Chicago Wine Flock...Rich Tests Our Pinot Noir Chops

Pinot Noir from Burgundy (Grand Cru and 1er Cru), Oregon and California, all from the same vintage. Let's see who can figure out what is from where. And let's start with the same for Chardonnay.

Knowing these were all from one vintage, I thought there was sufficient overall ripeness (+ balance) in what i thought was from Burgundy to think these were from 2014. Oh so close.

• 2013 Domaine Dublère Corton-Charlemagne 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

  Tasted double blind in Chardonnay flight. Floral start, nicely rich while not too ripe, so overall good balance with good textures. i had trouble figuring out if this was a great wine from CA or a good wine from Burgundy (sorry, Blair!), and got it wrong. Very enjoyable right now, but not necessarily a wine to cellar for much longer.

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• 2013 Brick House Chardonnay Cascadia 86 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge

  Tasted double blind. Certainly the most simple of the flight with an overall lean character and a slightly bitter finish. Good for now, but slightly disappointing.

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• 2013 Domaine Henri Boillot Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos de la Mouchère 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Tasted double blind. Rich and fat but slightly oaky. Not necessarily showing the substance to absorb that oak and be excellent beyond the next 5 years, but certainly very fun right now. Moderate weight and length. I correctly identified this as 1er Cru Burgundy.

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• 2013 Littorai Chardonnay Mays Canyon 92 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

  Tasted double blind in a flight where we were told there was one Grand Cru Burgundy, and I thought this was that Grand Cru. Slightly floral with a cross-section of apple aromas and flavors, followed by tropical hints. Rich, dense and long. Very good now, with upside from here.

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Clearly so young, and clearly ripe Burgundy here, so 2012 was a fairly easy vintage to identify.

• 2012 Rhys Pinot Noir Skyline Vineyard 93 Points

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Tasted single blind. Red cherry and berry with lots of spice that made me think reminiscent of Vosne. Very savory and rich with overall good balance, even if still slightly backward. Needs time. While the sweet fruit made me wonder if this was New World, the elegance and spice took me to Burgundy. I thought this might be the Mugneret-Gibourg NSG les Chaignots, but with hindsight should have identified the whole cluster character here as inconsistent with MG wines' style.

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• 2012 Cristom Pinot Noir Louise Vineyard 93 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola - Amity Hills

  Tasted single blind. Wow, I was fairly confident this was Grand Cru Burgundy! Black and red cherry with great density and an alluring whole cluster charm. Very, very long, and clearly in its infancy.

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• 2012 The Eyrie Vineyards Pinot Noir Daphne Vineyard 89 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

  Tasted single blind, I correctly identified this as from Oregon. Slightly sweet start with elegant notes, but quickly showing leaner character with red cherry and cranberry middle through finish. Good, but somewhat aloof for now.

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• 2012 Domaine Michel Lafarge Volnay 1er Cru Les Caillerets Flawed

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

  Tasted single blind. The entire flight seemed like 5 year old wines, but this seemed 15+ years old. An oxidative note I would never expect from a correct bottle of (too young) Lafarge.

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• 2012 Louis Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques Domaine Louis Jadot 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru

  Tasted single blind. Black and red cherry throughout with moderate weight but very good balance and some braised meat spice. I kept going back-and-forth on whether I thought this Grand Crus or 1er Cru, and came out on the wrong side, largely because I thought this was closer to being ready than a few other wines tonight.

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• 2012 Domaine Robert Arnoux / Arnoux-Lachaux Latricières-Chambertin 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Latricières-Chambertin Grand Cru

  Tasted single blind. Easily the wine that confounded me the most tonight. Best nose of the lineup - sweet and savory spice, Black fruit and floral hints. Flavors just came across as shallow and almost manipulated. This didn't seem like Burgundy to me at all. Clearly a cold soak was used here that extracted great aromas and color, but maybe this is just otherwise shut down. Group was divided on this wine. I wouldn't open a bottle for another decade+.

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• 2012 Domaine de Montille Clos Vougeot 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru

  Tasted single blind. Mostly black berries with dark chocolate and nutmeg, orange peel and allspice. Very powerful and tasty, easily identifiable as Grand Cru Burgundy. Still showing a trace of unabsorbed new oak, but there is so much concentration here that everything will certainly balance well before this ever approaches its optimal drinking window. This kept evolving over three hours in glass. Patience required. My favorite wine of the evening, and the group's #3. Patience required, better 2022-.

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• 2012 Henri Boillot Bonnes Mares 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru

  Tasted single blind. Black cherry start-to-finish with ripe aromas, more restrained flavors and a nice mineral-driven finish. A bit oaky for me. Good weight and balance made me think this 1er Cru Burgundy, and I was certainly surprised to see this unveiled as Bonnes Mares. My 4th favorite wine of the flight, but the group's #1.

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• 2012 Littorai Pinot Noir Cerise Vineyard 91 Points

  USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley

  Tasted single blind. Black berries with black pepper, good weight and dry extract. Slightly firm, and clearly needing cellar time. But also nicely elegant, in fact I thought this was 1er Cru Burgundy.

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• 2012 Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Chaignots 92 Points

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

  Tasted single blind. Ripe throughout with both red and black cherry. Slightly sweet with good+ concentration and finesse. Subtle spice to start, more emerged after two hours in glass, at which point the wine also seemed more weighty. Clearly needs more time in the cellar.

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• 2012 St. Innocent Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton

  Tasted single blind. Others liked this wine, but I found it dirty/ bretty with a lean and uninteresting finish. I will have to open one from my cellar in the next year to see if tonight's bottle is representative. 83 points for me tonight.

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• 2012 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Summa Old Vines 90 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Tasted single blind. Ripe and very concentrated. Interesting combination of black and red cherries, both fresh and macerated, with a hint of orange zest. Very clean, powerful and precise, but so barely evolved that this needs more time. I like this now, but am intrigued with its upside.

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• 1990 Calera Pinot Noir Mills Vineyard 90 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Mount Harlan

  Tasted double blind. Ripe and powerful with sweet spice, earth hints, good concentration and moderate finesse. Seemed New World at first, until we were informed it was from 1990, at which point I thought it Old World. Oops. Very enjoyable and balanced.

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