'02 Russian River Pinots Blindtasted - Rochioli, Williams Selyem, Dehlinger & Siduri

Rich and Peggy's Home in Los Altos, CA
Tasted Monday, August 14, 2006 by rjonwine@gmail.com with 255 views

Introduction

Intro by tasting organizer, Ross B.
While the 2002 vintage for California produced great Pinot Noirs in most of the state, it was particularly kind to the Russian River Valley. Of the Pinot vintage, Wine Spectator had to say: "Sensational year, best yet in California, with dark, complex wines", and rated the whole Russian River / Sonoma area 94/100 for the year. In talking to Rochioli in the winter after the harvest, one could sense their excitement -- the color, sugar, acids, and bright fruit of the grapes to them was only equaled by their 1994 harvest, which they still use as the benchmark to compare all other vintages.

It is now four years after the vintage, and the best Pinots should just be hitting their stride. Tonight we'll try pairs of Pinots from four top Russian River Valley producers: Williams Selyem, Dehlinger, Rochioli, and Siduri.

Flight 1 - My TNs and group scoring (7 Notes)

Although the plan was to have all '02s, an '03 Rochioli Estate snuck in instead of the '02 that was expected. There were at least 16 tasters, and it was interesting to see how sharply split we were on a couple of the wines. I thought the '02 Rochioli West Block was the clear winner of the evening, as did a couple of other tasters who are primarily Burgophiles. Williams Selyem hasn't done well in blindtastings for me since the mid-80s, and this night was no exception. I was also very impressed by the Dehlinger Goldridge.

All of these, except the Siduri Keefer, are good drinking now. I think they'll still be in top form for another two or three years, and the Rochiolis will likely go on longer.

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