled to perfection. Great fruit, a feminine, bright-cherry style. Only a kiss of oak..any more would have hampered the brightness of the Santa Maria berries. A gem in a bad year. Recommended. *** Foley 1998 Santa Maria Hills Pinot Noir: Big fruity bomb that manages some elegance in the mid-palate. Good intensity from a light crop -- but still tight and monomeric -- two years in the cellar will improve this wine greatly and soften the slightly astringent finish. $32 is a bit spendy. ** Foley 1997 Santa Maria Hills Pinot Noir: Red fruits, hint of mint and oak, dry and earthy. Finish was a bit astringent for me. The fruit could have been preserved a little better in this wine, in my estimation. * Foley 1999 Pinot Noir, Santa Maria Hills: Nose shows the typicity of the SMH vineyard -- gobs of black cherry and sweet strawberry, hints of Eucalyptus and kola nut. In the mouth it's big, delicious and ripe, and only slightly tart and tight on the finish. Nice intensity, good fruit expression (really juicy), phenolics and tannins taste ripe. Elegant, fruity, slightly earthy and complex -- good juice but a little overprices, again, in my humble opinion. $38. ** Foxen Pinot Noir, 2000, Santa Maria Valley: Medium to medium plus garnet hue. Nose shows fruity and feminine aromas of cranberry and cherry Quite evident that the Santa Maria fruit produces a more serene and feminine style of Pinot Noir, one without the denser berry aromas of raspberry and strawberry. Just a hint of funk here -- some tar/kerosene, and even a hint of tropical fruit, like mango. In the mouth the wine shows nice sweet, fat red berry fruit, some elegance in the midpalate. A solid, decent version of SMV Pinot Noir. ** Foxen 1996 Sanford and Benedict: Even though this wine was panned (in my opnion) by the Wine Spec (only 85 points?), I think it's an excellent example of what site and wine-making expertise can do for a wine. Lovely, not massively extracted, but good fruit intensity with just the right amount of new French oak. Good balance. I like this wine -- it's classic femine-style Santa Rita Hills fruit -- Volnay-like fruit -- brighter, with some minerality. I'd like it even more for five bucks under what I paid, but Dick Dore and Bill Wathen make some damn fine wine, and I'm happy to pay for it. $35. ** Gehrs (Daniel) Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County: Lots of interesting smells one wouldn't think of as varietally correct for Pinot Noir --mint, cocoa, mustard along with the more normal expression: red fruits. Complex but a little strange. Try with food. * Hitching Post 1998 Pinot Noir Bien Nacido Vineyard: Classic HP nose -- sage and red fruits with that hint of tomato skin. Elegant, balanced and delicious -- if you like feminine Pinot Noir, this is your wine. Decent intensity, should be great with food. ** Hitching Post 1998 Pinot Noir Highliner: Similar to the Bien Nacido with more grip, mid-palate intensity and perhaps a bit more forward French Oak expression. This is a great wine to show the typical style and deliciousness of Santa Maria Pinot Noir. Would be a three star at a slightly lower price. $40. Great wine though. ** Hitching Post 1996 Highliner. If you like Frank Ostini's pinot noir, you'll love this wine. It has everything you love about HP PN, and MORE. This is Frank's first attempt at a super-premium blend from his best barrels -- and it costs a little more too. I think this wine is a solid value -- deep masculaine flavors, strong fruit saturation wrapped tightly around plenty of new oak. This is one for the cellars -- call and get a case and stick it high enough that you can't reach it. $35. ** Hitching Post 1997 Highliner. More juicy fruit and French oak than the normal 1997 bottlings, this reserve-style wine shows great intensity and balance for a low-extract, overcropped year like 1997 in Santa Barbara. As always, the Hitching Post wines smell vaguely of cherry, strawberry with a hint of tomato-skin. Bit spendy for $40. ** Huber Vineyards Pinot Noir, 2000, Estate, Santa Rita Hills: Dark garnet color, fairly clear in the glass. Nice blackberry, currant, coffee references in the nose, dense fruit with hints of sage and briar. Complex, fruity and hint of herbal qualities made the mouth-feel of this wine remind me of good young Burgundy. Some oak and char flavor, especially in the finish. Good acid, delicious, I susupect the wine would be great with somewhat assertive Pinot Noir-friendly foods. ***- Lane Tanner 1998 Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara County: Overt and juicy on the nose, nice and dry in the mouth with great chalky minerality and earth. Really enjoyed this wine and bought a 1/2 case. **+ (add a third star when it all comes together and becomes harmonious in bottle) Lane Tanner 1998 Pinot Noir Santa Maria Valley: Raspberry leaps from the glass -- hints of acid and really juicy and inviting. A hint of minty herbs, but adds to complexity and is not strong enough to fault the grower or winemaker. Nice extraction, good color -- hint of coffee there, or was I having a caffeine moment? ** Lane Tanner 1998 Pinot Noir Julia's Vineyard: A hint of funk in the nose (sulfur reduction?), leathery, big, still a bit awkward but complex to say the least. Needs to find balance in the bottle. Will it happen? Try again in a year or two. * LinCourt 1999 Pinot Noir (Santa Maria Hills) Classic Santa Maria Hills Pinot Noir -- fat and lovely red berry fruit in nose, hint of dill, sage, and eucalyptus. Juicy and sweet in style, very easy to drink. Decent finish and solid intensity from a small crop in 1998. $22. **+ Longoria 1997 Bien Nacido $20. Light of color, but a beautiful wine for a picnic or a meal that doesn't need a hugely extracted red wine. The flavors are very feminine and juicy. Pleasant, and how often can you drink one of Rick's pinots for $20. ** Longoria 1996 Bien