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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 91.1 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 59 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Morryh on 5/13/2012: okay, but past it's prime. (4063 views) | | | Tasted by Acohen on 5/8/2011 & rated 91 points: Nose of dark cherries with a little earth. Has a very nicely integrated flavor with dark cherry, raspberry and little spice once the cola blows off. (4625 views) | | | Tasted by stevenc.rees@gmail.com on 9/13/2009 & rated 92 points: Drank with Ron and Noel for Noel's birthday a while back.
See my notes from 6/12/09. I think they summarize our findings from August, too.
The last bottle is gone, but if you still have some, open it and decide whether you really want to age it any longer. (5702 views) | | | Tasted by KeithAkers on 8/14/2009 & rated 92 points: a laid back night on the rooftop: nose: good dark and pungent nose. Not brooding but somewhat mysterious with tones of raspberries, cola, dark red cherries, violets, spice tones and fresh picked berries. Very expressive and well balanced
taste: really good medium/full body with tones of creamed strawberries, cola, dark raspberries, bits of violets and tones of dark red cherries. The tones are very well balanced with a real delicious quality to them
overall: a real pretty cali pinot that is drinking perfectly. I like how the dark fruits bring more of a mysterious quality then brooding and there is a real polish on the palate. Very tasty and a real fun pinot right now (6298 views) | | | Tasted by stevenc.rees@gmail.com on 6/12/2009 & rated 92 points: After several bottles of this, and advice from Elise to drink it this year, I have waited long enough. I drank my 2nd to last bottle and enjoyed it greatly. The nose gave up dry earth, or perhaps a bit of "forest," and dried flowers. It was nearly all brick red, with a bit of deeper red in the middle. In the mouth it was remarkably big, full and still with hints of blackfruit or dried cherries - a quick burst of intense flavors and then a long finish I can't adequately describe. Some acidity in the mouth and finish did not detract, but added to the overall complexity. This is perhaps one of the best 3 Oregon/US pinots I've had. I don't think it will hold much longer, or if it does, I am not sure how it will evolve: perhaps all VA acidity and leathery-ness? ...just not sure, so I'll drink the last bottle this summer. (4732 views) | | | Tasted by scarm1717 on 5/15/2009 & rated 92 points: Nice earthy, dark fruit nose with a slight hint of mint and eucalyptus, almost Ben Gayish. Wonderful sweet, jammy, strawberries in the mouth with a lingering long finish. The wine is at its absolute peak now. (2987 views) | | | Tasted by markellen.foodies@gmail.com on 11/27/2008 & rated 92 points: Our last bottle from 1-1/2 cs. Still super, lighter than I remembered, but drank beautifully w fFried and smoked Turkeys. (3192 views) | | | Tasted by wineshaman on 9/20/2008 & rated 91 points: Sadly, last of 12 bottles. Has matured nicely, showing a bit more earth with the red fruits that go on and on. Drink or hold. (3018 views) | | | Tasted by markellen.foodies@gmail.com on 7/18/2008 & rated 92 points: Great as always. Maybe last bottle. Boo Hoo. (4694 views) | | | Tasted by cpowell on 5/30/2008 & rated 91 points: It has been a year since I drank a 2002 Belle Glos C&T Pinot. What a great wine! Powerful and filled with lush flavors and a long finish. I was thinking, why did I wait so long to drink one of my 4 remaining bottles...until I tried to open it. An unbelievable effort to remove the rediculous rubber/wax covering. It has ruined more than one knife in the past couple of years. So, that considered, it will probably be another year before I attempt it again. Then again, what a great method to get wine buyers to save their wine. The 2003 has a modest improvement, a rubber tab. But it remains a #!