this heaven gives me migraine

2002 Huia Marlborough Pinot Noir

Notes: I almost didn't make this, the 17th Wine Blogging Wednesday, because when I went out Monday to get wine, I found that everywhere was closed for belated New Year's, something I should have guessed would be the case, but, well, I wasn't thinking. Anyway, thanks to the Whole Foods Palo Alto, purveyor of soups far superior to the Whole Foods San Franciscos, I found a couple of bottles of New Zealand Pinot Noir, any one of which would do for the Kiwi Red theme this month.

I chose the 2002 Huia, after doing some minor investigation and debate over the other wines offered (a "Something Bay" that I can't remember exactly but shallowly dismissed because of the boring label and sort-of-like-Cloudy-Bay name, and the 2004 Jibe).

Claire and Mike Allan named Huia after the native New Zealand bird that was extinct by around 1920. They studied wine and winemaking at Roseworthy Agricultural University and spent time in Australia, France, and New Zealand (notably, at Cloudy Bay) honing their skills before starting Huia in 1996. They use a more hands-off winemaking approach, using natural yeasts and traditional methods such as hand-picking the grapes.

This is a pale, medium intensity burgundy in the glass, and shows it's slight age in the paler rim. The nose is, when first opened, almost pure cherry fruit, but then as air hits it it gets a meatier quality with hints of thyme. In the mouth it was a bit of a surprise at first...a soft approach with unremarkable fruit is finished up with a huge, saddle-leather finish that has more than a hint of Band-Aid to it. The finish isn't very tannic but has a nice astringent quality, and the acids are fine... it doesn't taste flabby or anything.

Night 1 - I think it is on the old side, since there is little evidence of fruit, and the leather/Band-Aid thing is a little too much for me, so I don't love it. I don't hate it, either, but it isn't really my thing. Matt liked it more than I did.

Night 2 - there is both less fruit and less of the Band-Aidy finish, which makes me think even more that this this is even more over the hill. It's obviously a fruit-forward style wine, but there is no fruit to go forward anymore, even though it isn't even that old. I bet it was much nicer when it was younger, but it is merely a shadow of its former self right now. Poor thing.

Cost: $24

Overall: Eh. C. Nice effort, but this should have been drunk a year ago, at least.

2003 Cuvaison Carneros Pinot Noir

Notes: This wine was sent to me by Pete Danko of Paterno Wines, right before I got sick (thanks, Pete!). Because of that, I was remiss in my duties of promptly drinking it and writing about it, but I am playing catch up now, and had this a few days ago. (I have a Chardonnay to report on, too, but more on that, later.)

I didn't know much about Cuvaison but some investigation tells me it was started by some engineers (the computer sort) in 1969, and changed hands a couple of times between then and 1979, when a Swiss family bought the winery along with a bunch of vineyard. Right now the winemaker is Steven Rogstad, who was at Clos Pegase a while back, and found his way to wine through his literature major in college. He ferments these hand-picked grapes for about three weeksn and then the wine spends 9 months in 60 percent new French oak barrels.

This wine is a light burgundy-red in glass, not a blue red, but more of a brown-orange red, which is not surprising in a Pinot Noir. It has a slightly hot nose of cherry and strawberry, along with bark and nutmeg. On the tongue the fruit (more of that cherry/strawberry, and a lot of it) is immediate, and then gives way to a bitter orange astringency. A cardamom-cherry cough drop finish cleans up. I find that the astringency in the finish is too much for me, and the bitterness I am getting is somewhat jarring, but the finish is long and pleasant.

Cost: $28

Overall: B-. A nice effort, but not my style of Pinot Noir, really.

2001 Chehalem Stoller Vineyard Pinot Noir

Region: Willamette Valley, Oregon, US

Composition: 100% Pinot Noir

Background: I remember that my friend Dan first touted Chehalem wines to me, years ago. He'd had a chance to taste some of them while working at Asia Nora, and tipped me off that they were worth investigation. Because of this, I always think of Dan when I drink Chehalem wines. I've had a smattering of their Pinot Noirs and also their Pinot Gris, and I have had some very long days at work lately, so when I got home tonight I decided to open this up while I made a fig/arugula/goat cheese pizza. I am glad I did. I am also glad I liked it, since (and I don't know if it was me or the wines or both, I suspect both) when I was at Family Winemakers on Sunday I had a streak of Pinots that screamed OAK to me, and not much else, and I couldnt deal with it. But more on that when I write up Family Winemakers.

