Loring Garys's Vertical 2001-2003

After a recent thread on the Squires/eRP board on the longevity of Loring wines, I offered to open a few Loring wines for Rick Gregory, an avowed Burgundy nut.

We grilled up some wild King salmon marinated in sesame oil, peanut oil, soy, rice vinegar, black vinegar, honey, lemon, garlic and ginger. Along with that we had a 'relish' of shiitake mushrooms, steamed white rice and some steamed Chinese broccoli dressed with a hoisin glaze. Mmm, this could easily get one in the mood for the pending runs of Copper River, Yukon River and BellaCoula salmon!

• 2001 Loring Wine Company Pinot Noir Garys' Vineyard 94 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands

  Wow, this was my last 2001 Loring, and it really makes me wonder if I shouldn't have been holding these a lot longer. From the moment we opened the bottle it was screaming of roasted meat and peat, just so earthy, tarry and meaty. Absolutely fantastic! The palate is silky, somewhat restrained, very elegant. I am really stunned at the evolution of this wine, as this is yielding so many gorgeous secondary notes and has really shed so much of its youth. If I were sitting on any more of these, I would be sucking them down right now. Gorgeous!

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• 2002 Loring Wine Company Pinot Noir Garys' Vineyard 92 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands

  This was the odd man out in the tasting. If I were tasting blind, I would never pick this as being related to the 2001 and 2003. The nose shows cola, cocoa, soy, and hints of pickle (green). The palate is powerful and sappy with load of birch beer and cola, very vibrant and wild. It is really a different animal than the other two wines, bearing very little resemblance yet so fun and bouncy.

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• 2003 Loring Wine Company Pinot Noir Garys' Vineyard 95 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands

  Oh wow, this is pretty crazy, a cousin to the 2001 yet huge, extracted, and stunningly powerful and complex. For the first two hours after we opened this, this wine showed its youth with a grapey approach and much more evident notes of oak. However, after 3.5 hours in the decanter this hit its stride and gained the meaty, peaty, earthy, spicy character of the 2001 yet with more intensity and depth. There is a spicy note of cinnamon and cardamom that pervades the wine, uet underneath it is a ripeness and penetrating depth. Reading the label, it is hard to believe that this is 15.2% alcohol, as the balance here is impeccable. Color me very, very impressed; my favorite Loring ever. Bravo Brian!!!

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All in all, I was very impressed by the wines and especially the earthy, peaty, spicy aspect of the 2001 and 2003 wines. Very impressive!