@!! effort. Geez. (3282 views) | | | Tasted by wineshaman on 5/10/2008 & rated 89 points: Consistant with previous note. (3269 views) | | | Tasted by markellen.foodies@gmail.com on 4/23/2008 & rated 91 points: Popped and poured. Not from Cellar. This one had been at room temperature, 70. Delicious as always. Ellen vastly prefers it to the Burghound's 90+ point top rated Burgundies, I've been testing. (5388 views) | | | Tasted by wineshaman on 2/2/2008 & rated 89 points: Pop & pour, very intense sweet strawberry & rhasberry nose with a touch of balsamic vinegar. This wine tase like the aromas, very intense sweet strawberry, rhasberry fruit with a touch of basamic vinegar on the finish that last for a full 30 seconds. I have tasted this wine on 5 other ocasions with consistant notes. I wish their was a touch of earth to go a long with the intense sweet fruit and this would merit a higher score. DRINK SOON (3534 views) | | | Tasted by bwaverley on 1/22/2008 & rated 91 points: A pinot Noir that will work well for most wine drinkers. THe aging process has not been kind to this wine, however. When I drank my first bottle 18 months ago, I had higher hopes. I would recommend clearing your stock by the middle of 2009, at the latest. (3566 views) | | | Tasted by air guitar & pinot noir on 12/15/2007 & rated 88 points: This bottle of the 2002 Belle Glos was very surprising in its flavor and taste after laying down for a long time. I was not particularly impressed when I tasted this wine early in its life, but here is an example of a wine evolving in the bottle with great results. Very delicious and smooth on the palate. (1563 views) | | | Tasted by markellen.foodies@gmail.com on 10/22/2007 & rated 91 points: Still going strong! CANT WE CELLAR TRACKERS WRITE OR E-MAIL CHUCK WAGNER AT CAYMUS TO REMOVE THE IMPENETRABLE RUBBER WRAPPING!!! It is a hazard to my digits. (4102 views) | | | Tasted by jadeal on 10/3/2007 & rated 92 points: Well-rounded with nice fruit-forward style...excellent with smoked pork tenderloin. (3932 views) | | | Tasted by markellen.foodies@gmail.com on 9/7/2007 & rated 91 points: Excellent as always. (4232 views) | | | Tasted by markellen.foodies@gmail.com on 4/20/2007 & rated 92 points: Dinner party w Joanne Goodstein & Miguel; and Linda Yusman-Wirth & Rick Wirth. (I wanted Linda the wine neophyte to experience our House Pinot.) Ellen's 65th Birthday.
Followed the 01 Martinelli 7 Mules. Double decanted in am and rebottled.
Served w Macadamia and Walnut(?) Crusted Salmon in Cream Sauce.
Weightier than the Martinelli, and as is typical with this wine evolved beautifully over the next hour+. Rich New World typicity with deep black fruit flavors. Good bouquet which kept improving, rich pallette, and good finish. This Wine will continue to age well. (4575 views) | | | Tasted by markellen.foodies@gmail.com on 3/12/2007 & rated 92 points: DUO, Miami BYO American Pinot Noir dinner (DUO, S Miami Avenue, Miami, Florida): Flight 4, #1. Our(Marik&Ellen) wine. 2nd to Kosta Browne, but I still love this wine. Great bouquet, palate, and lingering finish. Our house PN, which I picked out of The United Way/Mercy Hospital tasting 2 years ago. While we Cellar Trackers are unaminous in our praise, it is only in subsequent vintages that the pundits have climbed on board. (I just wish they would get rid of the damn rubberized wrapping!) (5670 views) | | | Tasted by Mpoob on 2/22/2007 & rated 92 points: I swear tis bottling went thru a dumb phase. This was the last of 3 bottles I've had and it was tasting the best of all three. An interesting petrol/vinyl component in the nose gave way to wonderful red fruit and lip smaking acidity. Delicious. (4468 views) | | | Tasted by signotim on 1/5/2007 & rated 92 points: Shared with friends for NY Eve dinner. No decanting and did not need it. Tasted great right out of the bottle. Drank after a Twomy Pinot which was very light and thin compared to the Belle Glos. Great nose and nicely balanced fruit. A winner. (4592 views) | | | Tasted by markellen.foodies@gmail.com on 12/8/2006 & rated 92 points: At River Oyster Bar w Steve & Joyce Rapaport. Decanted for 1 hour. Our house pinot. Enjoyable as always. It's amazing how WS (87) and CGTW (84) can have missed the mark by so much on this wine! (4749 views) | | | Tasted by redfan on 11/25/2006 & rated 94 points: No tasting notes, but wow, this is a powerful in-your-face pinot. Huge nose and simply delicious on the palate. Opened and served immediately. It did not last long. Best of the day among some great PNs (e.g, Patz & Hall, Beaux Freres) (4093 views) | | | Tasted by escbo on 10/27/2006 & rated 88 points: Good out of the bottle - needed about 30 minuttes to open. (4210 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| Belle Glos Producer Website
The vineyard locations can all be described as coastal, but the climate differences are significant, depending on the amount of fog, wind, sunlight, and soil type at each site.
