2009 Pinot Days Grand Tasting

Fort Mason Festival Pavillon, San Francisco, California
Tasted Sunday, June 28, 2009 by rjonwine@gmail.com with 1,957 views

Introduction

Another terrific Pinot Days Grand Tasting, with way too many good Pinot producers for any human being to sample in a four hour period, as usual. Fortunately, in the last few weeks, I had a chance to sample a lot of producers that I try to keep tabs on -- e.g., August West, Sojourn, Bjornstad. I also attended three of the Saturday seminars, and two of them were focused on the '07 vintage, so on Sunday I was able to focus on producers I hadn't tried for a year or so, or that were new to me. I still didn't make it, though, to several of my targets before wine and time ran out.

This was an impressive showing for the '07 vintage in California. Even though most of the '07s are very tight at the moment, they are showing good structure, nice acidity levels, and great potential for aging. And I was definitely detecting a trend toward lighter styled, higher acidity, more food friendly Pinots than we had been seeing in recent years--a very welcome trend indeed. Some of the most impressive Pinots out of the over 110 I tasted yesterday were one or more from Abiouness (new to me), Baton, Chasseur, Clos Pepe, Coterie (a new producer), Derbès, Fort Ross, Gainey, Keefer Ranch, Keller Estate, Londer, MacPhail, Mahoney (new to me), Peay, Pisoni and Winderlea (new to me).

Flight 1 - Abiouness (3 Notes)

Nicole (at Saturday seminar)
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Flight 2 - Baton (2 Notes)

Flight 3 - Belle Glos (1 Note)

Flight 4 - Chasseur (4 Notes)

Flight 5 - Clos Pepe (5 Notes)

Flight 6 - Clos Saron (3 Notes)

Flight 7 - Coterie (2 Notes)

Flight 8 - Couloir (2 Notes)

Flight 9 - Dain (3 Notes)

Flight 10 - Derbès (2 Notes)

  • 2004 Derbès Les Pinots 90 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

    Hibiscus, rosehips nose; tart red fruit, hibiscus, rosehips palate; short-medium finish

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  • 2006 Derbès Pinot Noir 92 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

    Sous bois, baked strawberry nose with a touch of brett; tasty tart red fruit, sous bois, mineral palate with depth; medium finish

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Flight 11 - Domaine Serene (2 Notes)

Flight 12 - Enkidu (3 Notes)

Phillip
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Flight 13 - Eno (3 Notes)

Flight 14 - Eric Kent (3 Notes)

Flight 15 - Fort Ross (2 Notes)

Flight 16 - Furthermore (1 Note)

Flight 17 - Gainey (1 Note)

Kirby
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Flight 18 - Gary Farrell (3 Notes)

Flight 19 - Hangtime (1 Note)

Flight 20 - Hirsch (3 Notes)

Flight 21 - Hope & Grace (1 Note)

Flight 22 - Kanzler (1 Note)

Flight 23 - Kastania (2 Notes)

Flight 24 - Keefer Ranch (1 Note)

Flight 25 - Keller (1 Note)

Flight 26 - Ladd Cellars (4 Notes)

Flight 27 - Londer (4 Notes)

Flight 28 - Louis Latour (3 Notes)

Flight 29 - MacPhail (3 Notes)

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Flight 30 - Mahoney (4 Notes)

Flight 31 - Mark West (1 Note)

Flight 32 - Matrix (2 Notes)

Flight 33 - Mayro-Murdick (2 Notes)

Flight 34 - Melville (2 Notes)

Flight 35 - Merry Edwards (2 Notes)

Merry, Ken and Ben
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Flight 36 - Orsi Papale (1 Note)

Flight 37 - Peay (4 Notes)

Flight 38 - Pey-Marin (1 Note)

Flight 39 - Pisoni (2 Notes)

Jeff
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  • 2007 Lucia Pinot Noir Garys' Vineyard 92 Points

    USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands

    Medium cherry red color; sous bois, tart cherry nose; solid, deep, black cherry, iron, mineral, rosehips palate; medium finish 92+ pts.

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  • 2006 Pisoni Pinot Noir Estate 93 Points

    USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands

    Medium cherry red color with pale meniscus; nice roses, sous bois, tart red fruit nose; roses, tart red fruit, mineral and rosehips palate with good acidity, firm tannins; medium-plus finish

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Flight 40 - Sanford (3 Notes)

Flight 41 - Sarah's Vineyard (4 Notes)

Flight 42 - Scherrer (3 Notes)

Flight 43 - Tudor (4 Notes)

Flight 44 - Varner (3 Notes)

Flight 45 - Waits-Mast (2 Notes)

Flight 46 - Winderlea (1 Note)

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