Nacido $32. Deep garnet color, nice varietal nose hinting intenisty and dark-berry fruitiness. Very nice in the mouth, round and velvety, deep flavors. Not the most complex wine in the world, but delicious, saturated and fruity. ** Longoria 2000 Blind Faith Vineyard Pinot Noir (tasted from barrel, 30 gallon production) Aggressive nose with great fruity red and black berries, white sage and earth. In the mouth: medium body, still tart and mid ML, then smooth oak tannins. Good color for such a young vineyard. Mix of 115, 667 and Pommard 5 cultivars. Will be ***. Longoria 2000 Mount Carmel Pinot Noir (Tasted from barrel): Tons of toasty French oak in the nose with rich, dark fruits and masculine Pinot Noir earth scents. In the mouth it's delicious and rich, good minerals in the middle, elegance is still developing (mid ML), long finish with minerals lingering. Solid ***. Melville Pinot Noir, 2000, 115 Indigene, Santa Rita Hills: Medium plus garnet color in the glass, good clarity. The nose is pretty. Strawberry, raspberry and cherry fruit tempt the nose with their effusive aromas. In the mouth the wine is huge and chewy, very intense, balanced, tasty and complex. Balance is achieved between the great fruit, evident minerals, judicious use of oak (to let the SRH fruit shine through) but to coat the finish, and good acidity. My favorite of the two Melville wines, and one that will shine in the company of any Pinot Noir, from anywhere in the world. ***+ Melville Pinot Noir, 2000, Estate, Santa Rita Hills: Dark garnet color, hints of turbidity Lovely and intense aromas of cherry and strawberry, clean and effusive. Nice and intense on the palate with lots of alcohol, nice depth and purity of fruit, vibrant, clean, with hints of clean earth in the finish and more melted tannin than harsh angles. A really superb 'standard' for 2000 Santa Rita Hills wine. *** Ojai Vineyard 1998 Pinot Noir Bien Nacido Vineyard: I wasn't enticed by the nose of this wine -- smelled a bit sulfurous to me -- maybe a touch of reduction? Also scents of red and black fruits, charred French oak. Much better in the mouth -- showing more purity and typicity than one would expect -- more elegant than Adam Tolmach's usual Pinot Noir. ** Sanford Pinot Noir, 2000, Santa Barbara County: Medium to medium plus garnet color. Nose shows sweet red berry fruit, cranberry, vanilla, hint of clean earth, sage, briar and perhaps a touch of funk/tar/mercaptan that blows off. Some silkiness already apparent in the mouth with decent elegance -- mature fruit but not overripe -- some oak in finish as well. The wine is still tight and somewhat one dimensional (dumb from bottle shock?), but does have balance, tastiness and good acidity. **+ Sanford Pinot Noir, 2000, Rinconada Vineyard, (barrel sample), Santa Rita Hills: Nose is far too ripe and dense to be varietal -- smells more like a blend of Zinfandel and Petit Sirah to me with plum, prune, cassis and currant flavors -- very sweet, juicy, fat black fruits. In the mouth the wine is exceptionally sweet, ripe and extracted. To me the wine is clunky and top (fruit) heavy without much substance in the midpalate or finish. The fat fruits in the wine are not without charm, but this is Pinot Noir pretending to be something else in my estimation, and loses the elegance and balance that I seek in the varietal. Touch of green olive on the finish of this wine. Those who like inky, huge monster Pinots will likely go crazy for this one. Lacks strong acidity. ** Sanford 1999 Vin Gris of Pinot Noir: Toasty, strawberry and dried cherry fruits in the nose, sweet herbs. In the mouth the wine is balanced and tasty, with good structure and strangely some of the hints of tar and violet usually reserved for bottle aged Pinot Noir waines. ** Sanford 1998 Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County: Nose exhibits baking spices, black pepper, juicy intense red fruits, sage, quite complex. In the mouth the wine is bone dry with tight structure and some tartness still evident in finish -- needs a few years, but quite a nice wine for the price. I preferred the 1998 SBC to the barrel select, actually. **+ Sanford 1998 Pinot Noir Barrel Select, Sanford and Benedict: Wine smells of leather and violet, spicy red and black fruits and dry sage. In the mouth the wine tastes intense, dry, pleasantly gamey, with some fruit and tomato skin hints. Some elegance and intensity, but should be more at this price point. I opted for the SBC bottling for the value. **- Sanford 1997 Pinot Noir Vin Gris: Meatier than the 1996. Light but serious wine. Nice intensity and wonderful varietal expression. Great picnic wine. $12. ** Sanford 1997 Pinot Noir (Santa Barbara County): Decent intensity in a difficult vintage. Beautiful cherry nose, medium garnet color, oak flavors with unripe strawberry, touch of sage and herb -- hints of more masculine flavors, but maintains a strong feminine mouth feel. $20. ** Sanford 1995 Barrel Select. Sanford and Benedict Vineyard $36. Yum. Darkly colored and so packed full of intense pinot-berry flavors it oozes out of the bottle, with the added bonus of earthier aromas -- leather and sage -- toasty oak. I take this wine to dinners where I really want to impress someone. This wine speaks volumes about yield. Less than 2 tons an acre in 1995 -- compare this wine to the Foxen 1996 S&B blindly (5 tons), and then we'll talk about vineyard yield and its effect on intensity/minerality in a wine. ***
Syrah and Red Rhones
