Browse Tag

pinot noir

Drink Like a Pirate Day: Noirrrrr!

Neudorf 2003 Pinot Noir (Nelson) – Made from younger vines. Mineral-infused (mostly graphite), with strawberry, raspberry, and nicely crisped apple. Excellent balance. For fun, good quality drinking over the near term, this satisfies. (3/05)

Labaille-baille-baille

Thomas-Labaille 2006 Sancerre Rouge “Authentique” (Loire) – High-toned rose hips and red licorice. Fruity and supple, easy to like. Too many red Sancerres choose between rough rusticity and an over-polished international sheen; this sits nicely in-between, with none of the excesses at the wings. (1/08)

Solon, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodnight

Fourrier 2002 Morey-St. Denis Clos Solon “Vieille Vigne” (Burgundy) – Upfront but one-note throughout, and much that’s hidden here is likely to remain so for the next few years. The red cherry fruit is crisp and finely-honed, and it hums with persistence that’s almost amusing for the duration of it. There are hints and shadows of something darker and more metallurgical in the background, but that’s deep background at the moment. Let it rest. (1/08)

DDOld

Domaine Drouhin Oregon 1997 Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley) – Muscular and still primary…a deep dark Nuits still in the prime of its adolescence. While it’s a pleasant, if shoulder-dominated, drink right now, there seems little point in opening one anytime soon. (1/08)

Back to Front

[vineyard]Glover’s 2001 Pinot Noir Front Block (Nelson) – Tannic. Tannic. Aside from the license plate, we’d been warned by others, so we can’t claim to be completely unprepared. But this much tannin in an otherwise helpless pinot noir is still shocking, no matter how prepped one feels. It’s got waves of acidity to match its tannin, too, with stringy bark, walnut, dirt and gravel making up virtually the entire palate. The finish is – big surprise – bitter. And sour. And…oh, never mind. You get the picture. (3/05)

Glover’s 2001 Pinot Noir Back Block (Nelson) – The difference between this and the Front Block is allegedly a matter of slope. Whatever the change, it’s for the better, with a richer, riper fruit core that is, nonetheless, still pummeled into near-oblivion by chewy, nutty tannin and a dirt-filled, bitter finish. It will probably age longer than the other, though to what end I can’t imagine. I don’t “get” this wine either, though I fail to “get” it somewhat less than the previous version. (3/05)

Admiral

[label]Kahurangi Estate 2003 Pinot Noir (Nelson) – Slightly dirty, showing plum and blackberry on a tart, juicy palate. This sharpens, over-focuses, and turns bitter and tannic on the finish. A shame, as the wine was – for a moment at least – building towards actual quality. (3/05)

Something’s fishy

Trout Valley 2004 Pinot Noir (Nelson) – This is the second label of Kahurangi, and bottled one month previous to our visit; Day muses that it might end up as a Kahurangi-labeled wine after all, though I don’t know if this actually happened or not. Pretty and floral, with a dusty flower pollen texture. There are minor suggestions of underripeness, but mostly this is crisp and food-friendly, though not much else can be demanded of it. (3/05)

Crazy like a fox

Jacky Renard 2005 Bourgogne Côtes d’Auxerre (Burgundy) – Thick. Not dense, not concentrated. Thick. The wine’s got good regional character, with red fruit mixed with darker stuff, some earth, perhaps a touch of mushroom and a pleasant acidity. And the tannin is ripe and soft (thankfully so, as there’s so much of it). But this is sort of like drinking Burgundy through a pillow. A tannic, almost impenetrable pillow. Should plain old Bourgogne be such a struggle? I don’t know. (12/07)

Valentin’s day

[label]St. Michael-Eppan “Sanct Valentin” 1997 Pinot Nero (Alto Adige) – Beginning to round into maturity, with earthier elements entering the otherwise beet-dominated palate. Red berries are in evidence, but they’re the minority partner. If there’s a quibble, perhaps it’s that the overall impression of the wine is slightly fetid. Nonetheless, there’s much to like here. (11/07)

[map]Mongeard-Mugneret 2002 Echezeaux (Burgundy) – Massive but complex – in fact, the complexity itself is massive – with an earthy nose, and, and, and…well, this is the standard youthful Burgundy line, and you’ve read it before. This is a particularly fine example, and will reward age, but the quality is obvious now. (10/07)