30 years of Santa Cruz / Mount Eden Pinot Noirs with Dan Kravitz

Tasted Friday, December 15, 2006 by jamiekutch with 969 views

Introduction

Dan Kravitz has long been a lover of Santa Cruz / Mount Eden wines so when it was discovered that he was coming to the bay area, we warmly welcomed him with a pinot tasting spanning 30 years - from 1974 - 2004. We were fortunate that Jeffrey Patterson (winemaker for Mount Eden from 1981 - present) joined us. The evening was broken down into four blind flights with ringers in each flight.

For me, the night ended with another eye opening experience as to just how special and age worthy these wines truly are.

The Players:

Dan Kravitz
Jeffrey Patterson (of Mount Eden)
Jason Jardine
Jeff Brinkman
Ray Walker & wife
Paul Galli
Jayaram Bhat
Kevin Harvey
Jamie Kutch

Flight 1 - Flight 2001 - 2004 (6 Notes)

  • 2001 Varner Pinot Noir Spring Ridge Vineyard Hidden Block

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    Light cherry / strawberry fruit perfumed nose. Exceptionally light in color. Good acidity with just a hint of excessive oak. With time I am certain the oak will integrate and those who waited will be rewarded even further. Very nice way to start!

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  • 2004 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    The darkest colored pinot of the flight, this nose has dark fruit notes including blackberry, and Asian spice. This wine is both concentrated and built to age with some toasted oak that while not intrusive, needs time to integrate. This wine cries for the cellar and is built Ford Tough. The finish is clean and long. Having seen this gnarly vineyard earlier this year (some spots with 45% degrees slopes) it is easy to taste the radical ness in the wine. Loads of personality here.

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  • 2004 Mount Eden Vineyards Pinot Noir

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    Silky smooth and delicate with low alcohol and not an edge to be found. Very delicious wine which welcomes you and then bids you farewell though in a simple manner at this point. This was my 2nd favorite in the flight.

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  • 2004 Rhys Pinot Noir Home Vineyard

    USA, California, San Francisco Bay, San Mateo County

    Strawberry confectionary nose. The palate is again caressing like the 04 Mount Eden but shows much more originality. The mid-palate is smooth with a finish that keeps repeating. For me this was clearly the wine of the flight and one of my top three wines of the night. Killer.

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  • 2002 Alfredo Roca Pinot Noir Family Reserve

    Argentina, Mendoza, San Rafael

    Served as a ringer. This was grippy and closed with some darker fruit notes. With some coxing it was interesting that this had some similarity to the other wines though the tannins and grip made it easy to determine that the wine was from a distant place.

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  • 2004 Testarossa Pinot Noir Schultze Family Vineyard

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    This had some clove on the nose with some spice on the palate. Good wine that got slightly better with air though didn't impress enough to warrant it as a favorite.

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Flight 2 - Flight 1987 - 1993 (6 Notes)

Flight 3 - Flight 1974 - 1984 (4 Notes)

  • 1978 Charles Vienot Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Argillieres

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

    Initially a stinky wine though with air it blew off into a meaty nose with sweet fruit. The sweetness continued into the palate throwing off the balance.. When asked in this flight who thought this was the Burgundy, not one hand went up.

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  • 1979 Mount Eden Vineyards Pinot Noir

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    1,000 flowers! I had hopes for being wowed and this certainly wowed me! The nose light up the room with it's bouquet of roses coupled with Asian spice. Kevin said DRC. The balance was as perfect as a tight rope walker 1,000 feet off the ground from the beginning sniff to the first taste and ultimately to the finish. Everything one would ever want or expect from a wine made from Pinot Noir grapes no matter where it was grown. This would spin the heads of some Burg nuts. Easily wine of the night and tied with it's younger brother the 1980

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  • 1984 Mount Eden Vineyards Pinot Noir Flawed

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    Corked

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  • 1979 Calera Pinot Noir Jensen Vineyard

    USA, California, Central Coast, Mount Harlan

    This was the ringer and while still well put together, it suffered from some brett which turned a few tasters off. This was the 2nd commercial release of Calera and I had high hopes for it as I brought it along.

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Flight 4 - Flight 1974 - 1984 (4 Notes)

  • 1980 Mount Eden Vineyards Pinot Noir

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    My second time with this wine. The first was with our host in Baltimore along with Dan Kravitz so it was fun to taste it again with Dan. I would have bet the farm this was the 1980 Mount Eden as having just revealed the 1979 in the prior flight the similarities were splitting images. The difference I found between the 79 to 80 was that the 80 had more reverence (a little more of everything) while the 79 is slightly more delicate. Both are clearly blockbusters. Made from 100% whole cluster as was the 79, this practice stopped in 1982 unfortunately. In a word, Awesome!

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  • 1979 Domaine Matrot Blagny 1er Cru La Pièce-sous-le-Bois Rouge

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Blagny 1er Cru

    Unfortunately I missed any notes on this wine.

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  • 1974 Mount Eden Vineyards Pinot Noir

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    I had this wine a month ago with Velebil and Thomas and it showed much less than out bottle tonight. This was perhaps the surprise of the night and for me proved how amazingly these wines can really age. While Gali was barking shoe leather, I tasted none and found earth more prominent. My notes even say though I know this is old, it tastes young with a youthful tannins still very evident.

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  • 1979 Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard Pinot Noir Santa Cruz Mountains

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    Very Burgundian like almost everyone thought this was the burg ringer. Good core of fruit, with structure and balance.

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