Lot 947 2018 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir
We like to remind you that all day, every day, we do just two things:
- Scour the world for great grapes and young wine that needs a new home.
- Usher those grapes from harvest and new wines from tank straight through our own winemaking, aging, and bottling—to bring you great bottles at jaw-dropping prices.
Our newest fall countdown wine is the pinnacle of just that – we’re leaving our soapbox and letting Lot 947 2018 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, do the rest of the talking.The thing is, Lot 947 embodies those two things we do (seek out awesome grapes, and make awesome wine). For starters, Lot 947 is 100% Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley—an incredibly exciting region in Sonoma where some of the world’s great Pinot Noir wines are being made today. The winemaking team at CHW will only let us reveal that this was from a premium program that “may have been discontinued,” and they added, “punches way above its weight in both fruit and wood,” and then they told us, “and we’re buying up a bunch of it ourselves!
Lot 947 is a bowl full of juicy raspberry and blackberry fruit, hints of dark earth notes, like rolling over a log in the forest, hints of black tea, and traces of vanilla. Those red and black fruits really pop on the palate, infused with black tea notes and lifted by mouthwatering, racy acidity. Velvety textures are laced with more vanilla and oak spices. Where does this belong in your cellar? With 5 years aging in the bottle it’s ready to go now. Drink up and enjoy with rotisserie chicken and potatoes, roasted and brined turkey, or 48-hour salted steaks, or just pour a contemplative glass and park yourself in front of a roaring fire. Yes.
Watch as Chris Lafleur, Sommeliers Creed for Cameron Hughes walks us through a tasting of this 2018 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir.
Tasting Video Highlights:
- 00:00 Intro
- 00:15 Lot 947 Info
- 00:50 The Color
- 01:09 The Nose
- 01:44 The Taste
- 02:43 Where does it fit in your cellar?
Video Transcript:
Chris Lafleur says:
Hi, everyone. Welcome back. This is Chris Lafleur, friendly neighborhood sommelier from the wine tasting room. And we have got some Pinot Noir for you today. This is Lot 947. So let’s dig right in. So this is a Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, which is very exciting right away for me. When you think about Sonoma, like it’s so disparate, what can grow here?It’s really incredible that you go all the way to like Knight’s Valley or Alexander Valley and you’ve got Cabernet Sauvignon that is punching above its weight and comparing very easily with Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. And then you go south and you’ve got some wild expressions of Pinot Noir that have a nice long growing season. So they build up all this remarkable character because that’s what you want.
You want cold climate pinot to show like a cold climate Pinot. So here’s what we have on the color. You can see it’s still deep at its core with some ruby and garnet, but on the edges, nice and pale. Like this is not an opaque wine. You can see your hand through it right away. You get to see that this is a solid wine with a light thin skin.
Pinot Noir in a nutshell. Let’s talk about the nose. Oh, boy. And we’re going to talk about the nose for a while. That’s real good. Okay, so we have some red fruit here. We’ve got black fruit here. I’m thinking of, like, crunchy raspberry and bramble berry, a little bit of black berry. And there’s also a hint of, like, dark, dark earth, which which to me expresses like ice.
Like I always say, it’s forest floor. Like, roll over that log, get a smell. There’s a little bit of black tea on here on the nose as well. And there’s just a touch of vanilla suggesting this spends a little bit of time and oak. And I think we’re going to have to taste it to confirm. But I mean, woe is me.
I got to taste wine today. All right? Can’t spit it. Can’t spit that one. Still good. Can’t spit it. Okay. I hope we get to do multiple takes of this one. It tastes so good. Okay. So on the palate right away. Lots of red fruit. Lots of black fruit, too. In that texture, after that slight astringent note is present.
But it’s not driving the bus because this is a pinot noir. It’s built by race in it. And if you’re tasting this alongside me right now, you know that your mouth is watering. Is that how good this wine is? There’s still a little bit of that forest floor that’s not hitting on the palate because nobody wants to taste rotten leaves.
