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