Each wine is crafted to distill the purest essence of the vineyard into elegant expressions of California Pinot Noir.
Winemaker Joseph Wagner chose the name Belle Glos (pronounced BELL GLOSS) to honor his grandmother, Lorna Belle Glos Wagner, a co-founder of Caymus Vineyards.
http://www.meiomiwines.com/'> Producer website
Meiomi, (pronounced May-oh-mee) , has a separate website.
Prince of Pinot Article on Belle Glos
Belle Glos: Caymus Genes
Belle Glos (pronounced BELL GLOS) is owned by the Wagner family of Napa Valley Caymus Vineyards fame. Caymus Special Select Cabernet Sauvignon, Mer Soleil Chardonnay, and Caymus Conundrum are well know wines, but the winery has a long history with Pinot Noir, producing some excellent examples from relatively warm locations of the Napa Valley (Rutherford) in the late 1970s and 1980s. They even produced a Pinot Noir Blanc wine labeled “Eye of Partridge.”
The Pinot Noir program was revived in 2001 with the release of Belle Glos Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir and the wines have improved every year since. The name comes from Charles J. (Chuck) Wagner’s mother, Loma Belle Glos Wagner, a co-founder of Caymus Vineyards. Joseph Wagner, a fourth generation winemaker whose family’s roots in the Napa Valley date to 1906, has been the label’s vineyardist and winemaker since 2002. Belle Glos is a separate label from Caymus Vineyards, much like Mer Soleil and Conundrum, made independently from wines Chuck Wagner makes at Caymus Vineyards, referred to as “by the Wagner Family” rather than “by Caymus”, but distributed by Caymus Vineyards.
Caymus farms Pinot Noir in three coastal regions including the Sonoma Coast, Santa Maria Valley and the Santa Lucia Highlands and produces vineyard-designated Pinot Noir from the estate vineyards in each region. A fourth Pinot Noir, Meiomi, is a value-priced wine found in wide distribution and restaurants. A distinctive and excellent rosé, is also produced that revives the name, “Oeil De Perdrix,” sourced from the Yorkville Highlands of Mendocino County. The Gambit Series of Pinot Noirs debuted in 2008 at Pinot Days San Francisco. These limited production single-vineyard wines with no added sulfur were intended to offer the rich and voluptuous nature of raw Pinot Noir grapes. I have not seen or heard of these wines since, but they are briefly described on the Belle Glos website.
Caymus acquired a portion of the historic Santa Maria Hills Vineyard in the 1990s. The land, on a west-facing slope of the Santa Maria Valley foothills, had been planted to Pinot Noir from 1972 to 1974, so the vines were almost ancient by California Pinot Noir standards. The vines were own rooted and the clone uncertain, but probably Martini, an heirloom clone that was one of the first Pinot Noir selections to grace California coast lands. I first reviewed the 2001 Belle Glos Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir in the July 7, 2003 issue of the PinotFile, and the wine was generally well received by the wine press. At the time, little was known of the label. Bob Hosmon of the Miami Sun Sentinel wrote, “To say that this is one of the best United States produced Pinot Noirs I’ve ever tasted is not an overstatement... if you’re looking for something truly special, you won’t be disappointed. Unfortunately no website, mail, e-mail or phone orders.” The website is still very basic and offers no opportunity to purchase the wines. With the 2002 vintage, winemakers Joseph Wagner and Jon Bolta (Conundrum) took what was already a low-yielding 76-acre vineyard and reduced the crop even more radically by regular thinning to increase the flavor concentration of the berries. When the grapes were hand harvested, they ended up with just over one ton per acre. The quality was so high and the flavors so distinctive they felt the wine deserved to be named for the vineyard that produced it which was located at the intersection of Clark & Telephone roads.