But you do love that smell of like walking through the fall and feeling the foliage in the air. It’s incredible. This is a great wine with great texture that’s only rounded out by the amount of oak on it. It’s not overpowering it, but it gives you this beautiful bouquet presented to you in a nice clutch of vanilla and oak.
Beautiful. Where does this fit in your wine cellar? I mean, I hope it’s obvious that this is a Pinot noir that you have to have. It’s incredible. For the price point on this one, I would expect probably to pay three times the amount if I saw this on the store shelves somewhere. So very good value. Where does this fit in?
Your wine cellar is a tough question because you won’t keep it in the cellar for very long. You’re probably going to drink it really quick unless you buy a lot of it because you can have this with dinner. It’s versatile. With almost every kind of meat. You’re going to have chicken, turkey, steak, whatever, but you can also sit in front of a nice fireplace in the fall or a campfire and enjoy this as well on its own.
Just contemplate really enjoying the company of all your friends who are thinking the same things as you. How is this wine so good? So I think that’s it for me. Go and enjoy the rest of this glass of wine on your own and think deeply and I will see you at the next glass.
Lot 946 2020 Napa Valley Red Blend
Big-time Napa winemakers have a recipe for crafting top-shelf reds for cult-wine labels. That recipe goes like this: blend Cabernet Sauvignon, a bit of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, or Petit Verdot in toasty oak and bottle it in heavy glass bottles! Now, let’s be clear—we love those blends. We know you do, too. Around the CHW HQ, we refer to them as “cellar-stuffers”! Wines that have profound structure and can be enjoyed now but are best stuffed in the cellar for a few years to mellow and gain complexity. Lot 946 2020 Napa Valley Red Blend is a cellar-stuffer with a twist!
What we NEVER hear (or rarely hear) is one of those winemakers mentioning Zinfandel. And why not?! Blending Zinfandel with classic Napa-grown grapes adds ripe, sweet, brambly fruit and juicy acidity. It’s a recipe for easy-drinking deliciousness. Remember winemaker Dave Phinney, who created The Prisoner?? He built that powerful, lush, delectable red blend with, guess what? Zinfandel!
So, when we got our hands on a special lot of Zin grapes from a fantastic vineyard source in Calistoga, our CHW winemaking team knew just what to do. He made a powerful red blend that we knew was going to need to be part of our fall countdown. Lot 946 marries mostly Zin with Cabernet and a field blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre. In the glass, it’s a deep, ruby-purple. One sniff tells you all you need to know! One sip reveals a bold, full-flavored red, packed with red and black brambly fruits, silky tannins, and vanilla-scented baking spices. It’s downright delicious. Fire up the grill, get out your biggest red wine stemware, and make sure you have plenty of Lot 946 around to quench your thirst!
Watch as Chris Lafleur, Sommeliers Creed for Cameron Hughes, and Katy Long, Director of International Wines for VWE, walk us through a tasting and discuss this exciting release.
Video Highlights:
- 00:00 Intro
- 00:17 Lot 946 Info
- 01:02 Color and Legs
- 01:35 The Nose
- 02:38 The Taste
- 03:30 The Oak
- 03:45 Aging
- 04:35 Wine Pairing
Video Transcript:
Katy
Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the CH Wine tasting room. I’m Katy long and I’m here with Chris Lafleur.Chris
And I’m Chris Lafleur here with Katy Long.Katy
Thank you, Chris. Chris, what do we have today?Chris
We have a big old question mark. This is the 2020 Red Blend from Cameron Hughes. Lot 946. And if I’m not mistaken, we do not know what grapes are in this.Katy
So we’re doing a bit of an exploration today. So red wine blends. Of course, the category is somewhat undefined. If you see a red wine blend, it might be a Grenache-style Rhone blend or it might be leaning more towards the Bordeaux blend. I have my suspicions.Chris
Oh, yeah. And I think you’re on the nose with this one. I mean, it’s common that you’re going to see GSM in a bottle and you never know the proportion. It’s common that you’re going to see Meritage on the bottle, and you kind of know what’s in there, but not necessarily proportion. This is about as blind as you can go into this wine and it’s kind of exciting.Chris
So let’s see if it is what we suspect it to be.Katy
Oh, Chris, look at that magic.Chris
Thank you so kind, Katy. All righty.Katy
So, what do we got in the glass?Chris