Aside from the aforementioned oak issues, I have always liked Pinot Noir. It's the first red grape I fell in love with, which isn't surprising since for a few years I thought reds didn't agree with me (one night of a migraine made me superstitious) and only drank white wines. It's a friendly way for white wine drinkers to learn about reds, since it isn't normally monstrous or tannic.

The land on which this particular Pinot was grown is possibly the only connection in the world (and here you werer never even looking for one, were you?) between Pinot Noir and turkeys (live ones, not Thanksgiving turkeys), since it used to be a turkey farm. The folks who own it, the Stollers, are co-owners of Chehalem. The land has other vines planted on it, but the 90 acres of Pinot dominate. 820 cases of this wine were made.

Notes: Burgundy with a paler brownish pink rim. A prickly (if a smell can have a shape), earthy nose full of black and red fruit, with dark chewy earth and mushroom, bramble, and herb. In the mouth it is round and lush with soft tobacco spice, mocha, and cherry, and has more warm spice than tannin on the finish. The acid is very fine and the finish lingers in a pleasant way. Overall, I think it is a very nice example of an Oregon Pinot Noir... slightly dark and earthy, but friendly and delicious.

Cost: $30, but I paid about half that on sale

Overall: I have to say A-, because I wouldn't mind having a case or two of this around.

2001 Penner-Ash Willamette Valley Pinot Noir

Region: Willamette Valley, Oregon, US

Composition: 100% Pinot Noir

Background: Tonight we have the second in the mystery lot of discount wines (mostly Pinot Noir from Oregon) I picked up the other day, the same lot that handed me the somewhat unlucky St. Innocent the other night. This time I fared better. This wine is definitely somewhat evolved, but still very tasty.

Penner-Ash is located in Newberg, Oregon, and it looks like they just opened a new sustainable (good for them) gravity flow (who isn't doing that these days?) winery last May, situated at one of their vineyards. They focus on Pinot Noir and Syrah, and dabbled in Viognier last year, releasing it this year. Lynn Penner-Ash is the winemaker, and worked at Stag's Leap in Napa before moving to Oregon, where she made wine at at Rex Hill before buying some land and releasing her first vintage of Pinot Noir (the 1998, and only 124 cases of it) under the Penner-Ash label in 2000. By the time she released this 2001, which is a blend of several vineyards (whereas their other Pinots are single-vineyard offerings), she had upped the ante somewhat, and was making a lot more wine-- 831 cases of this were made.

The strangest thing about this bottle is the very deep punt. If you believed that punt depth determines the price of a wine, this wine would be very expensive indeed. I could almost jam my fingers up to my knuckle into the punt, which prompted a spate of bad punning in the house, and I spent a long time trying to get a picture of it, the results of which you can see on the right. I finally measured it and it was almost three inches deep! That is just strange, and it does make the bottle very fat compared to normal bottles with their puny punts. I guess it is another way to stand out from all those other silly Burgundy bottles on the shelf.

Notes: Medium ruby in the glass, this has a nose of smoky meat, leaves, sweet earth, and some black cherry. It's medium-weight in the mouth with some cherry, earth, and cinnamon/allspice. There's also some slight burnt toast and coffee (just like breakfast!), but not too much. The finish is soft, with little tannin but some nice lingering warm spices and a very very faint cherry cough drop flavor that is lasts a good long time (unlike a wine I had last week which was overpoweringly cherry cough drop flavored). Overall it is very plush and lush and full; hedonistic.

I could put these notes into WSET lingo, which kind of takes the joy out of things but is very thorough and makes me consider things I don't always remember to consider. Perhaps I should do this more often:

Appearance

Clarity clear
Intensity deep
Color garnet
Other core much darker than pale pinkish rim

Nose

Condition clean
Intensity pronounced
Development developing/aged
Aroma characteristics cherry, smoke, tobacco, meat, earth

Palate

Sweetness dry
Acidity low-medium
Tannin low
Body light-medium
Intensity medium-pronounced
Bubbles none
Flavor characteristics cherry, earth, cinnamon, allspice
Alcohol level medium
Length long

Conclusions

Quality good
Maturity ready to drink
Value category high-priced

Cost: $20 (originally $45)

Overall: A-

2000 St. Innocent Pinot Noir, Freedom Hill Vineyard

Region: Willamette Valley, Oregon, US

Composition: 100% Pinot Noir

Background: Sometimes you hear about a wine sale going on online and you get the chance to order a bunch of wine really cheap. Sometimes the wine is older, so you know you are taking a chance, but you do anyway, and you go into the venture with eyes wide open knowing you could end up with some dead bottles. You take that chance because it's all in the name of learning, and it's good to try older/dead bottles, too, since you don't see a lot of them on the market (unless you seek them out or have them in your personal collection). Anyway, that's how I came across this bottle.

