We tried last week (3/11/09) Some New Calif Burgs:
1. Novy Chard KeeferRanchVnyd/RRV (14.1%) 2007: Med.gold color; strong melony/Chard/ripe
slight toasty/lemony/oak/bit charred nose; soft lush/ripe melony/tropical fruit/Chard
light toasty/lemony/oak flavor; med.long soft/ripe/lush honeydew melon/tropical fruit/
Chard lemony/light oak finish; a pleasant soft/lush/ripe Chard. $15.50
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2. Novy Chard Rosella'sVnyd/SantaLuciaHighlands (14.2%) 2006: Med.gold color; very fragrant/
perfumed/ripe/melony/lemony/Chard slight grassy/dusty/celery seed rather unusual nose; tart
rich/lush/perfumed ripe/melony/Chard/celery seed slight dusty/grassy light toasty/oak
flavor; med.long tart/lush/melony/ripe/Chard light celery seed/grassy/dusty finish;
seems much riper than the Keefer; pleasant ripe/melony Chard. $16.00
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3. Novy Blanc de Noir WW WillametteVlly/OR (13.9%) 2007: Pale yellow color; pleasant rather
fruity/appley slight minerally light toasty/oak nose; tart/lean bit thin/austere/metallic
light floral/fruity light toasty/oak flavor; med.short tart/lean/austere simple/fruity/
appley slight metallic light toasty/oak finish; does not speak of PinotNoir but maybe
an Aligote from a lesser region like Burgundy. $16.50
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4. DryCreekVnyd DCV10 Chard/RRV (13.5%; 970 cs; Brl frmtd, brl aged in Fr.oak 16 mo. sur lies;
TA: 0.52, pH: 3.66) 2006: Light gold color; rather strong toasty/tobbacoy/oak/caramel lush/
lemony/floral/melony/spicy/nutmeg/Chard nose; soft rich/lush/melony/lemony/Chard/spicy/
floral/pienapply slight celery big/toasty/tobaccoy/oak flavor; long soft/lush/ripe
melony/Chard/floral/pineapply rather toasty/tobaccoy/oak finish; fairly classic ripe/Calif
Chard; maybe a bit on the porky/ripe side. $30.00
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5. Peay Estate Chard SonomaCoast (13.9%; http://www.PeayVineyards.com) 2007: Light gold bit hazy color;
lovely minerally/stoney very appley/melony/floral/nutmeg/Chard light charred/oak complex nose;
very tart steely/minerally very appley/melony/Chard/floral/perfumed very light tobaccoy/pencilly/
oak complex flavor; very long bright/zippy very appley/melony/cinammon/nutmeg/floral/Chard
some minerally/stoney/steely light tobaccoy/charred/oak finish; a very bright/zippy/spicy
Chard that's packed w/ flavor & aromas. $50.00
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6. A Donkey&Goat Chard BrosseauVnyd/Chalone (14.1%; http://www.ADonkeyAndGoat.com; 96 cs) 2006: Med.