The 10-acre Sonoma Coast Taylor Lane Vineyard was planted near the town of Occidental in 1995. While Joseph Wagner was in middle school he helped develop this vineyard, clearing trees and rocks from this previously unplanted land, and laying out and planting the vine rows. To get the grapes to ripen in this cool seaside climate, the trellis system was converted to “Trentina,” named after the region in Italy where it originated, which maximizes sun exposure on the leaves. There is a very consistent diurnal temperature variation at this vineyard site which insures a good balance between ripeness and acidity. The first Belle Glos Taylor Lane Vineyard Pinot Noir was in 2002.
The Las Alturas Vineyard is located in one of the highest plantable sites in the Santa Lucia Highlands of Monterey County, at altitudes of 540 to 1,210 feet. The site has warmer afternoons and tamer winds than the northern portion of the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA. This 15-acre vineyard was planted to match various Pinot Noir Dijon clones to different soils and slopes of the vineyard. Yields are kept deliberately low. The inaugural vintage from this vineyard was 2004.Pinot Noir Varietal character (Appellation America) | Varietal article (Wikipedia)
Pinot Noir is the Noble red grape of Burgundy, capable of ripening in a cooler climate, which Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot will not reliably do. It is unpredictable and difficult both to grow and to vinify, but results in some of the finest reds in the world. It is believed to have been selected from wild vines two thousand years ago. It is also used in the production of champagne. In fact, more Pinot Noir goes into Champagne than is used in all of the Cote d'Or! It is also grown in Alsace, Jura, Germany, the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Romania, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, Serbia, Italy, and so forth, with varying degrees of success.
Pinot Noir is one of the world's most prestigious grapes. It is very difficult to grow and thrives well in France, especially in Champagne and Burgundy. Pinot Noir thrives less in hot areas, is picky on soil, and deserves some oak storage.
Pinot Noir, or Blauburgunder / Spätburgunder in German, is a blue grapevine - and, as the German name suggests, the grape comes originally from Burgundy in France.
The grape, which thrives in calcareous soils, is used primarily for the production of red wine, and it is widely regarded as producing some of the best wines in the world. The wine style is often medium-bodied with high fruit acidity and soft tannins. It can be quite peculiar in fragrance and taste, and not least in structure - which may be why it is referred to as "The Grapes Ballerina".
Pinot Noir is also an important ingredient in sparkling wines, not least in champagne since it is fruity, has good acidity and contains relatively little tannins.
The grape is considered quite demanding to grow. The class itself consists of tightly packed grapes, which makes it more sensitive to rot and other diseases.
Pinot Noir changes quite easily and is genetically unstable. It buds and matures early which results in it often being well ripened. Climate is important for this type of grape. It likes best in cool climates - in warm climates the wines can be relaxed and slightly pickled.
In cooler climates, the wine can get a hint of cabbage and wet leaves, while in slightly warmer regions we often find notes of red berries (cherries, strawberries, raspberries, currants), roses and slightly green notes when the wine is young. With age, more complex aromas of forest floor, fungi and meat emerge.
In Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Hungary, it often produces light wines with less character. However, it has produced very good results in California, Oregon and New Zealand.
With its soft tannins and delicate aroma, it is excellent for white fish, chicken and light meat. For the stored wines you can serve small game. Classic duck breast is a matter of course, a Boeuf Burgundy and Pinot Noir are pure happiness.
Pinot Noir loses quality by over-harvesting.
Pinot Noir is prone to diseases, especially rot and mildew. Viruses cause major problems especially in Burgundy.
Pinot Noir are large round grapes with thin skins. Relatively high in alcohol content. Medium rich tannins and good with acid.
As a young person, Pinot Noir has a distinctly fruity character such as raspberries, cherries and strawberries.
A mature Pinot Noir, the taste is different. Cherry goes into plum and prune flavors. It smells of rotten leaves, coffee, moist forest floor and animal wine. This must be experienced.
In warm climates you find boiled plum, some rustic, little acid.
If the grapes are over-grown, the wine will be thin, with little color and flavor.USAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Central Coasthttp://www.ccwinegrowers.org/links.html
http://www.discovercaliforniawines.com/regional-wine-organizations/
http://beveragetradenetwork.com/en/btn-academy/list-of-winegrowers-association-in-central-coast-california-274.htm
Central Coast AVA WikipediaSanta Maria Valley Santa Maria Valley Wine Country Association | Santa Maria Valley Wine Trail |
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