AVTG does '09 Anderson Valley pinot, blind
Foursight Winery
Tasted March 8, 2013 by DanR with 562 views
Introduction
Kudos to winemaker Joe Webb and Foursight wines, who, in a blind tasting of 18 Anderson Valley pinot noirs, produced the 1st and 2nd place wines. No small feat, with some real heavy hitters in the lineup - Rhys, Littorai, Drew, etc. Hopefully this will provide the impetus for more people to try his wines; that are minimal input, always possess great purity and clarity, and are a true expression of a first class site - the exceptional Charles Vineyard in Boonville.
Flight 1 (18 notes)
Red
2009 Drew Family Cellars Pinot Noir Morning Dew Ranch Vineyard
USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
Dark garnet, almost opaque, dark fruit aromas. Mid weight. Sweet, dark fruit, spice, smartly balanced vanilla/oak in the background. Acid +, tight, fine tannin. Excellent. My #2, group NR WOTN
Red
2009 Baxter Pinot Noir Langely Vineyard
USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
Red berry, clove, caramel oak nose. Ripe, Sweet fruit, strawberry, orange, root beer, tannin, acid, oak finish. Very nice. NOTE: There isn't any new oak, not even of the still living variety, within probably 5 miles in any direction of this winery. Go figure.
Red
2009 Rhys Pinot Noir Bearwallow Vineyard
USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
Super dark, purple/black hue. Intensely aromatic, earthy, cinnamon/spice, vanilla nose. Structured, tight, with spice, dark fruit, licorice. Grainy tannin, oak finish, needs time. Very interesting wine. An outlier in this tasting. Excellent. My #3 Group #3 (tie).
Red
2009 Phillips Hill Pinot Noir Wiley Vineyard
USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
Very light, cherry red, orange hue. Lightest body of the flight, still intensely flavored but without the weight. Elegant. Sappy red berry, citrus, vanilla, creamy texture. Acid driven finish. Very nice.
Red
2009 Foursight Pinot Noir Charles Vineyard
USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
Pretty wine, medium dark, garnet. High toned red fruit, floral nose. Cherry, dark berry, spicy oak. Tight, focused, lazer beam of flavor. Good balance. Very nice. My NR, Group #2 WOTN.
Red
2009 Londer Pinot Noir Paraboll
USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
Deep, earthy, leathery, dark fruit aromas. Red cherry, earth, spicy oak. Round, mouthfilling. Racy finish. Very nice.
Red
2009 Londer Pinot Noir Anderson Valley
USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
Deep, dark fruit, oak aromas. Dark fruit, violet, savory/leather, sweet oak midpalate. Big tannin, acid finish. A bruiser. Needs time.
Red
2009 Breggo Cellars Pinot Noir Savoy Vineyard
USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
Heady, woodsy, cherry/berry aromas. Viscous, full bodied, rich, intense. Black cherry, mint, spicy oak, acid, tannin. Wild. Needs time.
Red
2009 Foursight Pinot Noir Zero Charles Vineyard
USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
Cool blue fruit, leather, funk nose. Bright, very pretty, red cherry, cranberry, pomegranate. Fresh, minty/spicy finish. Lingers nicely. Super tasty. My #1, Group #1 WOTN.
Red
2009 Twomey Pinot Noir Anderson Valley
USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
Super aromatic. Dark cherry, cinnamon/spice nose. Tight, reserved, mid-weight, sour cherry, spice palate. Warm finish. Opened up nicely upon retaste, about 2 hours after opening. Nice.
Red
2009 Husch Vineyards Pinot Noir Knoll
USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
Leather, earth, barnyard nose. Leathery, earthy palate, with dark cherry underneath. Dry finish. Super savory. An outlier, stylistically, from the other wines in the flight.
Red
2009 Baxter Pinot Noir Anderson Valley
USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
High toned, red fruit/cherry nose. Linear, tight, cherry, Santa Rosa plum, citrus (?) palate. Good structure/acid - nice framework to the sweet fruit midpalate. Balanced. Very nice.
Red
2009 Littorai Pinot Noir Cerise Vineyard
USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
Red fruit, stem/cinnamon/spice, oak nose. Bright red fruit on the attack - cherry, cranberry. Interesting Gala apple note on the midpalate. Earthy, spicy finish. Tight, needs time.
Red
2009 MacPhail Pinot Noir Toulouse Vineyard
USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
Reductive nose, dark fruit underneath. Very forward, sweet, dark fruit palate, with some pinot funk and earth to boot. Viscous and not shy. A fuller style.
Red
2009 Toulouse Vineyards Pinot Noir
USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
Ripe, with straightforward, candied/sweet, black cherry and plum palate. Spicy oak finish. Crowd pleasing style.
Closing
Our blind tasting group concluded that the 2009 vintage in the Anderson Valley yielded bolder, flashier, riper styled wines; producing, generally speaking, dark fruited wines that lean towards the fatter, showier, high pH end of the spectrum. The best wines in this flight had good structure and acid, and seemed to pose excellent mid-term aging potential. The AFWE crowd might want to look at the 2011 vintage, where ripeness and alcohol levels were dialed way back, producing leaner, racier wines across the board. For me, the 2010 vintage was the best of the three, with a long, cool growing season that allowed winemakers to pick at their leisure. This yielded wines that conform to vineyard characteristics, within the framework of winery house styles.
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