Copain Dinner With Wells Guthrie and Jennifer Derrick In The OC

Good times being able to get Jennifer and Wells down for a dinner. Even better, to have Alyssa pull it all together at Marche with Florent cooking. This was a less formal type of dinner, with an air of being more relaxed. Wells and Jennifer were on Day 4 of their LA trip and they were kind enough to let us put together a nice crowd of about 30 people to enjoy a mixture of current and library Copain releases. The evening was great, aside from the absence of spit buckets which is not my usual approach to these kinds of dinners. Was a little slow top getting going this morning!

• 2009 Copain Chardonnay Brosseau Vineyard

  USA, California, Central Coast, Chalone

  Good to re-try this wine, as I last had it in March when I visted the winery a few months back. For background, this wine saw one 1-year old barrel, with the rest being mostly neutral. As for oak percentage, call it pretty small, which according to Wells was intentional and will continue to be going forward for this bottling. It's grown in limestone/chalk and he wants the acidity and fruit to be center, not wood. As for the wine, this time around I find mango, tangerine, deep lime, yellow apple and good acidity, with some slate filling in on the back. Perhaps the main difference this time tasting it was that I found the wine to be a bit rounder this time off. Not flabby or heavy but the flavors a bit deeper, less linear. I have three bottles in the cellar, will try another one this summer. Drank very well.

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• 2006 Copain Roussanne James Berry Vineyard

  USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

  I really don't drink enough of this varietal to have a reference point but what I found was a waxy texture, with some glycerine, apricot and peach. It seemed many liked the wine and while I did not dislike it, and I do own a bottle of this, I need to spend more time with white rhones and get some basis for them.

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• 2009 Copain Roussanne James Berry Vineyard

  USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

  This is the last JB Roussanne that Wells will make, as the strategy for Copain was to move all fruit sourcing and to the Anderson Valley (aside from Brosseau, which is limestone and chalk soils). I preferred this to the 2006, which we tasted alongside this 2009. I found the 2009 lighter, more nuanced, zippier with fennel. Less waxy and less glycerine. Overall, to me just better for my palate.

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• 2009 Copain Pinot Noir Les Voisins

  USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley

  A blend of several vineyards from the Deep End of Anderson Valley, what wells calls his 'Village' bottling. Juicy, good depth, the fruit tones seem a bit darker and I'll take that expression to be something that the oak is adding more than the true fruit expression. Dark strawberry. The oak signature appears in the aromatics and like with all the 2009 Copain pinots, it saw 20% new. However, in this bottling, the fruit has yet to match the wood and so what you get is a wine that shows more vanilla and darker fruits in tone. One thing also to note is we drank this wine, in my view, a bit too warm. With a chill on it, I think it would crispen up more.

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• 2007 Copain Pinot Noir Monument Tree

  USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley

  Poured in the same flight as the 2009. One thing about the 2007, and this part I do appreciate: Wells put a good quantity of stems in the 2007, as opposed to the 2009 that is all destemmed. The 2007 shows it in the aromatics, adding a peppery/savory note to the profile, which I do like. Red apple, stony, pure strawberry and rocky yet. Good weight here but fortunately not full bodied.

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• 2009 Copain Pinot Noir Monument Tree

  USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley

  Poured next to the 2007 in the same flight. As with the 2009 Kiser En Bas we later tasted over the same meal, this 2009 MT shows the kiss of the 20% new wood it saw. Also, the fruit definition is less resolved, composed to lots of red attributes like cherry, strawberry. Will need time to settle and meld together but like with all the 2009s, they have been in bottle only a short time.

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• 2007 Copain Pinot Noir "En Bas" Kiser

  USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley

  What a show stealer. Starts off with rose petal, light whiff of caramel and tilled earth in the aromatics. Then, just the most beautiful expression of pure raspberry fruit that is juicy, vibrant with a supportive finish of slate and mineral. This slate-like tannin really just freshens the wine in total and really wraps the fruit into a tremendous package. The finish and purity of fruit really hit me as an indicator this wine will get more beautiful with additional aging and become even better. Simply the best CA pinot I have tasted in 2011.

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• 2009 Copain Pinot Noir "En Bas" Kiser

  USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley

  I tasted this wine at Copain just about 6 weeks ago, although the comparative wine next to it at that time was not the 2007. In lining this 2009 up against the 2007, the oak here on the 2009 still sticks out, where as in the 2007 it is mostly intregrated, save a whiff of light caramel. Even so, we are talking about 20% new on the 2009, and moreso the wine was just bottled not more than 4 months ago. Lots more blue fruit in the 2009, with of course the same raspberry found in the 2007. Still young, not yet fully defined but showing underneath some of that vibrance and good acidity that the 2007 really demonstrates. Give this 2009 another year before trying or decant well.

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• 2005 Copain Syrah Hawks Butte Vineyard

  USA, California, North Coast, Yorkville Highlands

  Admittedly, I got all enamored again with the 2007 HB that was poured right next to this 2005 so my notes here are quite brief. Recalled a bloody note, green olive and some pepper. Classic HB with a nice kick of stem.

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• 2007 Copain Syrah Hawks Butte Vineyard

  USA, California, North Coast, Yorkville Highlands

  This is my 7th tasting note on this bottling and mercy, this wine is just as good as it was when it bowled me over 2 years ago when I first tried it. Given my palate shift, in a side by side with the 2007 Copain James Berry syrah, the Hawks Butte in time will likely overtake it as the best syrah to date that Wells has ever made. For the James Berry and its flash and suave presentation, the Hawks Butte does the more savory and northern rhone presentation. Tonight, this 2007 showed stunning again. With air, it shows metal shavings, graphite, lavender, black olive and ground coffee. Juicy, with a mineral component, purple flowers and a crushed rock finish. For all the fuss that the big scoring syrahs seem to generate, I'll take this Hawks Butte up against any of them. Gorgeous and a long life ahead of it.

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• 2009 Copain Syrah Hawks Butte Vineyard

  USA, California, North Coast, Yorkville Highlands

  As with a # of Copain 2009s that I drank at the winery a few months back, this too was one of them. I found the wine at that time light and feminine, so too tonight, especially as it laid in contrast to the 2005 and 2007 versions poured right next to it. Lots of red fruits, tight and juicy with leather and tannin, yet my notes as I mentioned again say "light bodied". Hell, this 2009 is not even released yet and I suspect it won't even be for sale until at least the Fall 2011, if not Spring 2012. I'll be interested to see how much weight, if any, it acquires in bottle but at this stage, it remains a more lighter framed expression of Hawks Butte.

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