This was the December 2019 disgorgement. Initially this started off with an apple fruit in the wine's core, along with a light signature of the red berry note that I love so much in former bottles. This took some air to come around, which then allowed the depth and texture to surface, joined by the richness of the fruit's character. And I know some no dosage wines can be austere and linear but this wine is never this way (provided you don't drink it too cold). The finish is tangy yet with good tension and light mineral. This bottle also showed an herby/savory note in the finish. too. Once again, the 14 Efflorescence is delicious, a wine I have consistently admired after now what is a case opened and enjoyed.

Disgorged January 2018, 4 grams of dosage, 100% Pinot Noir. My second of two. I just didn't find this wine to be as good as the 14 Marie Courtin Efflorescence, which we poured alongside it. There is some structure here that comes through after some time open but I'm still left with a honeyed green apple, and a a 7-Up soda note that just comes off a bit simple. I'm not jumping off the ship yet for Longues Voyes, as I have 2015 and 2017 (as futures) but I'm preferring the LF Autrefois much more.

First bottle this year. When I opened this at 10AM (4 hours before the tasting), it showed ripe and even a touch of cough syrup, which left me wondering whether I had made the best choice to include this bottle in the blind lineup. I bagged it and decided to press on, and had it included in the 10 bottle tasting (which I also supplied the 2019 Kutch Graveyard, also terrific). In the tasting, this showed some richness with the aromatics from the whole cluster inclusion. Ultimately, I thought the balance between the acid, fruit and weight was terrific, and I placed this second of the 5 wines in the flight. When it advanced to the final round, I retasted it again and this time the wine showed even better, with a gorgeous, juicy blue and red mix, with tangy acidity. Ultimately this finished in a dead tie for first with the 2019 Kutch Graveyard and that wine won the event because it garnered more first place votes. Both wines are excellent but I do think the air really helped the Falstaff so make sure you air it out.

Damn if wines can't humble us. I had this same wine blind back in July, and my own note said the wine was balanced. Yet, I found the wine lacking balance yesterday. The fruit had a roasted quality and some residual oak (at least that is what I framed it) was still present. Spicy, touch of cola and dark red fruit. Overall, this just didn't show well to me and nearly finished dead last of the 10 wines we did blind. I have one bottle left, guess I will save it for an occasion when I want to drink something richer, more burly in tone.

I had one of these a few weeks back so decided to pull another and use in a blind tasting, along with the 2019 Kutch Falstaff, to see if both would show well. I found lots of cherry and cracked spice, plus a structured finish. A later pour of the wine I found some loamy cherry, plus blueberry and I had jotted down "burg-like" in my notes, too. Since the wine won the first flight, we set it aside and let it go head to head in the final round. I liked how it showed in the final round better (although I had the 2018 Pisoni Estate finishing ahead of the Graveyard). Cherries, great concentration, bluish fruit tones and a rockiness that adds to some tannin in the finish. Ultimately, the damn Graveyard won the whole tasting, with 3 first place out of 5 votes in the final showdown round. Overall, I just seemed to score the wine higher when we had it in the final round, when I thought it exhibited all the flavors, excellent acidity and weight that I found in the bottle 2 weeks ago.

Reminds me some of the Pisoni richness, with great depth and fruit character, a mix of red and black, infused with good supporting acidity. With a later pour during the judging, I was centered more on red apple, along with a tangy, snappy strawberry and a bright finish. This was very good and one of my favorite wines of the day but it missed the cut to get to the final round by a single point, beat out by the 20115 Brewer-Clifton Hapgood and the 2019 Kutch Falstaff.

This showed a smoky, perhaps reductive (?) aromatic. Rhubarb, tangy cherry, spicy cherry candy and a lot of spice in the finish. For me, the spiciness of the wine, perhaps driven by the alcohol (labeled at 15%), was too much for me or my palate.

Funny how wine works. We had five guys tasting in the blind event we put together, and this wine was all of their last place finishing votes, except for mine, which was FIRST place. Go figure. and even the guy that brought it scored it as his last place wine. As to what I found, aromatics of herbs and red fruit. Great balance and composition, with a medium weight of juicy cherry and raspberry fruit that leans more to the acidic side. The finish is probably what turned off the majority of the tasters, who tend to prefer richer, more concentrated Pinot Noir. Hey, I can like those wines too IF they are in balance and so I suspect the composition of this wine was doomed for their palates, but as leaner, lighter, acid loving red-fruit Pinot guy, this wine was great for me.

I had this wine scored in the middle of the pack. Spicy, higher in alcohol with spicy cherry, blackberry and tangy. I thought too that whatever wood it saw when it was made was still showing up in the finish.

Damn straight if this isn't some kick-ass Pinot Noir. I've been buying Pisoni Estate since 2001 and maybe this is the best version of the wine made to date? I can't back that up with anything more than subjective feeling but based on what I tasted yesterday, and the bottle I had a year ago, I feel pretty convinced about this praise. Rich yet balanced, this is a powerful style, true to Pisoni. Bright cherry core, with great length and balance. Delicious, sexy yet nothing heavy here at all. I'm glad I have 3 more bottles to carry me into the future. My second favorite wine of the ten we poured blind yesterday, superseded only by the 2019 Kutch Falstaff.

I really dug the aromatics on this. Floral, really classic/true Pinot Noir bouquet. Leather and spice, watermelon, cherry and a lovely, long finish.

I found this to be smoky and spicy in the aromatic. Soft and crunchy cranberry palate. Tangy, Burg-like in tone and seeming just young and in need of time.

Disgorged March 2019. Pretty classic in the florally and crushed rocks that is often the Vilmart aromatic. This bottle initially seemed rich and marmalade-like, along with honeyed yellow apple and lime zest. Later when I tried it again, it had lost some of that unctuousness and became more complex with crushed rocks in the finish.