Blind Pinot tasting

7 of us got together to taste some Pinots. This event was pulled together in just about 48 hours, and several of the regulars in the tasting group were unable to attend because of the short notice.

We started with a couple of contrasting styles of Chardonnay. I haven't tasted much Chablis prior to this, but I really enjoyed this one.

• 2007 Jean-Marc Brocard Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

  The nose of this wine had citrus and perfume aromas. The palate had crisp apple, lemon-lime, and mineral flavors. This had a nice mouthfeel and a long finish. Tasted next to a Kistler Chardonnay, and I really preferred the Chablis. That was a surprise to me.

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• 2006 Kistler Chardonnay Kistler Vineyard 90 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley

  The nose of this wine had oak, apple and pineapple aromas. The palate was very buttery with apple, pear and oak flavors. This had a big mouthfeel and a medium-long finish. We tasted this next to a Chablis that made the Kistler seem klunky. I probably would have liked the Kistler more without comparing it to a more mineral driven example of Chardonnay.

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After the Chardonnays, we moved on to a couple Roses. I had heard of the Tempier Rose before, but hadn't even seen a bottle prior to this. This was a fun flight.

• 2009 Domaine Tempier Bandol Rosé 93 Points

  France, Provence, Bandol

  Very interesting salmon/orangish color. The nose had strawberry, mineral and floral aromas. The palate had a very interesting watermelon rind flavor that really dominated the palate. This wine had great acidity, and I was amazed by how long the finish was on this Rose. Definitely the longest finish I have ever experienced from a Rose. Now I get why this is called the greatest Rose in the world. It was also a wonderful food wine.

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• 2006 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Rosé 90 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

  The nose of this wine had strawberry and juicy watermelon aromas. No rind notes on the watermelon like the Tempier had - just the ripe, juicy flesh. The palate had raspberrry and watermelon flavors. This wine wasn't spritzy at all like I had remembered KB Roses. This was a pleasant surprise to get to taste one again since KB stopped making them after the 07 vintage.

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After the Roses, we got down to our blind Pinot flights. There were no clues prior to this flight, just 3 glasses in front of everyone, and 7 people ready to get down to business.

• 2005 Comte Armand Pommard 1er Cru 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard 1er Cru

  (Group's #1 (my #2)) – 3 first place votes, 3 second place votes, 1 third place vote – The nose had aromas of herbs, smoke, and loads of red fruit. The palate had dark red fruits and mint/eucalyptus flavors with mineral and herbal notes. This wine had nice acidity, and was medium to full bodied with a medium-long finish. I did not this this was a Burgundy at all, it had such an upfront and expressive style, that I thought it was a California Pinot.

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• 2002 Domaine Serene Pinot Noir Grace Vineyard 90 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

  (Group's #3 (my #3)) – 1 first place vote, 2 second place votes, 4 third place votes – The nose was largely unrevealing with only red fruit aromas and maybe a perfume-like note. The palate had raspberry, leather and earth flavors. This wine was definitely older than the first wine in this flight, but I thought it was older than an 02. It was in a good place to drink, and had a medium-long finish. After this first flight was over we ate salmon with miso paste, falafel rice, mozzarellla balls, grape tomatoes, and a blend of five different mushrooms. This wine seemed to really open up while we were eating and even gained some complexity. This wine was much more enjoyable with the food than it had been on its own.

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• 2000 Pegasus Bay Pinot Noir 93 Points

  New Zealand, South Island, Canterbury, Waipara

  (Group's #2 (my #1)) – 3 first place votes, 2 second place votes, 2 third place votes – The nose was very complex with smokey red fruits, earth, spice and a nice Pinot funk. The palate was just as complex as the nose had promised with raspberries, cherries, grapefruit and herbs. This was a very interesting drink, and it seemed to reveal layer after layer as we continued to drink it. It had excellent acidity, good balance and a medium-long finish. I was convinced that I was having a Burgundy moment with this wine while we were still tasting it blind, but as it turns out my mouth's geography was way off...