Let’s begin the investigation. Immediately we have a, I’m going to say, semi opaque wine. It’s kind of dark in the core, but I can still generally see my hand. It’s just a little hazy. So that’s good. You know, beautiful.Katy
Kind of a ruby, purplish color.Chris
Absolutely. Yeah. And you can see it doesn’t really get too much lighter around the rim. So it’s still in its youthful phase.Katy
Which we know to be true. It’s a 2020.Chris
Absolutely. Now, let’s dive into the nose. Mm hmm. Oh, okay. Ooh, There’s a nice little hint of like. Like grape jelly on the nose here.Katy
Wow. I’m getting red plum, black plum. A bit of a bramble fruit quality.Chris
Mm hmm. What? I really think a plum that always leads me down to, like, merlot or cab or like, a Bordeaux blend. So I think you’re on the nose with this one kind of where we think it might be. I’m also getting something that feels not quite minty, but it’s almost there, like a little bit of spearmint. So I wonder if that’s a pure resin.Chris
Pure is. And of course, leading us to the cavity. So in your family of grapes, maybe again, more evidence. We’ve got a Bordeaux blend here. But again, by the way, like we said, we do not know what’s in this. So if we get it wrong and you find out later. Roast me in the comments, but do not at me.Chris
Okay, so let’s go.Katy
Oh, gosh. There’s just a really ripe quality to that fruit. That’s. Wow.Chris
Wow. And I feel like it’s primarily like plummy and red with a little bit of darkness. I think we got to taste it and see what the body’s like.Katy
Hmm. Hmm.Chris
That’s a big guy.Katy
Wow.Chris
Yeah.Katy
So that alcohol is definitely coming to the front, but that body is medium to medium plus. I’d almost say full body. This is a big wine. Not that it’s big in the tannins for my palate. I think those tannins are refined and kind of on the silkier side, definitely present. And there’s a lot of them. Yeah, but in.Chris
Balance, yeah, I’m want to split the difference because I find that there’s definitely silky tannins here, but I get a couple that are kind of chunky, which, which speaks I think a little bit to this blend because what I’m thinking of fine tannins, I’m thinking of things like more low. When I think about chunky ones, I’m thinking about Cabernet Sauvignon.Chris
So maybe that’s leading us in a direction down the path for this blend.Katy
So the oak on this, where do you think that’s playing?Chris
I find it to be pretty well integrated. There’s definitely a strong presence of vanilla, but I don’t find it’s overpowering the fruit. I think it’s melding seamlessly with it, which is a great experience because you don’t want something sticking out and overpowering everything here. You want it to be integrated.Katy
It’s very well integrated. I think for me. So it’s a three year old wine, but probably still has a few more years to continue to integrate and evolve. What do you think?Chris
I think that for me, I think this one would be at its peak in five years, but I think it’s got longer. I just think from my tastes five years where I’d want to go if I can wait that long. Yeah, yeah. So I’m possibly going to get a couple of bottles and taste them as we go. And maybe if I can wait five years, that’ll have it then too.Katy
For me, I think I think I want to have this as a contemplation. Wine, apres ski or maybe around the campfire this fall, This winter. I think this is a great wine that will warm up those cooler winter evenings.Chris
Absolutely. And if you can’t get it around the campfire, actually, you can drink it while watching the finale of Yellowstone. And then it’ll feel like you’re still drinking it on the plains. That’s the way to go. We are not sponsored by Yellowstone or Paramount Plus.Katy
So I’m sensing maybe some some buffalo steaks. What food are we going to eat? This?Chris
Oh, I think this is rib eye. This is big rib eye for me because it’s really rich. Something with marbled meats, something where you can feel really primal as you eat it, holding the meat by the bone and taking a big chunk out of it like a refined gentleman would know.Katy
Quite not that it’s out of place in a white tablecloth, but you don’t need one in order to enjoy this one.Chris
Absolutely. I think this is great. At the kitchen counter with friends or seated around a table with a big cooked goose in front of you. Maybe not goose. If you can find one.Katy
Can you find a goose? I mean, I don’t know. The last time I saw a goose.Chris
I keep chasing them. I can’t catch.Katy
The whole thing. Well, we hope that you find a fun spot for this wine in your cellar. And again, like Chris said, let us know what you think about this red blend. We’re excited. Hope you are, too.Chris
And we will see you at the next glass.Katy
Cheers.
