With mdvino63 at Dovetail for NYC restaurant week 2011 - lunch. Bottle bought on release from Long's Drug in Santa Barbara (while I was a graduate student there) Color: Deep red/purple, with slight bricking. Amazing nose of bright, sweet wild berries - strawberries and raspberries. Creamy. Incredibly pure, almost crystalline - very refined. A touch of spice or earth. Evolved quickly - within 30m - lost sweetness and fruit turned more to blood orange. Not quite as good on the palate, but still excellent. Slightly unfocused, what I call 'cloudy' flavored (the bottle might have been shaken on the way to lunch), but still showed the same wonderful fruit. A little more bitter. Very persistent. Tart finish - earthy with echoes of the fruit. Overall, what a surprise. This bottle had been stored it my apt closet in SB and dragged cross country. A spectacular showing. I agree completely w 60ouvrees and said similar things while at lunch: this wine could never be mistaken for a burgundy - it shows classic US pinot flavors and fruit, but my god, it is beautiful. Nose: 6/6, Palate: 5/6, Finish: 4/6, Je ne sais quoi (wild card): 2/2 = 17/20 = 94/100.
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As far as Cali pinot goes I'd imagine this is just about as good as it gets. Will never be mistaken for great Burgundy(or Burgundy of any kind) but this should be appreciated for what it is.
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7/13/2011 - Seth Rosenberg wrote: 94 Points
With mdvino63 at Dovetail for NYC restaurant week 2011 - lunch. Bottle bought on release from Long's Drug in Santa Barbara (while I was a graduate student there) Color: Deep red/purple, with slight bricking. Amazing nose of bright, sweet wild berries - strawberries and raspberries. Creamy. Incredibly pure, almost crystalline - very refined. A touch of spice or earth. Evolved quickly - within 30m - lost sweetness and fruit turned more to blood orange. Not quite as good on the palate, but still excellent. Slightly unfocused, what I call 'cloudy' flavored (the bottle might have been shaken on the way to lunch), but still showed the same wonderful fruit. A little more bitter. Very persistent. Tart finish - earthy with echoes of the fruit. Overall, what a surprise. This bottle had been stored it my apt closet in SB and dragged cross country. A spectacular showing. I agree completely w 60ouvrees and said similar things while at lunch: this wine could never be mistaken for a burgundy - it shows classic US pinot flavors and fruit, but my god, it is beautiful. Nose: 6/6, Palate: 5/6, Finish: 4/6, Je ne sais quoi (wild card): 2/2 = 17/20 = 94/100.
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5/26/2008 - 60ouvrees wrote:
As far as Cali pinot goes I'd imagine this is just about as good as it gets. Will never be mistaken for great Burgundy(or Burgundy of any kind) but this should be appreciated for what it is.
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