Pinot Noir Tasting (Meo Camuzet, Flowers, Hansel, Cristom...)

Zoot Restaurant
Tasted Wednesday, April 20, 2005 by steffenpelz with 1,001 views

Introduction

8 of us convened at our local favorite Zoot last night to taste through a bunch of Pinots. Most wines were outstanding, but there were also some surprises.

Flight 1 - Burgundy (2 Notes)

Only 2 Burgundies served, but they were nice. Only oddity was that the Meo was showing wet cardboard towards the end of the night, which prompted the speculation that it was corked all along. Certainly not noticeable initially.

  • 1988 Domaine Méo-Camuzet Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Chaumes 91 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

    Right out of the bottle, this promised to be a good start to our tasting. Nice mature nose of cherry, strawberry, underbrush, truffle, and a hint of barnyard. Red fruit, peet moss, earth, and a good dose of acidity come together in a medium-long finish. Later on in the evening, many of us thought it was becoming more obvious that this wine may have been corked.

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  • 2000 Jean Boillot & Fils Volnay 1er Cru Les Chevrets 92 Points

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

    Wild nose of BBQ Meat, ox blood, smoke, dark fruit (plum and bing cherry), and a touch of spice. This is still quite a tannic wine, but the blackberry fruitreally shines. Interestingly, I was getting a shred of asian spice which reminded me of RRV Pinots. Long finish.

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Flight 2 - Oregon (4 Notes)

The flight of the night with the most consistently high quality.

  • 1998 Rex Hill Pinot Noir Reserve 89 Points

    USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

    Strange and atypical Pinot from OR IMO. Really dark red, almost purple color. Powerful blackberry fruit that plays alongside tastes of licorice, smoke, and a hint of petrol. The palate reveals another set of tastes featuring cracked pepper, black truffle, and a load of blackberry. Finish was nice, but not overly long.

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  • 1999 Ken Wright Pinot Noir Nysa Vineyard 90 Points

    USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

    Good stuff. Cardamom, dark cherry, coriander and roasted meat on the nose. Red fruit (most noteably cranberry) and cedar wood on the palate. Nicely balanced and has many years left in it.

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  • 2002 Cristom Pinot Noir Eileen Vineyard 89 Points

    USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola - Amity Hills

    Could this be closed? Nose doesn't give much, but notes of blackberry, blueberry, and cedar are barely traceable. The palate is definitely more accommodating, showing deep cherry flavors, spice, caramel, and a wonderful mouthfeel. Finish is good, but it just seems too tight.

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  • 2002 Bethel Heights Pinot Noir Casteel Reserve 91 Points

    USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola - Amity Hills

    Meaty nose of BBQ, sage, underbrush and lots of bright red fruit. Intense palate of laser focused fruit, tree bark, fantastic tesxture, and one of the longest finishes of the night.

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Flight 3 - California (4 Notes)

Two treats, and one very weak wine made this a rather hit-or-miss flight.

  • 2002 Walter Hansel Winery Pinot Noir The Three Rows 93 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

    This is the real deal. The nose goes right through you and shows incredibly pure and focused red fruit and classic RRV spice. On the palate, there are just lots of things going on while Vanilla, cherry, cinnamon stick, white chocolate, and minerally, nutty tastes melt together into a very long finish.

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  • 1999 Siduri Pinot Noir Van der Kamp Vineyard 89 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Mountain

    First Siduri I've ever liked to some extent. Very primary wine that has so much fruit left at this point. Only problem is that the fruit overpowers everything else, soi I'm not so sure there's any structure underneath. The pretty balckberry and blueberry turns slightly medicinal on the finish.

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  • 2002 Testarossa Pinot Noir Garys' Vineyard 84 Points

    USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands

    Hot nose, Medicinal on the palate. Certainly drinkable and I can see how proponents of this style could like this wine. Nuff said.

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  • 1998 Flowers Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 90 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

    Very nice bottle of wine. I detected all the hallmark RRV flavors of Cola, spice, earth, and bright red fruit. The nose featured a tad of barnyard, and the oak many people often speak of in regards to this wine was beautifully integrated. Certainly a stellar wine that still has years to go.

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Flight 4 - New Zealand (1 Note)

I hope this wine is not indicative of NZ Pinot because I absolutely couldn't drink this wine.

Closing

Voting for Wine of the Night ( 1st Place Votes/ 2nd Place Votes / 3rd Place Votes)

Walter Hansel - (2/1/2) - 10 Points - WOTN
Boillot Volnay - (1/2/1) - 8 points - Runner-up
Bethel Heights - (1/1/1) - 6 points
Flowers - (1/1/0) - 5 Points
Meo Camuzet - (0/0/2) - 2 Points
Rex Hill Reserve - (0/0/2) - 2 Points
Cristom Eileen - (0/1/0) - 2 Points
Testarossa - (0/1/0) - 2 Points
Siduri Van der Kamp - (0/0/1) - 1 Point
Ken Wright Nysa - (0/0/0) - 0 Points
Mt. Difficulty - (0/0/0) - 0 Points

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