Lot 945 2021 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir
MIND-BOGGLING COMPLEXITY!
A couple of years ago, Cameron Hughes fan “Michael” left this comment about a Pinot Noir that is very similar to today’s Lot 945 2021 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir: “This was my first pinot from Chehalem Mountains…Loved it! I will be looking for more from this appellation.” Well, Michael, today is your — and every Pinot lover’s — lucky day.
The source winery basks in the shadow of the Chehalem Mountains of Oregon’s famed Willamette Valley — the epicenter of world-class Pinot Noir. Their family-owned 45-acre estate vineyard is farmed to the strictest of biodynamic standards, and the vines are teeming with life and vibrancy. It’s no wonder top critics regularly give their wines 90-94 points scores!
The Lot 945 2021 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir comes from Decanter magazine’s “cellar-worthy vintage,” which produced “brilliant” wines. Lot 945 is its own brilliant compilation of eight different Pinot Noir grape clones (for complexity) aged in expensive Taransaud, Ermitage, and Francois Freres oak barrels for impressive structure. It is a mind-boggling Pinot Noir that is so complex even the wine thinks it’s really a Grand Cru from Burgundy.
At $20 a bottle, get ready for a fireworks display: A beautiful lucid ruby-red color opens with ripe, black cherry and tart cranberry notes laced with black tea leaves, dried flowers, and sumptuous earth notes. This medium-bodied Pinot envelops the palate with satiny red-berry fruit wrapped in velvety tannins, while rich baking spices, cedarwood, and black truffle cream add intrigue. Expressive acidity keeps everything fresh and balanced.
Watch as Chris Lafleur, Sommeliers Creed for Cameron Hughes, and Nicole Muscari, your pocket wine advisor, walk us through a tasting and discuss this exciting Black Label release.
Video Highlights:
00:00 Intro
00:18 Willamette Valley / Oregon
01:13 In the Glass
01:30 The Nose
02:15 The Taste
03:08 Pairing
04:37 Where in the Cellar?
Tasting Video Transcript:
Chris Lafleur says
Hi, Everyone. Welcome back to the CH Wine tasting room. I’m Chris Lafleur your super sommelier, and I’m here with Nicole Muscari your pocket wine advisor. Nicole, what have we got today?Nicole Muscari says
Today, I’m super excited because we have a wine from Willamette Valley. This is a Pinot Noir Lot 945, and Oregon is one of my favorite states that produces Pinot noir.Chris
Oh, yeah.Nicole
We have to get into this.Chris
We certainly do. But when I think about Pinot Noir, like, one of my interest to it was tasting some burgundy. And the more you dig into Burgundy, the more expensive it gets. But I don’t know that I always get as much satisfaction out of those wines. The more I pay every time. But what I love about Willamette Valley is that almost always I’m getting I know what I’m getting.Chris
I’m getting a nice expression of Pinot noir that’s kind of between the Burgundy and California.Nicole
I agree. I find the exact same thing with Willamette Valley. You can get that really kind of undergrowth, that earthiness, that savory characteristic that you find a lot in Burgundy. But then you also have this really fruit forward, bright red, juicy fruit that you find here in the United States that I absolutely love. So it kind of combines the best of both worlds.Chris
Yeah.Nicole
All right. Lot 945. What do we have?Chris
Well, I think looking at this, you know, it’s fairly clear it’s not opaque or anything like that. So we’ve got traditional Pinot Noir, not really thick skins, nice slight expression. And I’m not seeing a lot of staining in the glass either. So Absolutely. From there onto the nose. Nicole?Nicole
Yes, I would expect this to be very fresh and very juicy. Let’s see.Chris
Some.Nicole
Ooo, those bright red cherries just right off the bat.Chris
Mm hmm. Yeah. Sleeping out with fruit and love, the little cranberry undertones, too. And I’m liking that. There’s there’s still a subtle note of, like, sous bois, that dark earth, but it’s. It’s still really fruit driven.Nicole
Yes. This kind of reminds me of Fall in a Glass, in a way. You know, those changing leaves, the reds, the yellows, the golds. I’m finding all of that in here.Chris
It’s like you’re getting to, like, walk through a nature trail when all the leaves are falling down.Nicole
