Pinot Noir Blind Tasting @ Planet Wine

Had dinner with a group of 9 at Planet Wine. Chef Will Artley prepared a great custom menu for us as well.

Dinner Menu:

Appetizer:
-Twice-baked fingerling potatoes with creme fraiche, bacon, and frizzled leeks
-Celert root veloute with wild mushrooms
Salad:
-Salt roasted beets, kaleidoscope baby carrots & arugula
Pasta:
-Sunchoke and ricotta agnolotti
Main Course:
-Seared scallops with toasted couscous & carrot caramel sauce
-Roseda farms sirloin with white truffle potato risotto & roasted brussels sprouts
Cheese:
-Assorted cheese and fruits
Desert:
-Warm chocolate cake with homemade ice cream

• 2003 Pierre André au Château de Corton André Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Brûlées 88 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

  Hint of dark cherry, smoke and cranberry. Delicate on the mouthfeel with a somewhat short finish. There is also a nice acidity to this wine - very food friendly.

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• 2007 Sea Smoke Pinot Noir Ten 89 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills

  Big nose of cocoa, cinnamon, nutmeg and sweet rhubarb. Massive wine, with the alcohol coming through quite noticeably. There was also a somewhat bizarre celery salt component to the wine. At this point I felt it was somewhat disjointed...and clearly young. If you have more bottles of this, I'd recommend forgetting about it in your cellar for at least 5 years.

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• 2007 Patricia Green Cellars Pinot Noir Estate Ribbon Ridge 91 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge

  Spicy nose of pine needles, underbrush, and clove. Very lithe on the palate, some commented that it was easy to tell this was an 2007 Oregonian pinot. While this wine clearly didn't have the body or weight on the palate as some of the wines did, this did have a very elegant finesse that I appreciated. I'm not sure how long these bottles will last, but pairing this with a light salad worked out well.

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• 2006 Whetstone Wine Cellars Pinot Noir Bella Vigna Vineyard 92 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Black licorice, a smoked meats on the nose. Deep, dark sour cherries dominate the wine. Out of all the wines this evening, this exhibited the most elegance and balance. The finish kept evolving on this bottle, going from espresso at times, to bacon drippings and cherry custard. Fascinating wine and the consensus WOTN.

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• 2006 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Keefer Ranch Vineyard 89 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

  Closed down nose on this bottle. The palate was very nice though with robust caramel, chocolate, sour cherry, and dried herbs. Again, an elegant wine that despite the nose was showing very well.

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• 2006 Sineann Pinot Noir Resonance Vineyard

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Characterized by sour cherry and wood smoke, this was a big pinot. I felt the alcohol a bit too much on this bottle and ended up not giving it a score.

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• 2007 Cameron Rouge Clos Electrique 90 Points

  USA, Oregon

  I liked this wine a lot. The nose and palate had subtle chocolate, light campfire smoke and espresso. There was also a noticeable amount of cranberry, strawberry, and sour cherry on the finish. Very nice wine.

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• 2006 Valli Pinot Noir Gibbston Vineyard 91 Points

  New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

  Very old world in style. There was a great contrast between this bottle and the majority of the tasting. I picked up roasted asparagus and brussel sprouts on the nose with red pepper and underbrush. Very complex wine with a lot of stuff going on. This wine needs a couple more years to come into its own. Great bottle.

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• 2002 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 92 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  White and black pepper...with jalapeno's. Lots of spicy pepper. There was also a lot of leather, tobacco, herbs and coffee too. I also pulled out some bloodiness, clove and mint on the mid-palate. Very complex wine that was showing very well. Great bottle!

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• 2006 Patricia Green Cellars Pinot Noir Notorious 90 Points

  USA, Oregon, Yamhill County

  For me, this had a very intriguing old world nose again. Leather, olives, espresso and bacon. Palate had very dense red fruits with cranberry, dark cherry, sour cherry and strawberry's mixing together. Very well made bottle of wine that was showing very well. This could last for a nice long time too - another 3-5 years of good life ahead of it.

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