Wordwide Pinots Blind plus a few more

Levain (Mpls)
Tasted Sunday, May 15, 2011 by rocknroller with 668 views

Introduction

The tasting group gathered at Levain to do a blind tasting of pinots form around the world paired with Chef Adam's wonderful tasting menu. As it turned out, we had a decidedly domestic spin. There were two tables of around 8 people with only a few wines shared across the tables.

Flight 1 - Starter Wines, not blind (3 Notes)

Flight 2 - Blind Pinots, in order (8 Notes)

  • 2000 Beaux Frères Pinot Noir Belles Soeurs Temperance Hill 89 Points

    USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

    Medium light red color. Cherries and raspberries on the nose, a bit of alcohol. The palate is rather light, tannins fully resolved, raspberry and cherry. Nice, but may be past peak, I would drink up.

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  • 2005 Nicolas Rossignol Volnay 91 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay

    Nice nose, spice, strawberry, cedar, damp earth emerges later. Good concentration on the palate, nice fruit, cherry, dusty minerals. Medium finish. This did come across as a Burg.

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  • 2004 Le Cadeau Pinot Noir Rocheux 91 Points

    USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

    Medium dark red color. Drank blind. Big fruit on the nose, vanilla, caramel. This had a little sweetness to the frui on the front end, good acid, medium finish. This was nice, but I did not peg it as Le Cadeau, i thought it was Cali. It didn't bring across much earth for me, but I liked it.

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  • 2007 St. Innocent Pinot Noir White Rose Vineyard 94 Points

    USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

    Medium dark red color. Beautiful nose of earth, mushrooms, spices, flowers, black cherry, black raspberry. The palate is elegant with with great balance and a long finish. Most thought this was a Burgundy, and that certainly nails it stylistically. This was my clear favorite of the night.

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  • 2005 Hope & Grace Pinot Noir Sleepy Hollow Vineyard 91 Points

    USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands

    Dark red color. The nose shows spices, cedar, dark cherries. The palate has really nice purity of fruit, rich and fleshy with pepper on the finish. This seemed like a central coast wine.

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  • 2005 Mueller Pinot Noir Emily's Cuvée 88 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

    Drank blind. This came off as disjointed to me. There was alcohol on both the palate and nose that did mostly resolve. There is some nice earthiness, oak and spice, fairly big overall with black cherry. This seemed Cali. Not sure if this was decanted, if not, this might be a little better.

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  • 2006 Radio-Coteau Pinot Noir Alberigi 91 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

    Dark red color. This a pretty big wine. Black cherry and black raspberry come through along with some damp earth and exotic spice. The palate shows nice depth, crisp acidity and medium finish. Very nice and pegged by most as Sonoma/RRV.

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  • 2007 Loring Wine Company Pinot Noir Naylor Dry Hole Vineyard 89 Points

    USA, California, Central Coast, Chalone

    This struck me as young. Cherry, tart cherry palate. I was thinking Central Coast or New Zealand maybe.

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Flight 3 - Shared wines from table two, not blind (3 Notes)

Closing

Great evening with fine wines, elegant food, and lively conversations. It is always educational and often humbling to taste blind, this was no exception. Thanks to Craig for organizing this!!

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