Andrew Murray Vineyards 1999 Syrah Tous les Jours: Andrew's first attempt at a blended California Appellation 'bargain' priced Red Rhone Blend, this wine didn't excite me as much as his other wines, meaning those from his Estate. There's some dark fruits and pepper here, along with a meaty, slight mercaptan (sulfur problem) odor that I detect in the nose, but not in the mouth. As a judge I would call this wine flawed, but some prefer the complex, meaty, earthiness to a fruit-forward, densely-packed syrah that Andrew is famed for. With some gamey meat, this would be a winner. * plus. Andrew Murray Vineyards 1999 Esperance: Dark and delicious. Nose exhibits tons of compotey black fruits, complex hint of pepper and sauvage. In the mouth the wine is balanced and fruity with admirable intensity and good structure. Will certainly benefit from cellaring, maybe more than usual with the cool 1999 vintage. Try it in 2004 and see how's it coming along. ** plus Andrew Murray Vineyards 1998 Syrah -- South Slope: A great expression of the varietal. As is customary from AMV -- serious intensity and extraction -- viscous purple wines with enough glycerin and young tannin to keep me chewing. Intense nose hints of great things to come: dense black berries with leather, pepper and balanced meaty flavors in the mouth. Dense, delicious. *** Andrew Murray Vineyards 1997 Syrah -- Roasted Slope: Dark, brooding, smokey, gamey -- definitely the masculine side of Syrah. Awesome opaque color, the oak's in balance. Wrap this one up and cellar it for a few years to soften the massively extracted tannins. *** Babcock 'Black Label' 1997 Syrah: Opaque purple color... almost as black as the label. Massive black fruits and a hint of black cherry and pepper. Touch of game, but it's coated with massively extracted fruit smells and flavor. This was by far the best Syrah poured at the 1999 Vintner's Festival. A massive, delicious wine that will only get better. Still really oaky and tight. The only thing keeping it from four-stars is the hefty $35+ price tag. *** Beckmen 1998 Estate Syrah: Nice dark color -- nose of dense black fruits, sage and clean earth. Fairly complex for a non-blended Syrah. Would have been a three star wine with a little more structure -- may well evolve into something truly delicious. ** Beckmen 1999 Cuvee le Bec (Grenache 53%, Mourvedre 22%, Syrah 25%) Color gives away it's Grenache pedigree -- deep but more garnet than opaque. In the nose it shows gorgeous fruit, complex earthy notes, some jammy components. In the mouth the wine is elegant and tightly structured, beautiful length and finesse in the middle palate. A wonderful Rhone Red that takes itself seriously without having to be overextracted. KUDOS! *** Beckmen 1999 Grenache (15% Syrah) Purisima Mountain Vineyard: Young 'Tablas Creek Clone' fruit, great wine. Juicy, red and balanced. Nice intensity, interesting mineral character unusual for California Grenache. I believe this will be an excellent wine for table -- more elegant and complex than most CA Rhones. It's not just for blending any more! What really made this a three star wine was its $19 price tag. Sweet red fruits in the nose, berries, hints of black and white pepper. -- but mostly juicy red berries. Solid intensity -- great red fruitiness. The wine is elegant but tight, and will iron itself out with patient cellaring. Try it in 2003-2006. ** plus Beckmen 1999 Syrah Santa Ynez Valley: Nose is full of blackberries, oak and a hint of meaty sauvage. In the mouth the wine is still tight yet fruity -- big unevolved tannins that only partially mask this wine's lovely elegance in the middle of the mouth. A bit meaty and masculine, this is a well structured effort, well worth the money nose great fruity flauors big tannins meaty elegant and structured tight. ** plus Beckmen 1999 Syrah Purisima Mountain Vineyard. Juicy, densely fruity nose with hints of earth and meaty sauvage. Delicious, fruity and balanced in the mouth with good structure, good oak, hint of vanillin and tight, youthful tannins. A very nice wine. I plan to buy up a case quickly on release. *** Bedford-Thompson 1996 Syrah: Hot nose, smells like high alcohol stuff -- dark fruits. Tannins are still tight -- no fatness in the midpalate. Decent intensity -- dark fruits, pepper and a hint of game. * Bedford Thompson 1998 Grenache: Light pinot-ish color, nose is packed with jammy, red, sweet berries, hints of cinnamon and clove. In the mouth this wine is balanced, big on intensity and juiciness, a tad hot in the back of the palate but fruity, elegant, young, with a still-tart finish. Watch this one mellow in 3-5 years and drink even more delicious than right now. $18. *** for value Bedford Thompson 1998 Syrah: Medium color and extraction for syrah, not light, not inky. In the nose the wine smelled of bacon, oak toast, black fruits, spice. I found the first taste to be a bit flabby in mouth after the Grenache, but this could be an expression of vanilla-packed American oak. Can't imagine this wine could go longer than 5 years in cellar, but I hope to be pleasantly surprised. Hint of sulfur stink blows off after bottle is opened, nice flavor with no off-tastes in the mouth; intense, good fruit. Most tasters won't notice the funk behind the bacon, (some would define it as 'sauvage') and the wine does not taste flawed, but I couldn't get over it. A few more ml copper sulfate in barrels and this wine goes to 3 stars. $20. ** Bridlewood 1998 Saddlesore Rose (Grenache, zin, syrah) CA. Nose exhibits fruity aromas of strawberry and bright red berry, spice, vanill and white pepper. In the mouth the wine is good and dry, squeaky clean, with nice fruit and Rhone-style rose' flavors. Clean and tasty and WHAT a bargain. Even had decent structure and a hint of chalky earth. $5. *** for value Bridlewood 1998 Grenache (Collins Ranch Cucamonga). Baking spices in nose especially cinnamon, tea, super juicy cherry, red berry. Pleasant and sweet in mouth, also soft on finish with hints of dry herbs and yellow mustard. A nice wine from the L.A area and well priced. Drink this wine with anything that has a mustard or aggressive herbal flavor, $12. **- Bridlewood 1998 Syrah Winners Circle Central Coast (20% Viognier) Nose is subdued, which surprised me with