First time I've had one of these with age. I don't think these wines really hit their stride until a vintage or two after this one, so I wasn't expecting a ton. The good news is that it's held up chemically - no doubt the screwcap helps matters - a very clean showing. The zesty orange flavors it showed on release are still here and very much in the foreground. There's a base of fruit underneath that that feels denser and sweeter than I remember - definitely New World style fruit, not fat but fairly slick - which has picked up a more crimson tone and a slight leathery quality with age. The citrus gives it a refreshing feel. Drank with fried chicken and paired just fine.
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Drank alongside a 2008 AngelFlower. Of the two, this was the more "serious" wine. In the past couple years, this has fleshed out and lost of some it's adolescent awkwardness and is drinking beautifully. It has some real power now. The fruit still dominates, but maybe a little less so. It certainly no longer stands apart from the complex mix; the wine is wonderfully balanced, more an integrated whole-ness (whole-ocity?) than a list of descriptors could explain.
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Definitely a one-off. A Pinot aroma but not one that I have smelt before; floral, perfume/spicy, earthy (not savoury), smokey - quite difficult to describe, definitely unique. The palate was seemingly moderate weight with a good backbone of acidity (which I wasn't really expecting). Stood up to the venison dish we had it with.
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Consumed over two days without decanting. I echo the positive notes below about the wonderful nose, which is a soaring melange of red fruit and citrus. Biting acidity on the palate with a long finish, just like a good burg. My wife, a white wine drinker who I have unsuccessfully tried to convert to a pinot fan as well, loved it. Thank you Matt Kramer for the find.
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Initially, this wine gives me mixed feelings. The aroma is intensely evocative, like a breeze through an orange grove abounding with flowers. The palate, too, offers plenty of juicy citrus and finishes with a backdraft of that floral perfume. But the florality is almost too much... it leaves a lavender-like aftertaste which gives the feeling of something intended to be smelled rather than consumed. Perhaps the price of being interesting is that it is also a little strange. Curious to see how it develops.
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I had very high expectations for this wine and it managed to surpass them. An utterly unique and compelling nose of animal/wet fur, red fruit, black pepper, freshly cut wild herbs and flowers. On the palate, these flavors are echoed and amplified, with an ethereal, weightless texture that is very pure and feminine. Long finish with no heat that fans out beautifully. This continually evolved in the glass over the two hours it was open, developing citrus nuances reminiscent of mandarin and blood orange. I wish I had more time to spend with it, but when it's this good, it goes fast!
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Bright, piercing fruit aromas, bing cherry, cassis, orange, mixed with something more musky than earthy on the nose. Very fruit forward at this stage, so much so that I think the tart cherry acidity gets a little in the way of the very linear quality of this wine. This has that ethereal density that I associate with Lafon's whites. It is complex and weightless at the same time. We all thought this had a unique tannic element on the finish. Not sharp, in the youthful sense, something more gentle; we were deep in wank-land, so we decided it was as if the tannins were binding with the barrel phenols to offer a chalky, vanilla impression at the end. Which is, of course, nonsense. But we were on a roll. I think this one has the structure to support some patience.
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5/28/2017 - Keith Levenberg wrote:
First time I've had one of these with age. I don't think these wines really hit their stride until a vintage or two after this one, so I wasn't expecting a ton. The good news is that it's held up chemically - no doubt the screwcap helps matters - a very clean showing. The zesty orange flavors it showed on release are still here and very much in the foreground. There's a base of fruit underneath that that feels denser and sweeter than I remember - definitely New World style fruit, not fat but fairly slick - which has picked up a more crimson tone and a slight leathery quality with age. The citrus gives it a refreshing feel. Drank with fried chicken and paired just fine.
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6/21/2011 - RationalDenial wrote:
Drank alongside a 2008 AngelFlower. Of the two, this was the more "serious" wine. In the past couple years, this has fleshed out and lost of some it's adolescent awkwardness and is drinking beautifully. It has some real power now. The fruit still dominates, but maybe a little less so. It certainly no longer stands apart from the complex mix; the wine is wonderfully balanced, more an integrated whole-ness (whole-ocity?) than a list of descriptors could explain.
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1/22/2011 - Roland H wrote: 96 Points
Definitely a one-off. A Pinot aroma but not one that I have smelt before; floral, perfume/spicy, earthy (not savoury), smokey - quite difficult to describe, definitely unique. The palate was seemingly moderate weight with a good backbone of acidity (which I wasn't really expecting). Stood up to the venison dish we had it with.
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5/11/2010 - jraider wrote:
Consumed over two days without decanting. I echo the positive notes below about the wonderful nose, which is a soaring melange of red fruit and citrus. Biting acidity on the palate with a long finish, just like a good burg. My wife, a white wine drinker who I have unsuccessfully tried to convert to a pinot fan as well, loved it. Thank you Matt Kramer for the find.
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11/14/2009 - Keith Levenberg wrote:
Initially, this wine gives me mixed feelings. The aroma is intensely evocative, like a breeze through an orange grove abounding with flowers. The palate, too, offers plenty of juicy citrus and finishes with a backdraft of that floral perfume. But the florality is almost too much... it leaves a lavender-like aftertaste which gives the feeling of something intended to be smelled rather than consumed. Perhaps the price of being interesting is that it is also a little strange. Curious to see how it develops.
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11/2/2009 - cporter wrote:
I had very high expectations for this wine and it managed to surpass them. An utterly unique and compelling nose of animal/wet fur, red fruit, black pepper, freshly cut wild herbs and flowers. On the palate, these flavors are echoed and amplified, with an ethereal, weightless texture that is very pure and feminine. Long finish with no heat that fans out beautifully. This continually evolved in the glass over the two hours it was open, developing citrus nuances reminiscent of mandarin and blood orange. I wish I had more time to spend with it, but when it's this good, it goes fast!
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8/11/2009 - RationalDenial wrote: 92 Points
Bright, piercing fruit aromas, bing cherry, cassis, orange, mixed with something more musky than earthy on the nose. Very fruit forward at this stage, so much so that I think the tart cherry acidity gets a little in the way of the very linear quality of this wine. This has that ethereal density that I associate with Lafon's whites. It is complex and weightless at the same time. We all thought this had a unique tannic element on the finish. Not sharp, in the youthful sense, something more gentle; we were deep in wank-land, so we decided it was as if the tannins were binding with the barrel phenols to offer a chalky, vanilla impression at the end. Which is, of course, nonsense. But we were on a roll. I think this one has the structure to support some patience.
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