Absolutely. I can even hear the crunching of the leaves. And I think actually the fruit itself on the palate might feel a little crunchy.Chris
Oh, well, speaking of let’s crunch that fruit.Nicole
Let’s crunch it.Chris
Mm hmm.Nicole
That is juicy.Chris
As usual for these black labels. It’s really hard to spit these wines. We’ve totally issued that aspect of it. I know you guys like to see us spit out the wine. You like to do it at home as well today. Just dig in.Nicole
This. Great. I find some really beautiful dried floral notes on here as well, with maybe a little dried peony like pink flower. But definitely those bright red fruits that we were talking about, a little bit crunchy and juicy. But again, with all of that beautiful undertone of a little bit of undergrowth, mushiness maybe. Yeah, but Earth.Chris
I like that you called out the dried flowers, the dried floral note here, because it does kind of remind me of a touch of potpourri, but not overpowering. There’s still like a nice balance of fruit and a nice balance of floral delight and lift.Nicole
What are you going to pair this with?Chris
What am I going to pair this with? Oh, man, Just everything. A nice cozy night on the couch for sure.Nicole
Absolutely.Chris
But, you know, when I think about what goes with Pinot Noir, I usually think about duck because it’s always a good excuse to have duck in the house. So I would definitely think about duck with maybe like, like a reduced balsamic or something. It’s going to bring all those flavors together. What about yourself?Nicole
I love mushrooms with Pinot Noir. I find once you save a piano after a while you can kind of get truffle mushroom tones once the wine goes a little tertiary. So I like to play with that, even though they’re not quite here yet. Sometimes if you do like a mushroom risotto or something like that, to kind of pull that complexity out of the wine.Nicole
So for me, I’m going mushroom risotto, maybe a little truffle on it. Not too crazy not to overpower it.Chris
We don’t need to go. But we can.Nicole
We can go a indulge. Let’s indulge.Chris
But I also like it and like wild with the mushrooms, too. Like, let’s throw some pan of the woods in there. Let’s get some chanterelles. Let’s. Let’s get crazy. Let’s really see what these mushrooms can smell like. And see which one we find in the glass.Nicole
Absolutely. And another great thing about Pinot Noir, and especially this one, is that you could have this with like a fatty fish or you could do a grilled white meat as well if you wanted to, because it won’t overpower those things. Some people think you absolutely could never pair fish with a red wine, but that’s not true.Chris
I’m thinking now with like a like a roast pig, like a whole pig, like the crackling skin. With this perfect together.Nicole
Aging wise, where does this fit in everyone’s cellar?Chris
Well, one of the things I like about it, and I noticed, as I’m sure you did, too, like on the palate, there’s really bright, fresh acidity. And that’s usually one of the hallmarks for me that this is going to last a little while. Because when you open this after a couple of years, you want it to taste fresh.Chris
And that acidity is going to do that. Also, I think the fruit is pretty dense. So when you finally do get this open, it’s not going to taste like an old boot. You’ve got a bunch of fruit coming out alongside that lively character.Nicole
Absolutely.Chris
So where would you like this down when you get a case?Nicole
So like you said, this has that great foundation. Know if you like that bright red, juicy breadfruit. Now, this is great. The tendons are really fine grained and I think you could enjoy this wine now, but I also think you could age this up to five years at least if you wanted to.Chris
Yeah, I think five years. And this is going to be singing. Yeah. I don’t know that I’d go too much further because like we said, the tannins are really fine, which, which is, you know, you need those there too for really long term aging to reduce micro oxidation, which we love to talk about in the tasting room. But I think five years is great sweet spot.Chris
It’s going to be singing after that.Nicole
I totally agree. Hopefully there’ll be some cases left after I get my hands on this because this is delicious.Chris
And now we’re going to go finish this bottle. And I think by the end we’ll be singing. To hell with that. We’ll see you at the next glass.Nicole
Cheers.
