2011 James Family Cellars Pinot Noir Stony Point

Community Tasting Notes (3) Avg Score: 90 points

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  9/24/2015 - Wine.woot_taster wrote:

  Mortimer took some time out from the woot-off and smuggled a bottle of 2011 James Family Cellars Estate Grown Pinot Noir, Stony Point Vineyard, Sonoma Coast. That is a really long name.
  
  Pinot Noir is one of my favorite varietals, and the Sonoma Coast is one of my favorite AVA's for Pinot, along with Carneros and the Willamette Valley. Two boxes checked, and a vineyard designate to boot! My expectations have been set to "high".
  
  A before dinner pour reveals a very translucent, very garnet-hued dusty magenta, almost brickish. When swirled, the legs were widely separated and flowed slowly down. A first whiff almost overwhelmed with crushed strawberry, warm spice, vanilla coke, and a bit of dirt. A really generous, delicious nose.
  
  My first few sips reveals a medium to full bodied wine. Lots of red fruit - mostly raspberries and pomegranates, although I wouldn't argue if you picked out cranberry candy or cherries. The tannins are smooth, sweet and well integrated. There's a nice, wet stone minerality and zippy acid, followed by a somewhat tart, sage and cherry-infused finish that goes on and on. Dinner was Chicken Marsala, which wasn't the best match for this. I like it much better on its own.
  
  Its hard to write a wine review without sounding snooty while using a boatload of random descriptors grabbed out of the ether. But the point I need to make here is that this bottle tasted like a good pinot should (thanks rpm for teaching us that in 2010), and was really, really yummy. Thumbs up, James Family. Thanks for the opportunity, Morty.
  
  Edit: Now that the offer's up, I think the price of under $22 per bottle delivered is very fair. Vineyard designate pinots from quality AVA's usually start at over $30 and go up from there. Second, I just read the tasting notes provided, and I swear I wrote my review first. I like that we basically agree though, except for the plums.

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  5/9/2015 - Wine.woot_taster wrote:

  Popped and poured the first glass right before we ate. Dinner was pulled pork sandwiches - a small pork loin roast, with garlic, onions, BBQ spice mix, and a couple cups of rhubarb fresh from the garden, run through the slow cooker for six hours, and served on home-baked sourdough kaiser rolls. The wine was definitely a good match with this meal (as generally seems to be the case with pork and PN.) While drinking it with dinner nothing particularly jumped out at us, especially nothing negative.
  
  Continuing after dinner, we were both very impressed with this wine. It hit a lot of the expected PN notes - a sourness on the tongue, as well as a strong cherry cola flavor. The sourness had almost a port-like quality to it initially, but (as the previous review noted) faded fairly quickly. The tannins were noticeable but not intrusive.
  
  Something we both noticed was how much more this tasted like a European Pinot, and in particular a Rheingau Spätburgunder.
  
  Definitely an excellent food wine.

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  5/8/2015 - TottenCellars wrote:

  Color depth is medium, and color is garnet.
  The wine is clear and free of any sediment.
  
  It boasts a young big nose of raspberry and ripe cherries and a touch of cinnamon.
  
  The palate is dry, light/medium bodied, fresh acidity and low soft tannins.
  I would call the wine balanced with some of the tartness leading me to say this wine would benefit from some food but is fine on its own as well.
  
  The flavor profile is again raspberry and tart cherries. It has a medium length finish. I did not note any oakiness, but it was somewhat tart/sour in the initial taste, as the palate got used to it it faded very quickly. The wine has a juicy component in the entry and fades to a drying finish.
  
  Overall I really enjoyed the wine, its a classic example of a sonoma coast pinot but a slightly lighter style. If I had the wine again I would make sure to pair a meal with it. It's not the most complex pinot but I find pinots from this region rarely are. recommended.
  
  
  
  

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