Blind pinot tasting

Another fun blind tasting with pinot with bsumoba and FermentedBeast. Blinds are so damn useful..

Champagne to start with and blinding the gents with a Sauvignon Blanc.

• 2014 La Rogerie Champagne Grand Cru Heroine 93 Points

  France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

  Nose of honeyed and gentle stone fruits with some minerals, sun basked dried earth, and clean light hay.
  
  Lighter fruits on the palate with the fruits being more on the whiter/paler fleshed side. There is an ethereal note of a pit (from stone fruit) with an airy minerality note. Pleasant pitch of deep yellow fruits on the mid to end palate. Good amount of acidity to keep flavors energetic on the palate.

  Read 3 Comments / Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2018 Adamvs Sauvignon Blanc 95 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain

  Nose of grass, a creamy confectionery candy made of vanilla but not in a way that was too sweet, blended with a bit of ripe cantaloupe.
  
  Ripe and gently spiced melon flavors with a bit of stone fruits. Gentle earth mixed with some melon notes, as if someone were preparing melons on a forest floor, leaving behind the rinds and accidentally dropped melon flesh.
  
  This wasn't showing as I had hoped it would, like when I first tasted this at the estate. Familiar flavors were here but were a bit disjointed. Maybe temperature played a factor here. It did show a bit better after spending sometime in the fridge.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

The battle begins..

Across the board, everyone practically ranked every bottle the same. Ranks can be found at the bottom of each note.

• 2018 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Hillside

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Aromas of really hot, dried, sun baked stones with gentle red fruits. On day 2, the nose developed light blueberries and whole oranges (with the short stem with a couple of leaves attached as well).
  
  Flavors of dark red fruits but with a savory component, with a gentle saltiness from the same dried stones on the nose. On day 2, a spiced earth develops and the savory and bitter minerals become more prolonged on the finish.
  
  This went amazing with pizza.
  
  [Blind rank: 3rd out of 5]

  Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2021 Domaine de la Côte Pinot Noir La Côte

  USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills

  Nose of deep green and savory peppers with a background of dark red fruits. On day 2, berry notes surface more but it's as if the berries have thin green pepper skins instead.
  
  Flavors similar to the nose, with red fruits glowing and shining a bit brighter on the palate. Not much change on the palate for day 2.
  
  [Blind rank: 5th out of 5]

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2020 Brvghelli Pinot Noir

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Maria Valley

  Nose of berries like soft light cranberries mixed with some blueberries, earth and some salinity, like a freshly cut slab of salmon sashimi (in a good way). On day 2, the nose has turned much more floral with dark violets and an indiscernible blend of different types of dark but light fruits.
  
  Flavors of similar light cranberries from the nose, somewhat salty hay with dried top soil, and grass. The saltiness gains a bit with some time. On day 2, the cranberries become more sour, savory minerals develop, and some red earth (almost like clay).
  
  [Blind rank: 4th out of 5]

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2021 Di Costanzo Pinot Noir Costa Bentrock Vineyard

  USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills

  Nose of red cherries with a soft touch of ripe blueberries, and pretty flowers with soft touch of grass. On day 2, lighter red berries without being bright or too sour, and notes of clean, fuzzy apricots have emerged.
  
  On the palate, light mix of red berries and stone fruit, and a bit of light heat on the tail end. Heat dissipates with some time, finishes with a nice minerality. Not much change on day 2, heat seemed to have resurfaced again.
  
  [Blind rank: 2nd out of 5]

  Post a Comment / 3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2018 Wayfarer Pinot Noir Wayfarer Vineyard

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Fort Ross - Seaview

  Nose of awesome blue berries and also purple-blue plums. Fragrant fruit aromas here, very nice.
  
  Darker fruits on the palate here, deep and softly spiced earth (really subtle spice) with a nice juicy freshness. Shout out to the acidity here playing an important role. Nice creaminess with time but maintains an elegance somehow.
  
  No day 2, this was bottle-napped.
  
  [Blind rank: 1st out of 5]

  Post a Comment / 3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

Not a bad way to end the evening.

• 2018 Château Pavie 97 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Aromas of fresh dark red berries, a nice restraint on the fruit, forest floor, and underbrush like gentle stems.
  
  Flavors of dark fruits, shaved pencil lead, dried minerals on wet damp earth, and a bit of bramble as well to add complexity. Graphite notes are light and powdered, and minerals leans more toward big, stony rocks.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

Big shout outs to bsumoba for hosting the tasting for us. Another blind tasting in the books and an educational one at that!