WineLA event: Pinot Taste Off

All wines were tasted blind and revealed after each flight. A total of 6 regions were tasted side by side (3 wines from each region): Sonoma Coast, Anderson Valley, Oregon - Williamette Valley, Santa Barbara, Russian River Valley, and Burgundy.

• 2015 Evesham Wood Pinot Noir - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
  Scored blind. Leaves... good acid. (87 pts.)
• 2013 Argot Pinot Noir Hawk Hill Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
  Scored blind. Cool blue licorice mud nail polish. Very smooth and very alluring. Dense and uplifted by humble acidity. This was the overwhelming WOTN by the crowd and also for me. It was definitely the Wow wine of the night, i.e. WWOTN. (93 pts.)
• 2014 Jean-Marc Burgaud Morgon Côte du Py Reserve - France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Morgon
  Scored blind. A weak nose. Very acidic, harsh, and missing fruit. I can't find anything in this one. Not an off bottle. (68 pts.)

• 2013 SENS3S Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
  Scored blind. Fleshy and easy to drink. Good finish. (87 pts.)
• 2007 Domaine Y. Clerget Volnay 1er Cru Caillerets - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
  Scored blind. Slight brownish. Tart. A little fallen apart. Plum. (85 pts.)
• 2013 Bonaccorsi Pinot Noir Melville Vineyard Sta. Rita Hills - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
  Scored blind. Dense, fresh, and smooth. Good weight with violet silk coating the mouth. Impressive. (90 pts.)

• 2013 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
  Scored blind. Smooth violets again. Silky depth of awesomeness. Nicely sweet. There were 2 Kosta Browne wines at tonight's tasting and they both showed really well tonight, crowd agreed. (92 pts.)
• 2013 Goldeneye Pinot Noir Anderson Valley - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
  Scored blind. Fresh nose. Very sweet. Probably the sweetest Pinot at tonight's tasting. Sweet but nice acid in the finish. (89 pts.)
• 2014 Sea Smoke Pinot Noir Botella - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
  Scored blind. Hm.. not sure. All these pinots taste so damn similar. This one has a bit more acid than the other Santa Barbaras tasted tonight. (88 pts.)

• 2012 DuMOL Pinot Noir Russian River Valley - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
  Scored blind. Just the slightest funk on the nose that went away shortly after. Great mouth feel. A lot of stems on this one. Like you are chewing on them stems. (89 pts.)
• 2014 Loring Wine Company Pinot Noir Clos Pepe Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
  Scored blind. Dark color. Big Pinot. Ripe with a big finish. Delicious. (90 pts.)
• 2009 Littorai Pinot Noir Savoy Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
  Scored blind. Like Concord grapes... Tasty. Some stems on this one as well. I noticed a lot of these Pinots from Sonoma, Russian River Valley, and Anderson got that Concord grape taste. I grew up eating Concord grapes brah. (88 pts.)

• 2010 Louis Jadot Volnay 1er Cru Clos de la Barre - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
  Scored blind. Plum on the nose. Good. (88 pts.)
• 2012 Panther Creek Pinot Noir Winemaker's Cuvée Willamette Valley - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
  Scored blind. Smells like Pinot... Sharp finish. Acid is evident. Oregon wines tonight were all very acidic, like the Burgundies. (88 pts.)
• 2013 Cellars 33 Pinot Noir Keefer Ranch Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
  Scored blind. Super light in color. Stems are definitely in here. (86 pts.)

• 2013 Goldeneye Pinot Noir Gowan Creek Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
  Scored blind. Violets on the nose. Very good and smooth. Slight camphor in that finish. (90 pts.)
• 2013 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Russian River Valley - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
  Scored blind. This was a tough flight. They were all so good. Little bit of smores on the nose. On the palate, this is sweet, expansive, and just tasty. (91 pts.)
• 2012 Rex Hill Pinot Noir Alloro Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
  Scored blind. This was by far the darkest color of the 18 wines tasted tonight. I would call this a Black Pinot. Very strong palate as well. High alcohol and alarming acidity. This one stood out as being very different from the other bunch. Must be better with food. Overall, the Sonoma Pinots were much easier to drink and won the crowd's favorites. I kind of liked this one though... (90 pts.)

Sonoma Coast was the crowd's favorite region by popular votes. Santa Barbara came in second I believe. Burgundy was probably last place. Either these Burgundy wines weren't that good or Burgundy as a whole needs to play some catch up.