Community Tasting Note

• z_willus_d wrote: 91 points

  May 13, 2019 - Upon pouring, this wine showed a notably pure, deep crimson hue, notwithstanding the partially ossified wine crystals and gunk along the bottom quarter of the cork. (And for some reason this bottle's cork was stained purple-red, though not from any apparent internal seepage.) But these are inconsequential to the point, which is this, my first tasting experience with a Briceland Vineyards wine, indeed a Humboldt county wine. I've enjoyed following the nose over the past 90-minutes sans sipping, watching as it evolved from simple sour red cherry to a deeper complexion of red fruits, violets, forest febreze, and subtle bakers spices (and from time to time cookie-dough ice-cream). Very lovely, smooth, and not quite what I was expecting. On the palate, this was concentrated with a double-dose of sour cherry/raspberry (red fruits) and a triple dose of bracing acidity. After a couple sips, fine tannins start to paint the teeth, a bit of mineral mixed in with that sensing. Several aspects of this wine remind me of the 2017 Drew Family Cellars Pinot Noir Mid-Elevation I recently enjoyed in Anderson Valley -- vibrant sour-cherries, a touch floral, good acidity -- though this wine seems more serious and amplified than the entry-level Drew. This also seems young, and I will be interested to follow this over the next couple days to see how the slight bottle aeration of the recorked bottle affects the wine stored at cellar temps. A second half-glass pour showed a less sour, more full (on the mid-palate) rendering of the preceding. There's a lot to follow here, and I'm very excited to sample the other Briceland wines that just arrived (let's hope bottle-shock is a myth).

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2 Comments

• Deux Chevaux commented:

  5/14/19, 9:20 AM - Hi ZWillusD, Nice note. We will open one of these soon. For now I will mention: We have noticed gunk similar to what you describe on and under the corks in at least two of the three Briceland pinot noirs that we have opened. We take it (as we assume you do) as a sign of a healthy and alive wine!

• z_willus_d commented:

  5/14/19, 11:21 AM - Hi Deux, I'm glad you found my note - I was hoping you might, since I owe it to you for bringing this winery to my attention. It's a real value in Cellar Tracker if you can isolate similar tastes and values in fellow tasters and leverage that to steer purchases and interest. In short, I wouldn't know where to start in Humboldt, short of a lengthy tasting visit/tour, without your input. The gunk on the wine I assume is due to the no fining/filtering approach to the bottling, and I fully "approve." The wine really did evolve and change over the two glasses I enjoyed yesterday. Anyway, being one for homemade bread yeasts, kombucha brewing, beer making, and what not, I have no compunctions to happily gulping down that sort of byproduct. What's odd in the case of this wine was the level of clarity to the liquid despite the initial sedimentation/goop near the cork. At any rate, I'm quite looking forward to sampling through the other eleven bottles of Briceland's current offering. I'll probably try their entry Pinot next, followed by the Rhonda's. It will be nice to see your notes on this wine when you get to it. Cheers!

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