so much viognier in the wine, expresses red berry fruit, some clove, vanilla and spice -- only a hint floral. Light, fruity and balanced in the mouth with a good hit of oak. $24. *+ Bridlewood 1998 Syrah Paso Robles: One good thing about the 1998 and 1999 vintages in Paso Robles is that the season was cooler and longer than in usual years which keeps the Syrah a little less jammy and fat -- the wines tend to have more structure and elegance -- more like Los Alamos fruit than Paso. Deep color in the glass, not inky, but deep. Nose is dense with references of currant and blackberry, vanilla toast from American oak barrels. In the mouth it's dense, fruity, chewy but structured. Long finish made slightly coarse by a mix of French and American cooperage. $18. Drinking great and can cellar properly for up to 5 years. Great value, thereby garnering. ***. Buttonwood 1997 Syrah: First harvest off of new vines -- it stands up pretty well as their first attempt at Syrah. Juicy, red and black berry fruit -- pure juice but on the lightly extracted side -- which lends the wine elegance, but not a hell of a lot of stuffing. Varietal pepper and fruit with some oak (American?) earthy, short finish. **- Byron 1997 Io (Red Rhone Blend) I'm a bit jaded on this wine because of some funk in the first bottle I tasted back 2 years ago. I have no idea if it was a bad bottle I had, but the critics seem to love this wine, and the bottle I tried at the tasting room was clean, rich and pretty darn good. Although it's not the best value Rhone Red in Santa Barbara for $50 a bottle, it does an admirable job of presenting Syrah and Grenache in a cool-climate blend -- elegant, sweet, balanced in the mouth with more structure than I'm used to in a CA Rhone blend. The nose shows subdued blackberry and fat, spicy fruit aromas. In the mouth it's rich, earthy and enjoys a long, spicy finish. ** for overpriced. Foley 1997 Syrah: Bright red fruits with a hint of (?) blueberry that is very surprising and pleasant. Off dry? Seems a touch sweet, but not enough to detract from the wine. A touch of intensity -- brooding and earthy on the finish. * Foxen 1998 Syrah -- Ambassador's Vineyard: Masculine, oaky, a bit o' the funk. Beautiful, clean, masculine and varietal in the mouth, with none of the earthy, mushroomy expression evident on the nose. Let it blow off and taste the deliciousness. ** Gainey 1997 Triada. A wonderful blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourverdre. Bright and intense, balanced oak, complexity from the three grapes blended. Tannins are softening early -- splendid for early drinking. Definitely recommended. *** Gehrs (Daniel) 1997 Syrah, Paso Robles: Juicy, oaky, balanced. Nice intensity -- still tight and loaded with American Oak that has yet to integrate perfectly. Nice one to drink up in 2-3 years. ** Jaffurs 1999 Syrah Stolpman Vineyards: Beautiful, fresh, grapey, unevolved. Great potential here, but as yet is not strutting its stuff -- only half way through ML conversion. Look for this wine to stand up and assert itself within the year. Two stars now, but I would guess it'll be three on completion. **/*** Jaffurs 1999 Syrah Thompson Vineyard: From one of my favorite Syrah vineyards in California, this wine is juicy, grapey, bacony, BIG and delicious. With so many great Syrahs at the March 2000 Wine Cask Futures tasting, this one definitely was in elite company. Try to reserve this wine NOW. It's my guess that it will be one of the stars of the 1999 Syrah Vintage. *** Jaffurs 1997 Cuvee: Garnet-colored with a nose of black fruits, game and pepper. Nice balance in the mouth -- more finesse than knock-out power. Great acid structure with a clean finish. A solid blend of Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre. ** Jaffurs 1997 Mourvedre: Dark-garnet colored. Beautiful, bright red and black fruits with a wonderful smoky intensity. *** Jaffurs 1997 Syrah: Dark garnet, not quite opaque. Tiny little bit of funk on the nose covered nicely with pepper, red and black berry fruit and game. Beautiful intensity in the mouth with great balance. Good wine. Better in the mouth than on the nose. ** Kunin 1999 Syrah Paso Robles. Still sweet and unevolved. Good extraction -- big and tasty in its current incarnation. Tasting fruit-heavy right now but I expect it to mellow and become more balanced before botling. ** Lincourt 1996 Syrah: Hint of funk blows off on the nose. Unique but not unpleasant, a tiny bit of vegetal expression, but not enough to ruin the wine. Good finish. Tastes a bit stripped. (Copper addition for sulfur smell?) * LinCourt 1998 Syrah: Bacon, sauvage, red and black berry fruits in nose. In the mouth it's balanced and pleasant, good fruit and richness, but a bit of yeastiness, bready-ness in the finish behind some more elegant flavors. **, asking for a plus, for value. $20. Ojai Vineyard 1998 Syrah Bien Nacido Vineyard: Dark, juicy, balanced, shows cool-climate Syrah varietal character: black fruits and peppery hints. What blows me away about the 1998 Syrah offerings from Ojai is that Adam Tolmach maintains elegance and balance in heavily extracted red Rhone varietals. Tons of flavor here, still needs to evolve, but all that Syrah flavor in a wine already so balanced is amazing. *** Ojai Vineyard 1998 Syrah Roll Ranch Vineyard: Downright delicious as it stands -- but give it a few years and I bet this wine will knock socks off. A bit lighter in color than the Bien Nacido, but big, flavorful and lovely -- shows that same core of delicious flavor and elegance in the mid-palate -- great intensity but a bit hard and tannic still. Needs time to cellar and polymerize. Three stars for the potential, two for the way it tastes now. ***/** Qupe 1999 Syrah Central Coast: Nose exhibits some nice, bright raspberry, blackberry references. In the mouth it tastes clean yet feminine, lightly