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Again, there were no clues that were given, but people were starting to get an idea where their bottles may end up in these flights.

• 2005 Roar Pinot Noir Rosella's Vineyard 93 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands

  (Group's #3 (my #1)) – 2 first place votes, 1 second place vote, 4 third place votes – The nose initially had very powerful grapefruit aromas, but they mostly blew off fairly quickly to reveal some red fruits as well. The palate had strawberry, raspberry and grapefruit flavors. This wine was very intense and had excellent acidity. It was too much for several in the group, but I enjoyed it. The finish of this wine was fairly long, and almost seemed a bit candied near the end.

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• 2003 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Cohn 92 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

  (Group's #2 (my #3)) – 2 first place votes, 2 second place votes, 3 third place votes – The nose showed cherry and some dull citrus aromas with a note of anise. This nose also continued to evolve throughout the flight, and at times it had some Cabernet-like qualities. The palate was all about California styled Pinot though with cherry, cola and some citrus notes. This had nice acidity and a medium-long finish. I ended up ranking this 3rd only because there were times that the nose didn't seem quite right for a Pinot. I'm sure it was the barrel treatment that brought out the anise aroma, but it seemed odd while we were drinking it blind.

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• 2007 Kanzler Vineyards Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 93 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  (Group's #1 (my #2)) – 3 first place votes, 4 second place votes, 0 third place votes – The nose had a huge blast of cherries and cola initially. This wine was decanted for about 3 hours prior to the tasting because it was much younger than the other wines in the lineup. After the decant, the nose showed raspberries and mushroom aromas with some herbal notes. The palate was very rich with dark cherry, raspberry and forest floor aromas with a note of a roasted pepper and something else that seemed slightly vegetal. This wine had a very velvety mouthfeel, and a long finish. The vegetal notes kept me from ranking this as my favorite of the flight, but this was close.

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No clues again, but some of the group knew that they had bottles in this flight, so they weren't quite blind. This was a really strong flight, and even though this flight was ranked almost identically by the group, all of these wines were thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.

• 2004 J. Rochioli Pinot Noir Little Hill 94 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

  (Group's #2 (my #2)) – 0 first place votes, 6 second place votes, 1 third place vote – The nose had dark cherry, perfume and mushroom aromas. The palate had cherry and chocolate flavors with nuances of herbs, chalk and mushrooms. This was medium to full bodied and had a medium-long finish.

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• 2004 Marcassin Pinot Noir Marcassin Vineyard 94 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  (Group's #3 (my #3)) – 1 first place vote, 0 second place votes, 6 third place votes – The nose showed cherry, mushroom and forest floor aromas. With some additional time in the glass, there were moments when it had a slightly plastic-like smell. The palate had cherry, chalk, mushroom and earthy flavors. This wine seemed older than it turned out to be, and I thought it was in a good place to drink now. This wine was medium to full bodied with a rich mouthfeel and a long finish that had some medicinal-like qualities. This was a really nice wine, but the slight plastic smell and medicinal taste that were evident at times kept this from being extraordinary.

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• 2006 DuMOL Pinot Noir Finn 95 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

  (Group's #1 (my #1)) – 6 first place votes, 1 second place vote, 0 third place votes – The nose had ripe red fruits and a beautiful eucalyptus note. I loved the nose of this wine. The palate had dark cherry, mushroom, earth and mint flavors. This wine was very rich, smooth and balanced, and progressed nicely through a long finish. My WOTN, and a wine that several in the group described as sexy. One of the best Pinots that I have ever tasted.

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This was a ton of fun to drink Pinots blind in a small group like this. At the end of the evening, several of us commented on how wonderful everything was for such a last minute tasting. A lot of very memorable moments for me - that's for sure. We had to leave after the Pinot flights were done, but the rest of the group was going to persevere and taste some other wines as well as enjoy desert. Sometimes you just have to be the first to leave, but I hope I don't have to do that again for a while...