gold bright color; very spicy/appley/apple pie/cinammon/nutmeg/Chard slightly overripe
light toasty/oak slight earthy nose; soft very ripe/appley/tropical fruit/melony/Chard/
spicy/apple pie/nutmeg light toasty/pencilly/oak slight metallic/earthy flavor; long
very ripe/apple pie/spicy/melony/Chard/tropical fruit light toasty/oak bit earthy finish;
reminds me some of the old Chalone Chards when they were making great Chards; seems a bit
on the overripe side for 14.1%. $40.00
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7. TreViti PinotNoir StoloFamilyVnyd BienNacidoVnyd/SantaMariaVlly (14.2%; http://www.TreViti.com)
2005: Med.color; levely pencilly/oak some black cherry/BienNacido/Pinot slight Burgundian
attractive nose; classic BN Pinot nose; rather pencilly/oak black cherry/Pinot somewhat
tannic/bitter//hard/austere light pencilly/oak flavor; med.long hard/tannic/bit bitter some
black cherry/PN/BN finish; needs age but doubt it'll outlive these tannins; a lovely/
calssic BienNacido/Pinot nose but seemes hard & overextracted on the palate. $30.00
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8. TreViti PinotNoir StoloFamilyVnyd/CentralCoast/Cambria (13.8%) 2005: Med.color; very strong
perfumed/fragrant bright/cherry/black cherry/Nehi cherry soda pop slight earthy very light
pencilly/oak terrific/aromatic Pinot nose; tart bright/spicy very cherry/black cherry/Pinot
almost confected zippy light pencilly/oak slight dusty/earthy complex/elegant flavor; very
long very bright/zippy very floral/cherry/black cherry/Pinot slight pencilly/oak slight
earthy finish w/ light tannins; some like Calera Pinots w/o the earthy/terroir character
of those; beautiful bright/elegant/zippy Pinot. $30.00
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9. Peay Estate PinotNoir SonomaCoast (14.5%) 2007: Med.color; very strong black cherry/PN bit
earthy/Burgundian light toasty/charred/oak complex/fragrant/perfumed nose; tart very strong
black cherry/PN slight toasty/charred/oak some Burgundian/earthy complex flavor; very long
strong black cherry/Pinot/RCCola light toasty/charred/oak slight earthy complex finish;
a beautiful slightly Burgundian Pinot; terrific Pinot. $42.00
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10. Peay Pomarium Estate PinotNoir SonomaCoast (14.2%) 2007: Med.color; some toasty/charred/oak
very perfumed/very spicy strong black cherry/cola/Pinot bit Burgundian/earthy/minerally
quite aromatic/floral complex nose; tart bit Burgundian/toasty/charred/oak/earthy very
strong floral/black cherry/Pinot/violets some tannic/hard flavor; very long/lingering
powerful/perfumed/Pinot/black cherry very spicy slight earthy/Burgundian light toasty/charred/
oak perfumed/floral/fragrant finish w/ some tannins; needs 2-6 yrs and should go out 10-15
yrs; this is how they'd make Pinot in Burgundy if they were on the PacificOcean; terrific
cold-climate Pinot. $52.00
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11. Kenneth-Crawford PinotNoir TurnerVnyd/SantaRitaHills (14.9%) 2007: Dark color; strong
blackberry/black cherry/PN bit Syrah-like quite dusty RCCola ripe/boysenberry some toasty/
oak intense nose; tart some black cherry/Pinot/RCCola bit dusty some toasty/smokey/oak
flavor; very long toasty/pungent/oak black cherry/blackberry/PN/RCCola slight Syrah-like
fairly tannic finish; in the Syrah camp of Pinot style but very definitely Pinot; very
good/big powerful Pinot. $40.00
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12. Kenneth-Crawford PinotNoir BabcockVnyd/SantaRitaHills (14.5%) 2007: Very dark color; intense
black cherry/PN/ earthy/DrPepper incredibly spicy some toasty/charred/oak some blackberry/
Syrah-like complex nose; tart rich/powerful very strong/black cherry/Pinot/cola/DrPepper
some toasty/charred/oak very/very spicy flavor; very long/lingering very spicy/Pinot/black
cherry slight earthy/dusty strong toasty/charred/smokey/oak finish w/ fair tannins; needs
3-7 yrs; definitely in the Syrah style. $45.00
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13. Ojai PinotNoir ClosPepeVnyd/StaRitaHills (14.2%) 2002: Very dark color; strong toasty/oak/
charred/smokey/pungent intense black cherry/blackberry/Pinot some earthy/dusty slight
Burgundian/smokey complex nose; very tart/acid some earthy/Burgundian very strong black
cherry/blackberry/Pinot some toasty/charred/oak/pungent flavor; very long very tart/acid
strong black cherry/blackberry/Pinot bit floral/perfumed strong toasty/charred/oak slight
Burgundian/earthy finish w/ fair tannins; not showing much development yet; rather 4-square
in the Pinot as Syrah camp; needs 3-6 yrs of age and should go out 10-15; terrific Pinot.