colored, more elegant than rich, and I found that it falls a little flat in mouth. A good quaffer. *+ Qupe 1998 Los Olivos Cuvee (Syrah/Mourvedre): Nice fruity, spicy, peppery, red-fruit nose. Maintains elegance and balance with a decent helping of French oak. Delicious offering, and the $17 price tag almost kicks it into a four star rating. Tannins are a bit hard, but they should be at this point. Two years in the cellar and drink it up. Yummy. *** Qupe 1998 Syrah Bien Nacido Reserve: Oak character evident in the nose -- also dark fruits, leather, pepper and a hint of vanilla. Really builds in intensity in the mid-palate. Great grip and already balanced. Great wine. Buy it up and put it somewhere you can forget about it for a few years, or I guarantee it'll get swilled in short order. *** Qupe 1996 Syrah -- Bien Nacido Reserve. Massive and tannic still, but the core is there and the wine is delicious and extracted. $25. *** Qupe 1996 Syrah Hillside Estate. Massive and peppery with a core of delicious black and red fruits. Needs some time, but what a fabulous wine from Mr. Lindquist. $35. *** Qupe 1997 Syrah Bien Nacido Vineyards: Med. extraction for Syrah. Clean, varietally correct nose of dark fruits and black pepper. In the mouth it's intense and lovely. Balanced, clean, delicious, with finesse. ** Qupe 1998 Central Coast Syrah: Fruity, highly varietal nose: red and black berry fruits. Light bodied, but excellent flavors. Good value at $14. ** Rideau 1997 Chateauneuf Cuvee: Fruity, chocolatey, some minerals and definite elegance in the mid-palate. Great food wine. Good balance. Solid effort.
Bordeaux Varietals and BlendsBabcock 1997 Fathom (67% Cab Franc, 9% Merlot, 24% Cab Sauv.) Great, expansive nose of dark fruits and pepper from the Cabernet Franc. Pleasant herbal note, awesome extraction and intensity. This is as good as Santa Barbara has done with Bordeaux varietals. Still way tight, tannic, huge, delicious. *** Beckmen 1998 Atelier: This wine is still going through some stages of development and evolution -- should work itself into a nice wine after the strong oak flavors marry with the Cabernet Franc and Merlot flavors. Some Central Coast Cabernet herbal and veggie notes -- but as an element, and not stick out too much at this stage. Oaky, vanilla, decent intensity -- length of finish should improve. In the nose the wine shows pretty red fruits and baking spice. Medium to full bodied with lovely fruit and finesse in the middle palate. Still very tight, high acid, bit herbal. I liked this wine and would use it to illustrate how Cabernet-based wines can be grown in Santa Barbara to good effect. ** Beckmen 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate. Nose shows pruney, jammy fruit. In the mouth it seems older than 1998, with flavors usually associated with more bottle age: rich chocolate, strange (tight) tannins, lots of oak on finish. Still can't say I'm a huge fan of Santa Barbara Cabernet Sauvignon. *+ Buttonwood 1996 Merlot: Medium color, light/medium body with a rich, black fruit nose. Clean and varietal and quite a bargain. Drink it up with food. $18. ** Buttonwood 1996 Cabernet Franc: Spicy, herbal, red fruits, lightly extracted -- juicy, but on the light side of Franc. Some depth, good elegance -- might be really nice with cuisine usually reserved for lighter reds. Peaked? Probably. Don't wait. $18. ** Foley 1997 Merlot: Thick black fruits on the nose. Still young and grapey, balanced with decent intensity -- oak is still sharp and unintegarted -- needs a few years to gain balance in bottle. $30 is better spent on Merlot from Napa. ** Foley 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon: Flavors of chocolate, herb, juicy black fruit -- still really young -- lots of sharp French oak -- needs to still find a comfortable balance in bottle. Might not happen. *+ $30 will buy you much better Cab in Bordeaux or Dry Creek. Foley 1998 Merlot 'La Cuesta Vineyard' $30 Nose shows deep, plumy, juicy, jammy, rich dense fruit flavors -- in the mouth the wine shows delicious fruit flavors, ripe and fairly soft tannins, oaky flavors with an angular finish that will work itself out in a few years. Amazingly, no strong flavors of herbs or vegetables. Really nice for SYV Merlot. ** LinCourt 1998 Cabernet Franc: This was certainly the surprise of the tasting, and I'll tell you straight off that I took home a whole box. Beautiful spicy black fruits, fat currant references, baking spices. In the mouth it's still fairly tight like it should be, but no overt or awkward tannins or overt herbaceous or vegetal flavors. Judicious use of new oak, solid *** for $16 price tag. Quite a bargain for this wine. Longoria Blues Cuvee 1997 (Cab. Franc): Awesome wine. Peppery, black fruits, great extraction without being astringent. Still has some monomeric tannin and will benefit from 2-5 years of cellaring, perhaps more. *** Qupe 1997 Old Vine Red: A great 'daily' wine -- balanced and fruity for only $10. ** Vita Nova 1997 Reservatum: Aromas of currant, spicy red and black fruits, herb and bell pepper. Nice and intense in mouth, better than nose would suggest, not vegetal in flavor, berry references in middle palate, elegant. Decent finish. Good effort with Santa Barbara County Bordeaux varietals. *+ Zaca Mesa 1999 Toyon (Syrah/Merlot) I found this wine to be a bit funky, as if the wine had reduction or sulfur problems that were never satisfactorily eliminated. Either the Syrah went south and they used Merlot to soften it, or they bought some bad Merlot and tried to spruce it up with some good Syrah. Either way, I didn't care much for this blend. (not rated)
