Notes from last night's Pinot tasting at Cafe Ysabel.
Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noirs NV - Unusually, this Blanc de Noirs actually has some Chardonnay in it. Very light old rose color. Impressively fine bubbles. Good weight and fruit although the finish was a bit weak. For a non-Champagne sparkler, very good for me.
De Loach Pinot Noir Green Valley Russian River Valley 2006 - Green, unripe note on the nose. Cherry. Quite sweet and a bit hot. Chocolate. Light and easy. Good balance and length. Quite nice.
Gloria Ferrer Etesian Pinot Noir Sonoma 2006 - Deep strawberry/raspberry nose. Sweet, new worldy flavors. Toffee. Not too interesting.
Patz and Hall Sonoma Pinot Noir 2006 - A little prickly on the tongue. Good length but slightly bitter. Some chocolate. Old rags aroma underneath the fruit which is really unappealing for me. Later on, dried herbs. Very dry. A bit weird for me.
Gloria Ferrer Carneros Pinot Noir 2006 - What a stink! Sulfur and rotten eggs. Fortunately this blew off after some vigorous swirling. Hot. Sweet nose. Very modern and rich. Not my style.
Cuvaison Pinot Noir 2006 - Modern but in a good way. Tobacco. Well balanced. Good.
None of the Pinots really grabbed me. The Cuvaison and De Loach were nice but nothing special or interesting.
Gene remembered he had a bit of sherry left over from a previous tasting so we had a some of that as well:
Bodegas Hidalgo Faraon Oloroso - Light, very long and nutty. Too bad we didn't have this with some tapas. I took home what remained of the bottle and will try it soon with some olives and nuts.
As I didn't bring any Pinot, my contribution was dessert:
Celler de Capcanes Pansal de Calas 2004 - A dessert wine of Garnacha and Carignan from Montsant. Very dark. Fruity but not jammy or overly sweet. Plums, figs and grapeskins. Easy to drink. Reminds me of Banyuls or a very light Vintage Port. Very good.