- 2005 Marimar Estate Pinot Noir Doña Margarita - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (3/17/2009)
It is rare to see US Pinot here, so I was happy to try this! Fairly light colour as Pinot should be. The nose is very primary and shows too much toasty oak for my comfort. But it does have some pure Pinot fruit in it, too, which, though red rather than dark, still veers towards the jammy end of the spectrum. It's a bit like cranberry jam, actually, or Ocean Spray -juice! But on the positive side, the fruit does have some of that vegetative/beetroot-like scents I so adore in Pinot.
Full bodied and fruity, but not over the top, a bit on the soft side though there is some acidity on the finish. Too much toasty oak on the palate, too: it is a bit like Venus in the night sky where it is obvious but where there are other bright objects so it shouldn't dominate - yet that one bright spot is what my attention is drawn to, thereby diminishing the whole. I am quite confident that few others will be bothered by the oak. The high alcohol (14,2% abv) isn't noticeable. But whereas Burgundy and the US Pinots I have liked have tended towards cool and bright aromas, this goes towards softer, warmer tones. Not the style of Pinot that I favour, but I think this will have its fans. Sadly horribly overpriced in Finland at 40,30€. I don't know if this has the reputation to age well, but this was so primary and well enough structure that I would try it again in 2-3 years to see if it has calmed down into something more to my taste.
As an aside, I have just realized that when I get only brief taste of a wine I have a bad tendency to hack it to pieces to see if shards reveal anything. When I am drinking with dinner, my notes tend to be much shorter. Sorry for writing a novel about this wine, but it was only a quick taste.
And another aside, what are Torres Family's Chardonnays like? I'll probably get to taste their Acero '07 tomorrow, so what am I looking forward to?