Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir

 This was a really fun comparison of two excellent pinot noirs from the Santa Cruz Mountains. 

2009 Rhys Pinot Noir Santa Cruz Mountains
Some whole clusters... Black fruit with hints of sassafras.
Produced from barrels that didn’t make it into the Horseshoe and Alpine bottlings.
The depth of fruit is notable with the wine gaining presence over the course of a few hours.
Paired with lamb rigatoni.

2012 Neely Pinot Noir Upper Picnic Block Spring Ridge Vineyard
Last tasted in June 2017, when I assessed it as a beautiful wine with significant potential... and, indeed, the potential has been realized based on this bottle.
This wine shows a lighter, more deft style of pinot noir with mouthwatering acidity and modest abv compared to the Rhys.
High-toned red fruit with wonderfully floral nose.
Paired with Oysters Bienville.
The Varner Brothers made this wine for years until the business relationship with Neely ended.

 

1994 Guenoc Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer IV Vineyard

 

Wow! Drinking a bit young, if anything. Decanted and enjoyed over an entire evening. Kept opening up, gaining weight and showing beautiful fruit girded by fine grained tannins. 

Deep black cherry, cassis and tobacco with a voluptuous nose. Good acidity on the midpalate providing a nice lift to the tannins on a lengthy finish.

The fine grained sediment at the end of the bottle had a couple of small chunks that had a burst of chewy, intense black cherry 🍒  flavor that was off the freakin charts.

Cool stuff 👍🍷

"...Beckstoffer Vineyard No. 4, also known as the Beaulieu IV vineyard, has a rich history. It was purchased by Beaulieu from the Crabb estate in 1940. The vineyard was originally planted by Hamilton Crabb in 1868 and was a portion of the historic original To Kalon Vineyard from the Oakville AVA. This vineyard has produced some of the Napa Valley's best red grapes.  For many years, the grapes grown from this vineyard were a major component of the Georges de Latour Private Reserve, until it was purchased by Beckstoffer from Beaulieu Vineyards in 1993 and was renamed the Beckstoffer IV vineyard.  The vineyard was replanted after phylloxera by Beckstoffer from 1994 to 1997 to multiple clones of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc with modern trellising and closer vine spacing, the vineyard produces several luxury award winning vineyard designated wines. These vineyard designated Cabernet Sauvignon wines include Schrader Cellars, Paul Hobbs, Tor, Realm and of course, Carter Cellars...."

2005 Arcadian Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard (375ml)

Day Three...

This is still going strong a few days later... mellowed just a bit with the fruit being showcased and framed with an admirable backbone of tannins. Lots of life left ahead)..

There are several California pinot noirs that seem to reflect some damn nice Burgundian qualities, based on my experience:

Pisoni Vineyard (Pisoni, Ryan, Arcadian producers) reflecting top notch Cote de Beaune)

Kanzler Vineyard (Kanzler Family producer specifically their Reserve bottling) reflecting Cote de Nuits

Jensen Vineyard (Calera producer) reflecting Cote de Beaune

Day One...

Absolutely beautiful fruit that clinched somewhat after about a half hour. Still a bit young? 

Will check in 48 hours. But tasty stuff. Sort of Grand Cru SLH terroir, Bravo....🍇

Warm vintage? But has aged well.. 👍

2020 Chateau Pierre-Bise Savennieres Roche aux Moines

100% Chenin Blanc
14% abv

Beautiful fruit driven nose right out of the gate makes this wine irresistible. 

Palate is voluptuous yet underpinned by enough acidity to support a mouth-watering finish. 

I bought a few bottles to try and then immediately bought out the remaining stock from my local supplier.

Paired deliciously with fried pickles appetizer followed by spicy grilled shrimp.

2007 Faively and 2001 Martinelli

What a privilege to be able to enjoy these two wines side by side.

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...

https://lestastevinsdulac.blogspot.com/2016/08/1988-martinelli-pinot-noir-martinelli.html?m=1

 

2002 El Nido Clio

  

This is some friggin hard ass Mourvedre (Monastrell) from Jumilla.... later vintages like 2006, 2007, 2008 are much juicier...

Wait 5 to 7 years.... there is a glimpse of more luscious fruit after several hours of aeration.... sheesh...

Italy and Chile

2007 Petrolo Galatrona

This has aged well and is drinking nicely. Beautifully balanced blue fruit with a soft underlying minerality. Delicious.

2000 Concha y Toro Cabernet Sauvignon Don Melchor

On the far side of the aging curve. Time to drink up. Mocha and cassis on a very mellow finish. Not the most defined palate at this point but still enjoyable.