Zinfandel/Italian Varietals/Other RedsBabcock 1997 Eleven Oaks Sangiovese: Pruney on the nose and in the mouth. Ripe black fruit, vanilla all finishing with the minerally-dry acidity that is the calling card of the Italian varietals. Nice wine -- little spendy at $30. ** Bridlewood 1997 Sangiovese (Carrari Vineyard, 25% Merlot). Nose shows cinnamon, juicy red fruits. The wine is still light in color, even with the added Merlot, and in the mouth it shows pretty red fruits, spiciness, hint of iron, earth and herbs -- light body and intensity and still tart and angular. $16. *+ DiBruno 1997 Sangiovese, Stolpman Vineyard: Highly varietal nose -- which is a feat in itself in California. Pruney, jammy, kola nut, glycerine and alcohol on nose and in mouth -- sweeter in the mouth than one would expect -- fruit-wise -- no residual sugar. Quite intense, good typicity. $18 makes it a *** Foxen 1998 Sangiovese Rosso: (75% Sangi, 25% Merlot) A delicious Cal-Super-Tuscan blend. This one's a winner. Pretty nose of red fruits and hints of deeper, darker fruits, oak vanillin and minerals. Delicious and balanced in the mouth. This one gets my vote for a big plate of pasta and some garlic bread. Downright delicious. Give it a few years in the cellar for best results. **+/***- Il Podere 1997 Riserva Ragazolegnes: 66% Barbera, 34% Nebbiolo. Slightly doughy on the nose with grapey, pruney fruit expression. In the mouth it's juicy and balanced -- structured for food, with some dry Italian typicity to boot. ** Il Podere 1996 Refosco: A tasty version of this oft-maligned grape. Think Zinfandel meets Nebbiolo. $15. ** Morovino 1997 Tango: Blend of Zinfandel and Merlot. Great nose -- oak, black fruits, lots of American oak. Juicy, delicious, earthy flavors -- drinking well young. ** Santa Barbara Winery 1999 Beajour: Nose is perfectly beaujolais -- chalky, carbonic, very juicy, grapey -- but bigger and more tannic from the Zinfandel. Apple, malic finish. Tasty wine and cheap! Almost three stars for staying true to the New Beaujolais style. **+ Stolpman Wines 1997 Estate Sangiovese: Of the three wines I tasted from Stolpman, ('98 Merlot and Syrah were the others) this one was clearly the favorite. Made by Bryan Babcock, this is one of the few examples of an excellent Cal-Ital firing on all cylinders. Delicious, balanced and (gasp) varietal -- which is a hard element to find in a California Sangiovese. Throw this in a Tuscan tasting and see what happens. Elegant and delicious. I wouldn't wait too long -- it's drinking nicely right now. Eat with the wine for best results. *** Vandale 1997 Sangiovese: Nice varietal flavors -- minerality, acid, minerals and black pepper. Bright berry flavors, still young and juicy. Perfumey nose with a bit of oak. ** Vita Nova 1998 Central Coast Sangiovese (55%) and Merlot (45%): Jim Adelman's version of a Central Coast Super-Tuscan. Full of leathery funk, black fruits, heavy toast French oak. Little off the day I tasted it. *+ Whitcraft 1997 'Legrein' French Camp Vineyard: SICK color -- looks like low-yield Petite Sirah. Sweet fruit nose, grapey with a hint of citrus and orange blossom, chocolate. Strange beast, to say the least. Stunning intensity -- over the top -- a little wobbly and unbalanced to date -- lots of monomeric tannin here. How will it age? I can only guess... Really expensive -- $35. **
ChardonnayArcadian 1998 Chardonnay Sleepy Hollow Vineyard: Nose exhibits apple, pear and a touch of honey and tropicality -- mango seemed evident as well. The wine was not quite as rich as the nose suggested, but the mid-palate and the finish were actually big and Burgundian. Expect this wine to iron itself out and be outstanding. Quite tasty as it stands though. $40 price tag keeps it at two stars, though. ** Au Bon Climat 1999 Chardonnay Santa Barbara County: $20. Nose is very citrusy , lemon zest and blossom, with a hint of what I thought smelled like toasted pumpkin seed. In the mouth the wine shows it is a purposeful food wine -- nice and elegant, intense, some oak. The wine is certainly austere and delicious. This is my style of Chardonnay -- structured, not over-oaked, shines with food. **+ Au Bon Climat 1998 Chardonnay Sanford and Benedict Vineyard: Very balanced and integrated for such a young wine -- definitely shows the Clendenen style -- no single element fights for superiority -- balanced oak -- good fruit, excellent acidity. Nice elegant intensity in the middle, and it only gets better from here. ** Au Bon Climat 1998 Chardonnay Nuits Blanche: Great wine that is begging for a third star. Varietal and typical for the Santa Maria Chardonnay style -- only a hint of tropicality behind bright fruit and good acidity...nice leesy flavors hint of nuts and creaminess. This wine is a two-star sipper, and a three star food wine. **+ Au Bon Climat 1997 Santa Barbara Chardonnay: nutty, Burgundian nose. The wine is soft and round in the middle of the mouth, but finishes with unexpected acidity, which in my estimation is a mark of a really nicer Chard. Some minerals. Tasty. $18. ** Babcock 1998 Grand Cuvee Chardonnay: Really balanced and deliscious, with that tell-tale minerality and structure that denotes the top-end of the West-side of the Santa Ynez Valley. Plenty going on here -- bright fruit, loads of new oak -- cellar for 4-6 years for a truly special California white wine experience. At a lesser price-point, this wine would get three stars. ** Babcock Grand Cuvee Chardonnay 1997: New French oak complements apple, pear, fig -- massive nose with a great sense of minerality and over-the-top intensity and acid. Killer complexity. This is a clear exception in a year that produced a lot of thin, lame Chardonnays in Santa Barbara. Great wine. Taste it blind with the best White Burgundies and see what happens. *** Babcock Grand Cuvee Chardonnay 1996: Bottle age is starting to show already--butter and apples are turning to honeyed, caramel notes. More acid up front. Great intensity and complexity, but it almost seemed to be fading a bit. ** Babcock Grand Cuvee Chardonnay 1995: Starting to show serious bottle-aging... losing fruit swiftly -- tasted alcoholic and a bit thin to me on this tasting. I have a feeling I drank from an old/off bottle. This wine was beautiful last time I tasted it, about a year ago. * Babcock Grand Cuvee Chardonnay 1994: Lost the fruit... mostly acid and minerals. Good with food, but didn't do well next to the other wines. If it's in the cellar, you're behind on your research. Drink it up. ** Babcock Grand Cuvee Chardonnay 1993: Drinking VERY nicely. Bottle aged flavors with awesome minerality and acid structure, still has a strong fruit core (fading a bit...), but talk about intensity and finish! What a wine. *** Bedford Thompson 1998 Chardonnay Santa Barbara County: Butter and nuttiness on nose. In the mouth the wine shows spicy apple and pear, deliciously balanced and well oaked, good acidity but I thought I detected a tiny bit of sulfur dioxide in the finish $18 **+ Liked this wine quite a bit for the price -- and I believe the finish will work itself out with some air contact. Drink it after 2002 and see how the oak is integrating. Bedford Thompson 1998 Chardonnay Select: Little more oak, but the same flavor profile as the 1998 SBC Chardonnay -- maybe a little more intense and evident fruit -- apples, spice and pear. Touch more refined and soft, still needs time though, decent acidity, but the oak smooths this one out a bit, but the oak flavor is still mostly unintegrated. $20 **+ (touch too much oak, but a great value, should cellar a few years at least) Blackjack Ranch 1997 Santa barbara County Reserve Chardonnay: Made in a no-Malolactic style, this wine shows tons of bright, apple flavor with a good amount of oak. Lots of acid in the finish -- nice job of doing something a bit different. Not for the 'tons of butter/oak' crowd... and I like that... ** Brewer-Clifton 1999 Chardonnay Marcella's Vineyard: This was one wine that I thought jumped out of the glass, and the only BC white I took copious notes on. This is a big, luscious wine that is still showing youthful sweetness, malic notes and great broad, expressive flavors. When this wine calms down it will be one of the finest Chardonnays produced in Santa Barbara County in the fabulous 1999 vintage. Expect to pay dearly for it. *** Bridlewood 1998 Chardonnay Santa Barbara County (Firestone Vineyard). Soft and oaky -- not my style, but clean and somewhat varietal. Flavors of green herbs and a hint of vegetal expression from larger crop and shaded fruit. * Byron 1999 Chardonnay, Santa Maria Valley: Now this is where full ML and some new oak belong -- an excellent effort from a wonderful, if tight, vintage in Santa Barbara County. Yields were low, and this wine benefited greatly. Beautiful, apply, oaky, more than a hint of butter and halzenut -- smells like someone stirred the barrels well! hazelnut Balanced, intense and delicious in the mouth and with excellent structure. *** for the value. Byron 1997 Byron Vineyard Chardonnay -- Let me start off by saying that I generally didn't buy Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines from the 1997 vintage in Santa Barbara. Yields were HUGE and many of the wines were dilute. This wine is drinking nice at this point, not the most intense juice in the world, but shows bright minerals, green apple and good structure. I wouldn't cellar it for more than a few years. This is what I would be drinking while the 1999 sits in the cellar for 5 years. Only 2 stars because I thought it was overpriced. ** Domaine Santa Barbara 1997 Chardonnay Bien Nacido Vineyard: Better than their regular bottling, but another victim of the major overcropping of BNV in 1997. Nice minerality, light, fruity, pleasant but lacks intensity. * Foley 1996 Chardonnay: Buttery, ML nose... hides the fruit. Little thin for the amount of oak, but nice flavors and some minerals. * Foley 1997 Chardonnay: Good varietal nose, more fruit forward than the 1996, with a strong zippy structure and apparently, only 1/2 ML or less. Still lacks serious intensity, but I like the acid and the pleasant flavors. ** Foley 1997 Chardonnay Bien Nacido Vineyard: Solid balance in this wine. Full ML and oak style so popular these days. Some intensity. ** Foley 1998 Chardonnay. Nice wine -- full blown buttery, ML style with great acidity, which balanced it quite well. Classic oaked Santa Barbara Chardonnay -- hazelnut and leesy flavors -- ripe fruit, nice intensity. Spendy at $32. ** Foley1999 Chardonnay Bien Nacido Vineyard. $35. Nose is full of hazelnut, full blown ml aromas, rich, oaky. Good acidity, clean varietal flavors, delicious and intense with hints of apple, tropical fruit and oak, nuts and butter. This wine will certainly age, and will peak in 3-6 years of proper cellaring. ** stars, a bit overpriced for BNV Chard in my humble opinion. Foley 1998 Chardonnay Barrel Select (Santa Maria Hills/Bien Nacido Vineyards) Rich and nutty in the nose with evident vanilla and ML aromas -- the oak and ML dont allow much fruit to peek through the nose, although the nutty, buttery style will appeal to many Chard drinkers. Good flavors in the mouth, some apple and tropical fruit evident through the haze of expensive French oak and extended barrel ageing. Crisp finish, elegant and long, with only a hint of sagey herb. Nice intensity and structure. ** for being so spendy. $40. I'll go to Chablis at that price point and get the style of wine I prefer. Still tight, best in 3-5 years. Foley 1999 Chardonnay Dierberg Vineyard (Santa Maria Valley): Nose exhibits hints of butter, citrus, apple, pear, nuts. Beautiful core of limey, delicious fruit in the middle palate, singular and tasty expression of the vineyard. Good structure, delicious, but not overly intense or complex. Still compelling juice tho, and it should be at $35. ** stars for being rather expensive. Foley 1999 Chardonnay Barrel Select (Santa Maria Hills, Bien Nacido Vineyards): Another full tilt ML, 15 