Community Tasting Note

mflesh wrote:

Wednesday, February 7, 2024 - This wine is really good. But took at least an hour to get going. Approachable after 30 minutes, you can tell that GF uses a minimal approach in their wine making approach for both Pinot and Chard. Best approach is after an hour and 15 minutes. The Montelena of Sonoma County, this producer makes some rather expressive wines that usually take 5 years to get going. This '17 took a while to express, but when it did, oh mama! Ripe red raspberry, tart black cherry, cherry blossoms on the initial nose and palate. The wine goes a bit darker with some black cherry cola (my favorite note) and brambleberry pie, and emerges on the back end with some acidic character on the finish. I don't think I would call it a black tea note on the finish, as I don't usually get this note on the back end (but definitely am getting that on the front of this one). It is more of a white pepper but others that say this is too brash on the finish probably decided to serve this wine as a "pop and pour" which would have been catastrophic to the balance of this wine from start to finish. If you want to pop and pour this wine, you need to wait until 2026. Otherwise, give it a little bit of time, sip it with style for the first hour, and drink it with dinner an hour later.

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