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by Tom Hill

A self-admitted wine geek, Tom lives in Northern New Mexico and works as a computational physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory doing numerical neutron transport & large scale code development. He has been tasting wines since 1971, participates locally with a couple of large tasting groups in his area, and is practically a fixture at most California wine festivals, such as the Hospice du Rhône, Rhône Rangers, and ZAP. Other interests: Tom is heavily into competitive sport fencing (foil & epee), biking, cooking, basketball, skiing, backpacking, mountain climbing.

Some New Pinot Noirs - January 16, 2013

We tried the other week (1/16/13) Some New PinotNoirs:

  1. Arnot-Roberts PinotNoir PeterMartinRayVnyd/SCM (35 yr old vines; 4 brls; 12.5%) 2011: Med.light color; rather dusty/Rhonish/roasted/smokey bit earthy/SCM light black cherry/PN rather meaty/whole-cluster somewhat complex nose; rather tart earthy/dusty bit roasted/Rhonish light black cherry/PN some SCM/earthy flavor with light/hard/lean tannins; tart/lean bit herbal/peppery some roasted/Rhonish light black cherry/PN finish w/ some hard/lean/bitey tannins; lots of Rhonish/whole-cluster fermentation aromas & flavors; a paucity of fruit but may develop into something interesting. $55.00
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  2. Verse PinotNoir LasBrisasVnyd/Carneros (12.9%) Forestville 2011: Med.light color; bit H2S/reduced/stinky that clears to somewhat earthy/black cherry/PN some smokey/toasty/oak nose; rather tart/lean some cherry/PN/bright some earthy/Carneros rather hard/lean/tannic bit green flavor; med.long rather bright/cherry/PN some earthy/ dusty/loamy/Carneros fairly tannic finish; a quiet/cherry/juicy fruit but somewhat earthy like a Loire PinotNoir; rather interesting a may develop into something pretty interesting w/ 3-6 yrs of age. $28.00
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  3. WindGap PinotNoir WoodruffVnyd/SantaCruzMtns (44 cs; 12.3%; #244) 2008: Light color; light black cherry/PN light smokey/toasty/oak some earthy bit simple pleasant enough nose; rather tart/lean light black cherry/PN bit hard/tannic light toasty/oak flavor; med.long tart/lean slight earthy/PN/black cherry light toasty/oak finish w/ some hard tannins; some earthy/SCM/Pinot character but a paucity of fruit and rather hard/lean w/little secondary character showing; pleasant enough but just that. $50.00
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  4. WindGap PinotNoir WoodruffVnyd/SCM (12.5%; #198; 56 cs) 2009: Med.light color; much stronger fruity/black cherry/PN light smokey/oak/charred/Burgundian light earthy/SCM fairly interesting nose; softer rather earthy/black cherry/PN light charred/Burgundian/oak interesting flavor w/ some hard tannins; med.long some fruity/juicy/earthy/black cherry/PN light toasty/Burgundian/oak bit hard/tannic finish; a bit softer and more fruit and speaks some of that earthy/SCM Pinot character;pleasant/ interesting Pinot that needs more time. $50.00
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  5. WindGap PinotNoir SonomaCoast (12.4%; 12 barrels + 1 Puncheon/308 cs; #2138) 2011: Med.light color; rather bright/cherry/PN/spicy light toasty/oak slight spicy/peppery pleasant/bright nose; rather tart quite bright/cherry/PN/spicy/cherry pie light toasty/charred/oak w/ light tannins; long pretty/bright/cherry/PN/spicy light toasty/oak finish; quite pretty bright/spicy/cherry Pinot. $36.00
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  6. WindGap PinotNoir SonomaCoast/PetalumaGap (6 brls/148 cs; 13.0%; #969) 2010: Med.light color; light dusty/earthy light cherry/PN light toasty/oak less bright fruit pretty nose; softer bright/cherry/PN some dusty/earthy light toasty/oak fairly light flavor w/ light tannins; med.long some dusty/earthy bright/cherry/PN some cold-climate/spicy finish w/ light tannins; a bit richer & more extracted and more earthy/dusty character; another rather pretty Pinot. $40.00
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  7. WindGap PinotNoir Gap'sCrown&Griffin'sLair Vnyds/SonomaCoast (12.5%; 314 cs; #2022) 2009: Med.color; stronger black cherry/PN/spicy bit cold-climate/peppery/spicy/herbal slight earthy/dusty attractive nose; bit hard/tannic somewhat strong black cherry/PN/black cherry cola light charred/oak flavor w/ some tannins; med.long slight herbal/rosemary/cold-climate/peppery pretty cherry/cherry cola/PN bit riper/stronger/lusher light charred/oak finish w/ light tannins; best & most interesting of the WindGaps and a bit Burgundian in character. $36.00
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  8. Donkey&Goat PinotNoir BrokenLegVnyd/AndersonVlly (14.1%; U) 2010: Med.color; light herbal/walnutty black cherry/ black cherry cola/PN/RCCola bit candied/confected fairly aromatic/perfumed nose; tart/lean herbal/walnutty black cherry/black cherry cola/PN/candied light toasty/oak somewhat strange/atypical flavor; med.long confected/cherry pie/black cherry cola/cranberry some herbal/walnutty light toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins; a rather strange rendition of Calif Pinot but I sorta liked it for what it is...atypical. $45.00
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  9. Harrington PinotNoir WileyVnyd/AndersonVlly (14.1%) 2009: Med.light color; slight corked/musty/TCA very light cherry/juicy nose; very tart bright/light cherry/PN slight musty flavor w/ light tannins; tart light pretty/ cherry/PN/spicy light pencilly/oak finish w/ light/soft/smooth tannins; a pretty wine on the palate but probably robbed by the slight but evident TCA taint. $nc (BH)
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  10. Harrington PinotNoir WileyVnyd/AndersonVlly (13.5%; www.HarringtonWine.com) 2011: Light almost rose color; light walnutty/herbal some black cherry/PN/black cherry cola bit earthy/dusty very light toasty/oak quite attractive nose; rather tart bright/raspberry/cherry/PN/cherry cola bit earthy/dusty light pencilly/cedary/oak elegant/ delicate rather perfumed flavor w/ light/smooth/graceful tannins; very long bright/spicy/cherry/raspberry/PN/ cherry cola light earthy/dusty/herbal light pencilly/oak finish w/ light tannins; quite an attractive/pretty Pinot on the graceful/elegant side. $40.00
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  11. Harrington PinotNoir StoriVnyd/RRV (14.2%) 2011: Med.light color; lovely very spicy/perfumed/fragrant bright cherry/black cherry/PN light pencilly/tobaccoy/toasty/oak very attractive/spicy nose; some tart bright cherry/ black cherry/PN/very spicy bit earthy/dusty light pencilly/toasty/oak flavor w/ modest tannins; long quite spicy/cherry/black cherry/PN light earthy light pencilly/toasty/oak rather aromatic finish w/ light tannins; a graceful/elegant quite spicy Pinot w/ great balance and should go out another 2-5 yrs; my easy favorite of all these Pinots. $40.00
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  12. Jaffurs Mistress PinotNoir LaEncantadaVnyd/SteRitaHills (110 cs; 14.9%; Clone 115 & 667; Bttld: April 21'12; 103 cs) Winemaker/DaveYates 2010: Med.dark color; strong ripe/black cherry/PN rich/lush/SRH Pinot slight earthy bit toasty/oak nose; soft slight herbal/earthy rather ripe/black cherry/blackberry/PN some toasty/charred/oak flavor w/ some tannins; long soft black cherry/PN/blackberry rather toasty/oak/charred bit alcoholic slight herbal/ earthy finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs of age yet; a fairly big Pinot some like the Sanfords of old under Bruno. $37.00
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  13. PaulMatthews PinotNoir TNT Vnyd/RRV (14.3%) 2010: Med.light color; some toasty/smokey/oak fairly lush/black cherry/PN rather spicy nose; softer very spicy/black cherry/PN some toasty/charred/oak flavor w/ light tannins; med.long fairly lush/soft spicy/black cherry/PN some toasty/oak slight earthy finish w/ light tannins; a pretty little RRV Pinot but seem a bit pricey for what it is. $45.00
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  14. Siduri PinotNoir PisoniVnyd/SLH (14.7%) 2009: Dark color; strong black cherry/PN/boysenberry classic Siduri/toasty/ oak/charred some herbal/rosemary/thyme rather complex nose; some tart/grapefruity bit herbal/rosemary strong black cherry/boysenberry/PN/ripe strong toasty/pencilly/oak classic Siduri flavor w/ some smoth tannins; very long/ lingering light herbal/rosemary/pungent strong black cherry/boysenberry/PN/ripe some smokey/toasty/oak finish w/ light smooth tannins; speaks strongly of Siduri Pinot and SLH Pinots; probably getting near its peak; quite a lovely rich/lush Pinot. $42.00

