Rivers Marie Summa Old Vines Vertical

A fabulous event in a fabulous location. Thomas Rivers Brown brought us vertical of Summa Old Vine Pinots in magnum to check in on them and see how they stack up to each other. This included the ultra rare 2005, one of only six ever made on top of the mere ~54 750's. He also brought along the 2010 lineup for a preview. BJ Segui came down with him and Tyler Rico set us up in the penthouse of the Elks Tower in downtown Sacramento. Great views and terrific old time feel made for an outstanding venue. It was also nice to see some old friends, put faces to names and make some new friends.

The 2010 lineup featured wines of prominent acidity with fruit on the lean side. The Chardonnay along with the Occidental Ridge and Summa Old Vine Pinots were particularly noticeable in contrast to previous vintages of the wines. Especially the Occidental Ridge which I have always regarded as have up front, rich fruit from day one in past vintages. The 2010 was a hard turn in another direction for that fruit source. The Sonoma Coast was again very impressive at the price point at which I think it has established itself as one the very best values from California. It is just a damn good wine period.

Of the vertical the 2003 was certainly a stand out for a mature wine. I also think the 2007 could be excellent but will take longer to get there than the 2003 has. I also found the 2002 to be quite good which broke the pattern of odd versus even vintages in terms of showing well. The 2005 was also quite nice. The 2004, 2006 and 2008 were not showing real well. Of those I think the 2006 will come around and be a nice wine in a few more years.

So happy I could take part in this and the after party around the corner. Just a fabulous event all around. Thanks to everyone who made it possible and who made it enjoyable.

• 2010 Rivers-Marie Chardonnay B. Thieriot Vineyard

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Nose of cotton candy and lemon meringue. Fresh and lean palate. Lacks richness in the good way maybe even a bit hard. Lingering creamy after taste. I haven't had many Cali Chards like this but I hope to have more.

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• 2010 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Silver Eagle Vineyard

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Nose is a bit reduced with a note of iron. Juicy with a nice moutfeel. Dark and rich in reserve but somewhat rough at the finish. Not distinctive.

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• 2010 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Reserved yet floral nose. Very expressive on the palate where the nose wasn't. Flavors of cranberry and fruit skins. Clean and focused. Not big or even really primary tasting at this point. Very nice. A huge bargain.

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• 2010 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Summa Vineyard

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  10% whole cluster. Expressive nose, very herbal with leafy and stemmy notes. Fresh with lengthy acids. Lean and a bit bitter at the finish. Cranberry and greenish notes. The stem inclusion was quite noticeable but not overpowering. There is a ton of fruit to soak it up either. I imagine as they mellow this will be very nice.

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• 2010 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Gioia Vineyard

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Sweet nose with burnt caramel, cake and matchstick aromas. Juicy and fresh but with a somewhat cleft finish. This was all over the place.

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• 2010 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Occidental Ridge Vineyard

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Sweet, reserved nose. Juicy and somewhat tart. VERY lean as the Occidentals go. Quite the departure from previous vintages where this has been one of the bigger bottlings in the lineup. I'll be interested to see if they remain so going forward.

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• 2002 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Summa Old Vines

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Subtle nose giving mineral notes along with citrus and cranberry. Juicy yet focused with a lean feel. Nice secondary characters lending complexity. Very nice.

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• 2003 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Summa Old Vines

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Sweet smelling nose. Delicate and complex palate. Crunchy acids behind a light mouth feel. Terrific length. Excellent. Probably my WOTN.

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• 2004 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Summa Old Vines

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Dark fruited. Nose shows tarry, reductive like notes. Very juicy with tart fruited flavors and notes of apple. Light tannin. Hard to tell if this could get better or if it already saw its best days.

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• 2005 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Summa Old Vines

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  As rare as they come. Complex nose though a mit muddled. Notes of herbs, brown sugar and apples. There is a strong sense of cran-orange flavor on a clean palate. Long tart acids making the finish interestingly bright. Over shadowed by the 03 and 02 for me but a nice wine in it's own right.

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• 2006 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Summa Old Vines

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Funky, ripe nose with notes of tar and blackberry. Still funky on the palate but fairly wrapped up and tight. Leave it be.

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• 2007 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Summa Old Vines

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Lots of color. Soft nose of primary sweet cherry. Reserved with clean black cherries. Very nice mouth feel and excellent structure in tannin and acid. Reserved and in need of plenty of time. Could be outstanding.

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• 2008 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Summa Old Vines

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Reserved yet pretty fruit with a bit of heat. Rich cran-apple fruit with skin tones. Tart with tannin though chunky and a bit clipped. Doesn't show the class of the rest of the lineup.

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• 2009 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Summa Old Vines

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Stemmy, fruit skin and brush like tart notes. Rich fruit and a tart finish. Seems balanced but in dire need of integrating and the fruit and finish are from two different worlds at the moment. Tart and tight with a nice black cherry note towards the finish. Leave it be for a bit.

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• 2010 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Summa Old Vines

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Tight, minerally nose. Juicy black cherries with mouth cleaning acids. Prominent acidity and lean feeling wines seems to be the theme of the 2010 show. This needs to awaken some but I'm not certain the fruit concentration is here for something long lived in terms of development. Should be very nice in a shorter window.

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