Needs about an hour of air for funk to burn off. Black cherry, wet soil, a little leather, strawberry, pencil lead, and blueberry on the nose. Black cherry, tart cherry, earth, leather, and a little cranberry on the palate. Tangy acidity, more noticeable tannin than a few years ago, light body, and a long finish. Delicious in an earthy, Old World way. As usual every sip encourages another. 89-90
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upon opening: nose has some funk and cherries. color is ruby red. taste has cherries, plums, some spice, some acid, not much back end. a bit simple in mid palate. lingering sour cherries. a bit of carbonated fizz as well.
upon 1 hour: nose has become more interesting. I get dusted cocoa as well as cherries. very nice and inviting. The acidity is now prevalent and the taste is tart cherries, but the fruit is getting over powered by the acidty. some spice, but not specific notes of spice. I am drinking this without food and think it would be lovely with food, preferably a nice roast chicken. Also, thinking this is in its secondary phase, but would be concerned about further aging.
upon 1 day: vacuum sealed and put in frudge at 40 degrees then brought back up to 55-60 before tasting again - nose is refined, subtle - aromas of cherries and earth. taste is tart. elegant. strong finish of pepper. tart cherries stay and linger. I had this with tuna and salmon sushi and went well with itThis wine has legs and wasn't expecting i to imprive from 1 hour tatse, but it has. Well made bottle of wine for a reasonable tariff - biodynamic, no spoof in here and you can really taste the difference. This borders on new world, but in an elegant Orengonian way - more Burgundian than most Californians IMHO.
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Wow, what a difference in 6 months. A lot of the austerity that I noticed in previous bottles is gone. Very focused, interesting nose of red cherry, strawberry, raspberry, earth, and wood. Similar on the palate with some tart rhubarb elements, and a nice finish of fruit and vanilla. Delicious. The second day was more on the order of black cherry, strawberry, and a lot of spice. Still good, but I liked day one so much more. Can't wait until this ages a few years. 89-90.
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Decided to reality check my rapid fire tasting yesterday and pop a bottle of one of my favorite wines from the day. This has been open an hour, but the current glass is a fresh pour. The nose is beautiful, expressing rustic, exuberant raspberries (particularly seedy), some slight green stemminess, some earth, a slight bit of caramel sauce, and light, graceful touches of wood. Overall the nose is modest in scale, but thoroughly balanced and graceful. The palate is delicious, with big raspberry and strawberry pie flavors, nice soft tannins building with a light bit of spice. The fruit here is perfectly (barely) ripe; tastes very precise, and just how Pinot should. The finish expresses the same fantastic soft, bright, acidic red fruits, and the acid does kick up a notch on the finish, which is mildly tannic. The fruit on the palate and finish are almost like pure fruit extract, but not in a thick or deep way... it's almost like candy, but without the sweetness. Quite light on its feet. This is drinking beautifully today. The structure isn't massive, so I'd age it in the mid-term, 5-10 years. Glad my impressions yesterday were accurate. As this gobbles air it does shut down a bit. This is one of the finest values in the Willamette Valley, and on par with the best 2007s I've had.
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Cristom, St. Innocent, Johan Vineyards (Eola-Amity/Willamette Valley, OR): I'm glad I asked them to open this... it was impressive stuff. Fairly tart and green on the nose, but also soft and balanced. There's much larger fruit than I'd expect from a 2007 on the palate, with really nice acid. Quite tart. Awesome, rich and complex on the finish. I look forward to exploring a full bottle in greater detail soon.
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Tasted a little warmer than the last bottle and didn't give it much air. Seems more open than the last one. There's a pretty nose of cherry vanilla soda, cola, and earthy/mossy elements. Big flavors of cherry, raspberry, cola, and earth. Solid transition from start to finish. Balanced but noticeable acidity. Mellow but really nice finish. Overall, it's a fairly light textured pinot with a big wall of flavors. There's something addictive about their wines as the bottles go really fast. As much as I liked this others liked it more. 88-89.
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Needs a good hour decant at this point. First pour: Cranberry, rhubarb, cherry, raspberry, fairly sharp acidity. Powerful, then drops on the mid and finish. The finish is subtle but pretty long. One hour later: A lot more focus. Cherry, raspberry, rhubarb, a little earth. Still a lot of acidity, making it more of a "food wine". Better from start to finish. Awesome aftertaste. Next night (after storing in fridge): Introduction of black cherry, more earthiness, loam, a little of the oak. Some of the pretty red fruit gone, but balance seems better. Mid has filled out more. Not sure if I like day 1 or 2 better. Overall, this is pretty different than other Whistling Dogs I've had, but it's nice in a different way: more delicate, food-friendly, lower/hidden alcohol. I suspect that a little storage will benefit this wine greatly. 86-88
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2/25/2013 - rmh66 wrote: 90 Points
Needs about an hour of air for funk to burn off. Black cherry, wet soil, a little leather, strawberry, pencil lead, and blueberry on the nose. Black cherry, tart cherry, earth, leather, and a little cranberry on the palate. Tangy acidity, more noticeable tannin than a few years ago, light body, and a long finish. Delicious in an earthy, Old World way. As usual every sip encourages another. 89-90
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10/11/2012 - lolo66 wrote: 90 Points
upon opening: nose has some funk and cherries. color is ruby red. taste has cherries, plums, some spice, some acid, not much back end. a bit simple in mid palate. lingering sour cherries. a bit of carbonated fizz as well.
