2007 Faiveley Beaune L'Ecu 1er Cru (Monopole)
Not an easy to find bottling ... quite fascinating and satisfying.
Shy nose , opening over time with light florals.
Tight palate (but not overly tannic at all) wasn't giving much for the first hour or so. Finally began to show some of its potential ... dark cherry fruit up front with a fascinating complexity on the mid-palate and finish, combining balanced acidity and revealing a unique garrique accent. I know that's not usually a descriptor used for red Burgundy, but the flavor character is a bit wilder than traditional earth or sous bois....
All in all a fascinating wine with a classic framework that would benefit from another five years or so of cellaring at minimum. Loved it.
More info on L'Ecu monopole here:
https://www.burgundy-report.com/burgundy-report-extra/05-2017/beaune-1er-clos-de-lecu-monopole/
2001 Martinelli Pinot Noir Martinelli Vineyard Reserve (Russian River Valley)
I've always had a fondness for the Martinelli Estate Reserve Pinot Noir, which has produced from around 1995 till 2003, I believe, at which point the vineyard land was sold off and developed commercially (a tragedy in my opinion since those vines produced some of the most distinctive, long lived pinot noir in the Russian River Valley).
Delightfully, the Martinelli Reserve was sound when opened with pretty good fruit showing. Certainly this vintage should be drunk up now as further cellaring won't likely be of benefit.
The awesome thing was that the wine put on weight with aeration exhibiting the signature raspberry, forest floor palate of this vineyard. The increasing presence of the fruit helped to offset some of the high abv ripeness (15.3%) that was noticeable when first opening the wine.
The vintages of this wine that I've enjoyed the most are in the 14.5% abv range and show all bit more balance.
Ultimately, this was a very pleasing wine (drinking a bit of history) and paired well with the delicious smoked pork ribs prepared by Jim Noble's pitmaster at his eponymous Noble Smoke restaurant.
https://www.noblesmokebarbecue.com/about
Just for comparison, here are notes on a 1998 Martinelli Reserve that we drank in August 2016...
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