month in barrel, 2-3 weeks lees stirring monster. The wine does exhibit remarkable structure and good intensity in the middle of the palate. The wine shows excellent potential balance between fruit, oak, ML flavors and acidity, but is still a bit tart and angular. Try it again in 2003, and again in 2008. Again good stuff, and be ready to pay for it. $38. **+ Koehler 1999 Chardonnay: From the estate vineyard between Firestone and Fess Parker, Peter Koehler's first release shows promise. Fruity nose, well made -- flavors of peach and oak in the mid-palate and finish. Well balanced, but lacks the acidity and structure of wines from the West side of the Santa Ynez Valley. ** LinCourt 1996 Chardonnay: Full-blown malolactic and oak flavors, but not a lot of intensity in the mid-palate. * LinCourt 1997 Chardonnay: Varietally correct, clean, butter, oak, apple intermingle. More intensity than the 1996. ** LinCourt 1998 Chardonnay Santa Barbara County: Nose shows toasty oak, apples, hazelnut. In the mouth the wine shows good fruit, some minerals notes and elegance, tasty but lots of-oak **+ $18. Good value for the oak-loving. Longoria 2000 Clos Pepe Chardonnay (tasted from barrel): nose full of oak, pear, pineapple. Great minerals, chalky, delicious and structured. Good intensity mid-ML, attractive intensity but not overblown. The older the barrel in the stack, the more pronounced the minerality and finesse. *** Longoria 2000 Mount Carmel Chardonnay (tasted from barrel): Nose is distinctive and complex: apple, some fat tropical tropical fruits, some chalk. Softer than the Clos Pepe and perhaps greater length. In the mouth it is quite pure and delicious. *** plus Ojai Vineyard 1998 Chardonnay Sanford and Benedict Vineyard. Apple, oak, vanilla, butter: luscious and creamy, finishes with excellent acidity and hints of minerality. An elegant wine -- should be fabulous with food. With better farming this could easily have been more intense, though, thereby the two star rating. ** Ojai Vineyard 1998 Chardonnay Talley Reserve. Super-ripe and tropical -- oozing with flavor! More approachable now than the Sanford and Benedict. Big! Intense! Needs some time to calm down and exhibit some elegance. Buy it up and cellar it for 2-3 years. This one is an outstanding example of how 99's long hang-time influences flavor and intensity. $28. *** Qupe 1999 Chardonnay Bien Nacido Vineyard: $18. Nose is not varietal, to say the least, but is wonderful as its own animal. Exhibits references of melon, pure apple fruit, honeysuckle, jasmine, vanilla. In the mouth the wine shows good structure, clean as a whistle. Nice acidity and delicious flavors -- would not guess this is Chardonnay in a blind tasting -- did Lindquist add some white rhone varietal to get these aromatics? In the end it didn't matter -- I bought a case of 375 ml bottles because I liked the wine. ***- Qupe 1998 Bien Nacido Chardonnay. A solid value wine. Good core of ripe fruit, long hang times give the flavors an extra pinch of flavor -- green apples permeate with a hint of oak and clean minerals. $18. ** Sanford 1999 Chardonnay Santa Barbara County: Nose is oak-toasty with references of butter, hazelnut, citrus blossom. In the mouth the wine is balanced with decent intensity. Well-oaked, but not too complex or elegant. **- Sanford 1998 Chardonnay Sanford & Benedict: (organically farmed fruit) Nose reveals vanilla, apple, pear, popcorn butter. In the mouth the wine exhibits fat, lush fruit, is tasty and balanced, but still lacks finesse and minerals normally present in wines from the Western Santa Ynez Valley. Oaky finish and good acidity. ** Sanford 1998 Barrel Select Chard.: Nose shows vanilla, butter, apple, pear, is lush and soft. Better elegance and complexity than the S&B bottling, good intensity, some minerals, very oaky finish but good acidity. **+ Sanford Chardonnay Santa Barbara County 1997: Good acid, balance and finesse. Solid SBC Chard for under twenty bones. $18. ** Sanford Estate Chardonnay 1997: Non malolactic style makes this a very special wine. Very intense and beautiful expression of the grape, bright and citrusy on the finish, a kiss of French oak and minerality from the high calcium content in the local soils. $27. *** Whitcraft 1997 Bien Nacido Chardonnay: The power of this wine lies in the details: good fruit up front but the minerality and acidity really made this wine for me. My notes call the acid in this wine 'electric'. Not for the soft, spineless Chardonnay lovers that seem to drive the market. ** Vita Nova 1997 Reserve Chardonnay: Nice oaky Chardonnay -- nice for a party or a picnic -- but too much oak and not enough acid for my taste. $20. * Zaca Mesa 1998 Chardonnay. Nose of apples, pear and melon. Some tropicality on the nose -- more apples and citrus in the mouth. Good intensity and acid. A solid example of Santa Barbara Chardonnay. ** Zaca Mesa 1999 Chardonnay (7% Viognier) Well structured wine, but I expected more from a great, but tight, 1999 vintage for Chard in Santa Barbara County. Intensity is lacking, but there are some beautiful aromatics presented by the Viognier component. **-
White RhonesAndrew Murray Vineyards 1999 Viognier: Nose shows overt floral, almost soapy, esters -- bottle was a few days over so nose might have been tired, hence the soapy nose. If you LOVE full blown floral intensity in Viognier, an intense, in your face type of white Rhone, you'll love this wine. In the mouth the wine shows lovely, clean flavors, good intensity and good grip in the finish. ** Andrew Murray Vineyards 1999 Enchante: Nose is more balanced and complex than the Viognier, with beautiful floral and mineral notes with apple and some spice character. In the mouth it's delicious and mineral, crisp, floral, with good intensity. ***minus for price tag Andrew Murray Vineyards 1999 Roussanne/Marsanne: Crisp, love | ||||||||||||||||||||
