April 23, 2010 - Medium red garnet. A lot of woody and brown spice aromas. Gives a subtle sense of thinning on the palate but generous enough and not overly sweet or thick, unlike a 2003 Pisoni from this producer tasted recently.
April 21, 2010 - Not quite as solid as the last bottles, but still decent.
January 13, 2010 - One of the best QPR Pinot's I've had in sometime. Pop and pour. Nose of black cherries and molasses. A little on the cola side at the beginning but really fell into it's own after some air time. Balanced acidity and good mature fruit throughout. Finish was average length and it’s an easy drinker.
January 9, 2010 - Even better than the last bottle. Perfect Pinot. Faded just a bit toward the end of the bottle, but was very tasty through and through. Excellent balance.
January 3, 2010 - drank this wine with 2004 red car amour fou and 2004 raptor ridge shea and it compared well considering its age. a good wine, but a little lighter vs the other two.
November 8, 2009 - Good Pinot
Even though it's an '01, the fruit/acidity tasted more like a much younger wine. It lacked the refinement of better Pinot's but still scored well on QPR.
November 3, 2009 - Earth and cherry on the nose. Mature red fruit on the palate. Integrated. Moderate finish. Can't ask for more for a Pinot at the closeout price. Wonderful.
October 10, 2009 - Oh hell, i'll give this 90 -- tired of 89s .
A very enjoyable bottle. A strange kind of funky smell upon opening (a sort of "Oh my God" odor) that blew off fairly quickly. Nicely balanced among fruit, acid, and tannin. A wine that makes me wonder why many people (Californians included) insist on comparing California wines to French wines. This does not remind me of any Burgundies I have had (admittedly, I have not had all of them), and the palate of flavors was not the same as a Burgundy. Nevertheless, the wine was thoroughly enjoyable on its own merits. Dry without drying one's mouth, some fruit present without reminding one of cough syrup, and so forth. Held up very well on Day 2, although it did not seem to improve. I would guess it's ready to go now.
PS As noted by others, it did open up nicely through the bottle.
October 8, 2009 - I very much agree with the previous tasters that this is pretty ordinary with some sweet black cherries and molasses at the pop, but give it about an hour or two to breathe and it really blossoms. Secondary spice and flowers come into the nose and the taste with a good zip of acid still hanging around. I am sure this has seen better days, but at the close out price of $18, you aren't going to find even a young Garys' vineyard pinot for anywhere near that, let alone one with some age on it.
October 1, 2009 - 85 just ordinary right out of the bottle. On day two it rated 89-91, very subtle.