Blind Pinots and Syrahs at David's

Enfield, CT
Tasted Thursday, September 5, 2013 by salil with 313 views

Flight 1 (1 Note)

  • 2011 Arnot-Roberts Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains 87 Points

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    Nicely balanced, but rather nondescript - there's pleasant pear and citrus fruit accented by stony mineral elements, but not a whole lot else going on. It's very light on its feet and precise with bracing acidity, but not showing much depth or complexity right now.

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Flight 2 (3 Notes)

  • 2006 Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Vosne-Romanée 90 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée

    Very fragrant and elegant, a lovely herbal and savoury scent leading into a palate full of bright red and dark fruit flavours with bright acids and fine grained tannins making it very appealing to drink right now. My favourite of the Pinot flight.

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  • 2008 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard 81 Points

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    Not a fan of this. Rather unexpressive aromatically, and quite dense and ripe on the palate, with a roasted element to the fruit. It calms down a bit with air, but always comes across rather one-note and monolithic. Not my thing.

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  • 2009 Anthill Farms Pinot Noir Comptche Ridge Vineyard 88 Points

    USA, California, North Coast, Mendocino County

    Drinking quite nicely now with a rather spicy, peppery scent, and a palate full of bright red fruit framed by more savoury earthy accents. It's not particularly complex yet, but the balance is excellent and there's a sense of polish and finesse to the flavours, with a very silken texture on the palate.

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Flight 3 (3 Notes)

  • 2011 Arnot-Roberts Syrah Clary Ranch 91 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

    Great stuff. At first this has one of the most vivid aromas of freshly ground black pepper I've ever smelled in a wine, and with time it opens out aromatically to reveal more saline, spicy, meaty, and smoky elements that keep unravelling with more air. There's a sense of incredible freshness to the red and dark fruited flavours on the palate here, and a lightness of touch that makes it all too easy to drink. Served blind, I had no idea this was Californian - was guessing this to be a St. Joseph all the way.

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  • 2010 Domaine Courbis Cornas La Sabarotte 92 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

    Quite a contrast to the Arnot-Roberts Clary Ranch Syrah, this isn't as peppery or spicy, it's more low-toned aromatically with savoury earthy, meaty and smoky flavours, and a faint oak accent that's rather understated in the background. There's a sense of restrained power here, it's brooding and tannic, but the balance is fantastic and I imagine this could be something really great with some cellar time.

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  • 2010 Wind Gap Wines Syrah Sonoma Coast 90 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

    Riper than the Arnot-Roberts with richer, deeper complexioned fruit, but at the same time it's also got plenty of more savoury earthy, spicy and faintly gamey notes adding complexity around the core of rich red and dark fruited flavours. Really well balanced, very elegant and polished on the palate, I liked this a lot.

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Flight 4 (1 Note)

  • 2010 Alfred Merkelbach Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Beerenauslese 92 Points

    Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

    So elegant, pure and delicate for a Beerenauslese. The botrytis is certainly quite noticeable with a strong spicy/honeyed scent, but there's such amazing purity and clarity to the layers of fresh Riesling fruit, florality, and minerality beneath. It's certainly intensely rich and sweet, but there's the powerful acidity of the vintage balancing it and keeping it remarkably light on its feet at the same time. Fantastic Riesling.

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