Napa Cabernet Sauvignon – Gatekeepers of the Valley’s Best Secrets
Forget everything you know about Napa Valley’s famous Cabernet Sauvignon wines. Read on to find out why these decadent, structured, richly-flavored reds are the gatekeepers of the Valley’s best secrets. A True Gem… There’s no denying that Napa Cab stands out as a true gem in the world…
Lot 944 2021 Carneros Pinot Noir
A Showstopper!
This Black Label Pinot Noir was crafted with a lot of rare grapes grown on the Sonoma side of Carneros. Blink, and you might miss it!
If you type “Carneros” into the search bar on our Cameron Hughes website, you’ll find several wines, but there’s a caveat: they’re accompanied by the words “SOLD OUT.” And, if you look at the fine print, you might notice something extra special about Lot 944 2021 Carneros Pinot Noir — aside from it being an absolutely riveting Carneros Pinot Noir, it’s uniquely from the Sonoma County side of Carneros.
What’s so special about that? The Los Carneros AVA is an American viticultural area that straddles both Napa and Sonoma counties—so nice, they grabbed it twice! Its proximity to the San Pablo Bay means cooling fog and bay breezes create the perfect conditions for growing Pinot Noir. Some total all-star wineries inhabit the western Sonoma side, too, including Gloria Ferrer, Cline Family Cellars, Ram’s Gate, and Viansa.
The long, cool, fog-laden growing season in Carneros Sonoma meant that the three clones of Pinot Noir blended together to create our Black Label Lot 944, exhibit a cool climate expression with lots of tension and mouthwatering acidity. Friends, this wine is an aromatics light show!
Watch as Chris Lafleur, Sommeliers Creed for Cameron Hughes, and Katy Long, Director of International Wines for VWE, walk us through a tasting and discuss this exciting release.
Video Highlights:
- 00:00 Intro
- 00:17 Lot 944 Carneros Pinot Noir
- 01:41 The Nose
- 02:43 The Palate
- 03:57 Aging
- 04:42 Where does it fit in your cellar?
Video Transcript:
Katy
Hello and welcome back to the CH Wine tasting Room. I’m Katy Long here with Chris Lafleur.Chris
And I’m Chris Lafleur, here with Katy Long.Katy
It’s great to have you back here. So today we have a beautiful Carneros Pinot Noir for you. Chris what are we looking at?Chris
We were looking at a bottle that needs to be opened. This is a Pinot Noir from Carneros. For those of you familiar with Carneros, you know that it is split evenly between Sonoma and Napa. It’s the place so nice they grabbed it twice. And also because we’re dealing with a black label today, this is also a wine that we are going to taste twice, which is to say, I’m going to have it.Chris
Katy is going to have it. We’re going to talk about it. You’re going to love it.Katy
And it’s a pretty cool wine. So we are in the midst of our fall countdown. This wine, we are working our way towards number 950, which should be a big, exciting moment for us here at Karen Hughes Wine. And we just wanted to pop the cork, have some fun and see where we’re going with this beautiful release.Chris
Now, what’s wonderful about this opening is that Katy ran interference for me while I was opening it, because I’ve never used this corkscrew before. I’ve used many like it, but this was a bit of a trial. Thank you, Katy, as usual.Katy
You’ve made it look so easy.Chris
Thank you. So what do you expect out of this wine?Katy
So, Carneros Pinot Noir. I’m going to expect a beautiful light, ruby color, and I am not disappointed. I’m going to be looking for velvety tannins, maybe medium body, lovely aromatics, and then a smooth finish. Now, I think this is a little bit of a youthful wine. We’re looking at a 2021. So it definitely has room to kind of evolve, but let’s see where it stands today.Chris
Alrighty. Shall I kick her?Katy
I would love that.Chris
Let’s do it. So right away, give it a bit of a swirl to break up some of those esters nose in the glass. Oh, my gosh. Katy, it’s great. So the aromatic intensity right away, it leaps out of the glass. It’s got a really, really bright frame of fruit, lots of cherries, cranberries to me, a little bit of raspberry.Chris