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14. St.Cosme Cotes du Rhone (14%) 2007: Black color; very strong/pungent slight herbal/reduced
fragrant strawberry/blackberry/floral slight herbal some toasty/oak nose; soft very strong
spicy/strawberry/blackberry/Syrah/Grenache some toasty/Fr.aok bit earthy/dusty flavor;
long blackberry/strawberry/Grenache light toasty/oak bit earthy/funky finish w/ some
tannins; terrific CdR at a great price. $13.00
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And the usual pontifications from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Novy BdN: I had this out at the wnry last August and found it utterly unremarkable; rather
tart and austere, not much flavor or aromatics. Six months of age has done a lot for this
wine. It bears no perceptible character (that I could identify) of PinotNoir, but probably
reminded me of a lesser Aligote than anything. Hardly a profound wine, but perfectly
acceptable for what it is....making a silk (or maybe rayon) purse from a sow's ear. As I
recall, these were underripe Pinot from Oregon's besotted '07 vintage and were immediately
pressed off and fermented into this BdN.
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2. Peay Chard: Pretty much blown away by this Chard; one of the best Calif Chards I've had in
many a moon. It has a minerality in it you usually get only from Chards across the pond.
It's a lean wine, yet packed w/ flavors. Who says you need physiological ripeness to
achieve intense flavors. Simply stunning.
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3. TreViti: This is an operation waaaay out on the coast just NE of Cambria. The Estate Pinot
uses a Cambria appellation that the Feds let slip thru on a mistake...Cambria is not a
legimate appellation to use. This is very/very cold climate and even further West than
Bassetti vnyd....within view of the Pacific.
This is definitely a wnry to watch. I've had the Chards and the Syrahs, Very/very
impressed w/ both, particularly the Syrah...classic peppery cold-climate Syrah. Winemaker
is Steve Dooley, formerly of Talley and presently of Stephen Ross wnry. Very/very good/
competent winemaker as most already know.
This is my first try of their Pinots. The Estate Pinot was all you'd want in this style
of Pinot. The kind of Pinot Asimov would go ape over. It just pirouettes across the palate
like great Pinot should do. Stunning first effort for these grapes.
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4. PeayPinot: Both of these Pinots were impressive examples of a more elegant/restrained Pinot
that Asimov would love. The Pomarium is, of course, named after the attack Pomaranian dog
the Peays keep at the vnyd to drive off the deer, bears, and wild boars. It is very similar
to the regular Pinot except more of everything; flavor, aromatics, spice; yet doesn't
sacrifice that elegance and balance that is characteristic of the Peay Pinots. Magnificant
effort I think by the Peays and Vanessa.
The vnyd, way up the hell and gone, near Annapolis in the extreme SonomaCoast, is an
amazing site and definitely worth the drive for a visit.
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5. K-C Pinots: These two Pinots are definitely in the Syrah camp that Asimov rants against.
They're big/powerful wine in a Syrah-style but yet very difinitely speak of PinotNoir
with their black cherry character. The TurnerVnyd is just behind the BabcockVnyd in the
StaRitaHills. Though stylistically similar, the wines were markedly different. The
Turner was a bit more clunky & powerful; the Babcock had an incredible spiciness to it.
Both very good examples of Pinot that not everyone appreciates. I liked them quite a lot.
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6. Ojai: SteveSterbenz mystery wine. One that would be placed in the Syrah camp. The ClosPepe
Pinot of Adam's has always been about my favorite because of the bracing acidity it
typically shows. It's showing painfully slow development it is.
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10. StCosme CdR: Larry's mystery wine. Supposedly made from 100% Syrah. This is how they'd make
Syrah in the Rhone if they could. Ohhhh...I guess this is the Rhone!! This is one of the
greatest CdR Syrahs I've had since the Rayas. Better than any Guigals I've had. It speaks
loudly of Syrah w/o that candied/confected Grenache character many CdR's have and lacks
the earthy character many show. Terrific wine at a great price.
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11. This was a terrific Pinot tasting, comming right on the same day of Asimov's NYTimes
article in which he extolled the charms of the more elegant/lower alcohol/less extracted
Pinots and soundly trashed those bigger/Syrah-like Pinots. The TreViti & Peay were
definitly in the former class, the K-C definitely in the latter camp. Yet the Peay/TreViti
Pinots were packed w/ flavor and aromatics and hardly what you'd consider as wuss wines.
I loved 'em all.
Tom