We attended a 2009 Pinot Noir tasting at Vino on Thursday where Chuck selected for wines from the 2009 vintage, 3 from the Anderson Valley north of Sonoma and 1 from the Central Coast of Santa Rita Hills. They were served blind (my favorite way of tasting as labels play no part in your judgement) and he asked the tasters to single out the Santa Maria selection. The following are Chuck's notes followed by my personal notes and ratings:
2009 Drew “Morning Dew Ranch”
showcasing a highly revered AndersonValley vineyard owned
& planted by superstar Pinot Meister Burt Williams
(former founding winemaker of Williams & Selyem) & done in a lovely,
seductively textured style by a Wines & Spirits Magazine 2009 & 2010
“Winery of the Year”.
Asian spice with concentrated red fruit jumps from the glass with good fruit and acid concentration on the palate with a medium long finish (4/5)
2009 Knez “Demuth Vineyard”
30 year old vine hillside AndersonValley vineyard crafted
by winemaking phenom Anthony Filiberti also
of Anthill Farms.
Dusty fruit and dried spice though still a little tight on the nose.Good acid on the palate with dried fruit and a nice flow though a shorter finish. (3.75/5)
2009 Littorai “Les Larmes”
a provocative, highly lauded AndersonValley Pinot from
superstar Ted Lemon
Muted fruit and mineral on the nose. A very pleasing palate flow with fruit, acid and a touch of mineral in balance. A lot of finesse and a medium finish. (4.25/5)
2009 Hilliard Bruce “Moon”
a masculine,
sultry, fabulously textured Santa Rita Hills “reserve” bottling by consultant
Paul Lato. Already generously rated by
the major wine media this looking to become one of the hottest tickets in the
Californian Pinot arena.
Dark black fruit on the nose with muted earth though still a little tight. Good fruit concentration on the palate with nice acid. Despite the weight on the palate, it had a nice flow on the palate with a long finish. (4.2/5)
After all was said and done, I assumed wine #1 was the Santa Rita Hills wine since it semed to be the showiest wine of the lot. Wine #4 was actually From Santa Rita Hills. I enjoyed the Littorai so much I signed up for their mail list and was immediately offered wine to purchase. However, a six pack will set you back $96 to the 50th! OUCH! That's $16 per bottle just for shipping... Oh well, I know I can find Drew in the 50th.
I also uncorked a bottle of 2009 Kosta Browne Russian River Pinot Noir (Not WS #1 wine, that was the Sonoma Coast bottle). As expected it had loads of fruit concentration, more than any of the four served tonight. We also sampled a 2006 Roessler Sanford & Benedict Pinot Noir which had as much Burgundian funk on the nose as I've had in a domestic Pinot... but in a good way.
We also tried the 2006 Whitcraft Morning Dew Ranch Morning Wood Pinot Noir which settled for 3 more years than the Drew so that the fruit wasn't immediately jumping out of the glass but it was still a very good wine. And according to Chuck, it's so good, "it gives you morning wood"...
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