And the usual stuff from the BloodyPulpit:

1. These first seven Pinots were selected because they are the poster children for the In Pursuit of Balance crowd. At least based on their alcohol levels. Which, we are told, is not the sole criteria for selection of the IPoB crowd. Save for the A-R, I liked these first seven Pinots and thought them rather pretty wines. "Balanced"...yeah, I guess you could call them that. But after I tasted thru them, I just had this vaguely unsatisfied feeling that I'd like a bit more richness and impact on the palate. Maybe w/ more age, they'll develop some interesting aromatics that will make up for that. Certainly the balance should carry all of them out another 3-6 yrs. But I'm not at all sure how they will evolve.
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2. Jaffurs: This is DaveYates first venture into the world of PinotNoir. Not a profound SRH Pinot, but a solid/well-made first effort.
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3. Harrington: I've followed BryanHarrington's wines from the very start when I found out he was making Nebbiolo. Even made a visit to his winery several yrs ago...in a very industrial section of SanFrancisco. The visit was a bit of a disapointment. In the front part of his bldg is a metalworking shop....tres industrial chic. Alas, Katie the Riveter, whom I was really hoping to meet, no longer worked there. Someday, maybe I'll get to actually meet Katie.

I very much like Bryan's Nebbiolo, made from Paso grapes. One of the better ones being made in Calif. This was my first real exposure to his Pinots, a big passion of his. They strike me as being one of the more elegant/graceful/delicate expressions of Pinot in Calif w/ lots of aromatics. I was impressed.

TomHill

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