upon 1 hour: nose has become more interesting. I get dusted cocoa as well as cherries. very nice and inviting. The acidity is now prevalent and the taste is tart cherries, but the fruit is getting over powered by the acidty. some spice, but not specific notes of spice. I am drinking this without food and think it would be lovely with food, preferably a nice roast chicken. Also, thinking this is in its secondary phase, but would be concerned about further aging.
upon 1 day: vacuum sealed and put in frudge at 40 degrees then brought back up to 55-60 before tasting again - nose is refined, subtle - aromas of cherries and earth. taste is tart. elegant. strong finish of pepper. tart cherries stay and linger. I had this with tuna and salmon sushi and went well with itThis wine has legs and wasn't expecting i to imprive from 1 hour tatse, but it has. Well made bottle of wine for a reasonable tariff - biodynamic, no spoof in here and you can really taste the difference. This borders on new world, but in an elegant Orengonian way - more Burgundian than most Californians IMHO.
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11/25/2010 - rmh66 wrote: 89 Points
Wow, what a difference in 6 months. A lot of the austerity that I noticed in previous bottles is gone. Very focused, interesting nose of red cherry, strawberry, raspberry, earth, and wood. Similar on the palate with some tart rhubarb elements, and a nice finish of fruit and vanilla. Delicious. The second day was more on the order of black cherry, strawberry, and a lot of spice. Still good, but I liked day one so much more. Can't wait until this ages a few years. 89-90.
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10/10/2010 - David Paris (dbp) wrote: 91 Points
Decided to reality check my rapid fire tasting yesterday and pop a bottle of one of my favorite wines from the day. This has been open an hour, but the current glass is a fresh pour. The nose is beautiful, expressing rustic, exuberant raspberries (particularly seedy), some slight green stemminess, some earth, a slight bit of caramel sauce, and light, graceful touches of wood. Overall the nose is modest in scale, but thoroughly balanced and graceful. The palate is delicious, with big raspberry and strawberry pie flavors, nice soft tannins building with a light bit of spice. The fruit here is perfectly (barely) ripe; tastes very precise, and just how Pinot should. The finish expresses the same fantastic soft, bright, acidic red fruits, and the acid does kick up a notch on the finish, which is mildly tannic. The fruit on the palate and finish are almost like pure fruit extract, but not in a thick or deep way... it's almost like candy, but without the sweetness. Quite light on its feet. This is drinking beautifully today. The structure isn't massive, so I'd age it in the mid-term, 5-10 years. Glad my impressions yesterday were accurate. As this gobbles air it does shut down a bit. This is one of the finest values in the Willamette Valley, and on par with the best 2007s I've had.
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10/9/2010 - David Paris (dbp) wrote: 91 Points
Cristom, St. Innocent, Johan Vineyards (Eola-Amity/Willamette Valley, OR): I'm glad I asked them to open this... it was impressive stuff. Fairly tart and green on the nose, but also soft and balanced. There's much larger fruit than I'd expect from a 2007 on the palate, with really nice acid. Quite tart. Awesome, rich and complex on the finish. I look forward to exploring a full bottle in greater detail soon.
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5/23/2010 - rmh66 wrote: 88 Points
Tasted a little warmer than the last bottle and didn't give it much air. Seems more open than the last one. There's a pretty nose of cherry vanilla soda, cola, and earthy/mossy elements. Big flavors of cherry, raspberry, cola, and earth. Solid transition from start to finish. Balanced but noticeable acidity. Mellow but really nice finish. Overall, it's a fairly light textured pinot with a big wall of flavors. There's something addictive about their wines as the bottles go really fast. As much as I liked this others liked it more. 88-89.
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4/22/2010 - rmh66 wrote: 88 Points
Needs a good hour decant at this point.
First pour: Cranberry, rhubarb, cherry, raspberry, fairly sharp acidity. Powerful, then drops on the mid and finish. The finish is subtle but pretty long.
One hour later: A lot more focus. Cherry, raspberry, rhubarb, a little earth. Still a lot of acidity, making it more of a "food wine". Better from start to finish. Awesome aftertaste.
Next night (after storing in fridge): Introduction of black cherry, more earthiness, loam, a little of the oak. Some of the pretty red fruit gone, but balance seems better. Mid has filled out more. Not sure if I like day 1 or 2 better.
Overall, this is pretty different than other Whistling Dogs I've had, but it's nice in a different way: more delicate, food-friendly, lower/hidden alcohol. I suspect that a little storage will benefit this wine greatly. 86-88
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