Reviews

Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Silver Eagle Vineyard

PnP. Same notes as a few months ago. I definitely prefer this over the Kanzler Pinot that I had the other day. This Silver Eagle had some more earth and spice notes to elevate its flavor profile. The…

Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Kanzler Vineyard

Fairly typical profile of the Pinots that come out of this house. Cloudy red raspberry, red cherry, orange rind, and some subtle earth. Medium all the way around, with rounded edges that seemed to…

Goldeneye Pinot Noir Anderson Valley

Light-to-medium bodied, with the initial attack displaying red and black cherry, strawberry, and some earth notes. The mid-palate drop is where this almost completely falls apart, with an…

Patiné Cellars Pinot Noir Gap's Crown Vineyard

Sappy and ripe black and red cherry flavors gush on to the palate with a plush, fruit-forward push that washes over and completely coats the inside of the mouth. A gooey, viscous mouthfeel, with an…

Maxem Pinot Noir UV Vineyard

Pervious notes apply. Big on the black cherry fruit flavors. Fun and a bit bombastic this time around. Enough notable frame to hold it all together. Good as a PnP, but I'll try to hold for just a bit…

Marcassin Pinot Noir Marcassin Vineyard

Muddled strawberry, diluted red and black cherry, orange rind, and subtle spice (cinnamon stick) initiate the attack on this soft, subtle, and cloudy Pinot Noir. It still maintains a notable grip,…

B Cellars Pinot Noir Reuling Vineyard

Served next to the 2016 B Cellars Sonoma Coast, which I thought had a little more focus and complexity than that Reuling in its current state. The Reuling was more about luscious ripe fruit than the…

B Cellars Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

Served next to a 2016 B Cellars Reuling Pinot, which was much more ripe fruit driven than this Sonoma Coast.

Hartford / Hartford Court Pinot Noir Seascape Vineyard

Same as my notes from July. More concentrated red fruit this time around, with the same intriguing saline and earthy notes complimenting the predominantly black cherry core. Smoke, wood, unsmoked…

Del Dotto Pinot Noir Cinghiale Vineyard

Super fruity and plush, with red cherry and ripe red raspberry dominating the profile. A simple red fruit attack of ripe, round fruit hitting the palate with one plop. The back end was more of the…

Roses de Jeanne / Cédric Bouchard Champagne Blanc de Noirs Cote de Bechalin

A very intriguing effort, with invigorating notes of chalk and mineral inflected yellow citrus, raspberry water, and melon (grapefruit, honeydew rind), bruised lemon peel, sea foam/saline, and…

Alexana Pinot Noir Block 7 Revana Vineyard

Dubbed the 'best block,' the 7 delivers agreeable and familiar Oregonian flavors of ripe red and black cherry, red plum, and light infusions of cedar, dust, and cinnamon. Medium bodied, with some…

Maybach Family Vineyards Pinot Noir Irmgard

A fascinating wine, and ironically one I would have potentially mistaken for a twenty-year-old 1st Cru Burgundy had it not been for the perception of higher alcohol here, especially on the finish.…

Gustave Lorentz Pinot Noir

This was the Lorentz "Evidence" version. Light plum and earthy black cherry, mulch, and some faint citrus rind. Light bodied, but with enough frame to pair decently with some of the best slow-roasted…

Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Silver Eagle Vineyard

Black cherry, black/red plum, currant, earth, wet mulch and tobacco, and soil. Subtle spice. Round and straightforward. Decent depth, medium bodied. Not super complex. Notably satisfying but not…

Maxem Pinot Noir UV Vineyard

A lot of kick-start-your-heart black cherry fruit gushing out of this Pinot. Unlike the Maxem Chardonnay, which carried some calculated and stately deliberation in its delivery, this Pinot showed…

Bevan Cellars Pinot Noir Summit 1376'

Notes of earthy black cherry, dried herbs (thyme, oregano, rosemary), and bark. I find this 1376 and the 2114 to be Bevan's best works with this varietal. The Petaluma Gap and Rita's can be huge…

Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Summa Old Vines

Served side-by-side with a 2014 Rivers Marie Kanzler Pinot, which was much fruitier and less complex by comparison. This Summa OV displayed wonderfully complex notes of black cherry, orange rind,…

Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Kanzler Vineyard

Served side-by-side with a 2013 Rivers Marie Summa OV Pinot, which was much more focused and complex by comparison. Beneath the Kanzler's rounded, fruity (but kinda furry) tannins lied a core of…

Martinelli Pinot Noir Bondi Home Ranch Water Trough Vineyard

Earthy black and red cherry, citrus rind, mushroom, tree bark, smoke, black Darjeeling tea, and some sea salt. A complex and deliberate delivery, with medium weight mid-palate and agreeable intensity…

Martinelli Pinot Noir Rosé

Dark pink/red in the glass, almost veering toward a light grenadine color. Notes of ripe strawberry, ripe red peach pulp, and some melon. A richer and sweeter version; a bit heavy and saccharin-laced…

Wren Hop Pinot Noir The Fire Messenger

Initially served blind. Somewhat subdued fruit flavors of dark raspberry and woody black cherry. A strong herbal/evergreen note encompassed the core fruit, with some cardamom and cumin spice as well.…

Wren Hop Pinot Noir Cautionary Tale

Previous notes apply. This showed more upfront hedonism and sappier black and red cherry and raspberry notes than the Shadow Voices or Three Wishes. Darker and a bit richer, the Cautionary Tale's…

Wren Hop Pinot Noir Three Wishes

The 2016 Wren Hop Three Wishes is a 3 barrel "reserve" of the Shadow Voices. As advertised, this delivers exactly how one might expect a BBS version of an already amazing wine (Shadow Voices) to…

Wren Hop Pinot Noir Shadow Voices Estate

A truly complex and layered Pinot Noir, expertly displaying what seems to be a signature level of focus and sophistication from this house. Exacting and methodical, but also exciting and flavorful,…