2007 Pinot Days – Best of Sonoma Coast and Russian River Valley Seminar
Fort Mason, San Francisco
Tasted Saturday, June 30, 2007 by rjonwine@gmail.com with 584 views
Introduction
We tasted each wine, 19 in all, single blind, knowing only that the flight was Sonoma Coast or Russian River Valley. I lucked out in being able to sit next to winemaker Erich Bradley, of Sojourn and Audelssa, whom I'd been wanting to meet for some months . He accurately picked his '05 Sojourn out of the first flight, and had very astute comments on other wines during the course of the evening. The Scherrer, Ancien and Sojourn were my wines of the seminar, with the Scherrer and Ancien being exciting finds, because Scherrer wasn't on my radar at all, and although I've known about Ancien, I haven't paid much attention for years. I tasted through both Scherrer and Ancien at the Grand Tasting to confirm that these are makers/labels to watch.
Flight 1 - Sonoma Coast – Flight One (5 Notes)
Erich Bradley of Sojourn
Flight 2 - Russian River Valley – Flight 2 (5 Notes)
Rod Berglund of Joseph Swan
Ken Bernards of Ancien
Flight 3 - Sonoma Coast – Flight 3 (5 Notes)
Fred Scherrer of Scherrer Winery
2004 Copeland Creek Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 91 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Light medium red color; brett, barnyard, earthy, Burgundian nose; tasty, light medium body, with sappy tart strawberry palate, good depth; medium finish 91+ pts. (584 cases, winemaker Greg Bjornstad)
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2004 Keller Estate Pinot Noir La Cruz Vineyard 88 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Medium cherry red color; tart red fruit with bramble nose; sweet cherry palate with depth, sweet tannins, but somewhat simple; medium finish (Michael McNeil winemaker)
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2005 De Loach Pinot Noir Sonoma Stage Vineyard 91 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Pinkish, cherry red color; soy, roasted fruit and meat on nose; tasty, focused, sappy blue fruit and candied apple palate, but somewhat hot with roasted meat and resinous notes; medium finish ($70, 40% new oak, from Calera and Swan clones, "14.9-ish" alcohol, according to the assistant winemaker on hand) (tied for the group's 2nd WOTF with the Sojourn)
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2005 Peay Vineyards Pinot Noir Scallop Shelf Estate 87 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Medium cherry red color; reticent nose, eventually showing floral and rosehips; light medium body, with good acidity, but a little disjointed; short-medium cliff finish 87+ pts. (voted WOTF by a plurality of those in attendance) ($50)
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2005 Sojourn Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 92 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
(NB: This was listed on the program as the Sojourn "Sangiacomo Vineyard," which I've had a few times, and quite enjoyed, as I have the Sonoma Coast. The winemaker, Erich Bradley, sitting on my right, identified it in blindtasting, from the color and other characteristics, as the Sojourn Sonoma Coast. Sure enough, there was at least one bottle of the Sonoma Coast poured, along with a few bottles of the "Sangiacomo Vineyard." So some of us had one and some the other. Both are very good Pinots.) – medium raspberry red color, with a touch of brown, a clear meniscus, and a little cloudiness; sexy, plummy, raspberry and floral nose; rich palate of plum, rosehips; cherry and a spice element (cardamom?); medium-plus finish 92+ pts. (my WOTF, tied for 2nd WOTF for the assembled group) (When Erich spoke about his wine, thinking it was the Sonoma Coast, he attributed the slight browning to some botrytis that was present in the grapes when picked, and that they sorted to eliminate. From a single clone, the 777.)
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