Dinner with 06 Thomas, 96 Alessandria Barolo

Great to have Mikhail and Sveta over for a casual dinner last night. After all the recent chatter about the 06 Thomas I wanted to crack one open and see for myself. It's a hard one to evaluate verbally, and the delicacy makes it different from most West Coast Pinots, but none the worse for that.

• 2006 Thomas Pinot Noir Dundee Hills 91 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

  This was decanted 1-2 hours. Medium ruby color. Nose of strawberries, beeswax and spice. Understated and elegant on the palate; well structured with fine tannins and good acidity. There's a lot going on, but it's hard to pick out flavors. It seems as though it's going to lose steam on the back end but keeps going. Will be interesting to see where this goes in a few years.

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• 1996 Gianfranco Alessandria Barolo San Giovanni 90 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Deep garnet color. Presented somewhat closed on the nose and never completely woke up. Herbal character, roses and rosemary, some plum skin and tobacco as well. Good acid through the middle with some fine tannin made this go very well with food.

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