Where do you go for non fruit?Katy
I’m getting a little bit of floral, kind of a violets, maybe a purple flower. And then there’s definitely some of this earthy notes. I don’t know if I’d call it sous voile or kind of a forest floor.Chris
Yeah. So like we say, always roll over that log in the woods. This is what you get. We, we tasted a Pinot noir just yesterday because this is our 74th day in a row of tasting, of course, as professionals. And I got to say, the fruit here feels very, very ripe, but not even close to overripe. It’s like a perfect, like, cool climate expression.Chris
What do you think?Katy
I think that it smells like there’s a lot of tension. Have I put it in my mouth yet? But I’m going to give it a go.Chris
Oh, let’s do it.Katy
Mm hmm. So the first thing I noticed is this incredible mouthwatering acidity. I mean, my mouth is just it is so juicy. These tart, tense, red berry fruits are just dancing on my palate.Chris
Oh, yeah. It’s a racy wine. I can feel my mouth watering under my tongue. And along that palate I think you’d mentioned before, you expect some, like, supple tannins in this wine? I’d say that’s exactly correct. It’s it’s present, but it’s not overpowering. And for Pinot Noir, which we usually expect not to be very tannic, it’s got something there that gives just a bit more balance than than just having a lot of acidity.Katy
Yeah, Yeah. So there’s fruit. There’s acid. There’s just a subtle but integrated tannin. And I’d say the oak in this wine is more of a frame. It’s just subtle and it adds a bit more to that complexity. Really, really cool wine.Chris
Yeah, it doesn’t run in with a ton of vanilla, but it does wrap and frame the fruit here, which, speaking of the fruit, a great sign of quality for me is having a nice ripe nose like this that doesn’t lean into jammy and then still maintains its ripeness on the palate with maybe a little bit more tartness, making it feel really crisp, giving it some tension.Chris
Yeah. Now I think this has got some time before it’s going to be showing its peak. I think probably 3 to 5 years. Do you concur?Katy
I would definitely concur. So if you don’t have time to wait those 3 to 5 years for this to evolve in the bottle, I encourage you to open it up, let it air, and you can drink it right away. It certainly is lovely now, but we are watching it evolve in the glass just as we’re sitting here. And it’s it’s just going to continue.Katy
So definitely 3 to 5 years of time in the bottle. It will continue to be delicious. Well, I’d say eight, nine, ten years.Chris
Oh, yeah, Yeah, I would say so. It’s I mean, this is so good. I’m dancing right now. I just caught myself doing it because it’s. It’s such a good tasting wine. You’re in.Katy
The groove.Chris
I’m so in the groove. This is delicious. I don’t want to spit it, Which is why there’s no spit buckets for this wine. So where does this fit in your cellar, Katy?Katy
Well, I like to get a kiss. Watch it evolve. But this is a wine that I’m going to take to my in-laws as a celebration. Wine, maybe for the holiday parties, maybe even. I don’t know if you’re a asking special questions.Chris
Yeah, special questions. Like, how old is your dog? When did you get that car? Or thinking more specifically, like if you are going for that promotion, you bring this to your boss. This is a great way to grease the wheels of commerce for yourself. Maybe you’re about to ask her dad for her hand in marriage. This is going to lighten the load a little bit, getting him to say yes.Chris
I mean, this is a great wine to impress anybody. It’s a great one to bring to parties, great one to have at your home, dinner parties.Katy
Food friendly. This is such a versatile wine. I mean, that medium body, it’s no shrinking violet medium body on the palate, long supple finish. This will just it’s going to shine wherever you take it.Chris
And with that, we’ll see you at the next glass.Katy
Cheers.