I've seen St. Innocent Pinot Noir all over the place, but haven't ever tried it. I understand that this probably isn't the best example of their wine... on the St. Innocent website the winemaker says that Temperance Hill wasn't always his favorite:

Temperance Hill usually does not achieve the complexity of my other Pinots. It is not a wine I gush about or drink much. The 2000 Pinot noir, Temperance Hill is different. The growers have been working very hard to get the vines in balance and their success is evident in 2000.

The problem with 2000 was that even though the vines were getting sorted out, the vintage was a little underwhelming. There weren't any big weather problems that year (it looks like 1999, 2000, and 2001 were all fine vintages in Oregon), but I guess that particular site didn't fare as well and the fruit was okay but not spectacular. The resulting wine didn't have a lot of fruit or structure and I guess the winemaker could only do so much with it (he says the year 2000 was the year of terroir for the wines... they reflect the site as much as anything else). And while I am sure it was fine when it was released back in 2002 (and for a while thereafter), it's a little weary now: whatever fruit was there is gone, and there isn't a lot else to hold it up, mostly a lot of oak effect (the wine was aged for 16 months in 30 percent new American oak). 481 cases were made and I hope they were all consumed long before now.

Notes: This is a brownish-burgundy in the glass, clear but looking a little older. It has a nice rustic nose of forest floor and earch and mushroom, with a little blackberry and smoke. There's some strawberry/cherry on the tongue, but it is pretty overwhelmed by smoke and iodine and some rough tannins. The finish bursts with some oaky spiciness, but then fades off. I kept a half bottle around for round two the second night, and it was pretty bad by then, even though I kept it cold and gassed it. The second night it was all tannin and no fruit, which is to be expected from a Pinot that didn't have a lot of fruit to begin with and is also over the hill (or in a temporary bad spell, although I am not sure where it could go from here). It was okay but not great the first night, but the second night I gave up on it. It tried its best.

Cost: $20 at release in 2002 (I picked it up recently for about $10)

Overall: C-

2003 Radio-Coteau "Savoy"

Region: Anderson Valley, California, US

Composition: 100% Pinot Noir

Background: This is the second vintage of wines from Eric Sussman and winery Radio Coteau, (a phrase meaning "hillside broadcast", or, "word of mouth"). Sussman makes four Pinot Noirs, a Syrah, and a Zinfandel. I had the 2002 Timbervine Syrah last summer, and remember that I learned exactly what the scent of geranium was from it, while enjoying it quite a bit.

Sussman made 440 cases of the Savoy Pinot Noir and they are already sold out, according to the winery website (I know you can still get them here and there, but they are not easy to come by). The names of the wines all reflect those of the growers/vineyards the grapes come from, with the exception of the "Neblina" Pinot Noir blend. Sussman is a deliberate and dedicated winemaker, and this wine is the result of not one, but several passes through the vineyard to obtain grapes at optimal ripeness (not a completely uncommon practice, but still very meticulous and dedicated). He bottles his wines unfined and unfiltered.

Notes: This is a ruby blue-red in the glass, and has a slightly hot nose full of black cherry along with vanilla and cinnamon cookie spice. The vanilla became more prevalent as the wine opened, up, but we didn't get to decant it and I am afraid we did the wine a terrible injustice by drinking it this young in the first place. So we added insult to injury by not decanting it. It is slightly thin-seeming early on in the mouth and the fruit is not fully fleshed out, but it has a lot of spice and even a hint of leather and smoke in it, especially in the finish. It was pleasant enough, but I did not love it, and I think that is probably somewhat to do with the fact that it is still very young (I was warned of this beforehand, so I can only blame myself there). I wouldn't mind revisiting it in a year or two, if I can find a bottle, because I respect Sussman and what he is doing.

Cost: $40-$50

Overall: B

2003 Raptor Ridge Yamhill County Cuvée

Region: Yamhill County (County appellation overlapping Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton District, and McMinnville AVAs), Oregon, US

Composition: 100% Pinot Noir

Background: This was an impulse buy when I was picking up groceries the other day. It didn't work out in the end, which makes me sad-- I wanted to like it since the winery sounds like a nice place to be. It is named Raptor Ridge because they happily share the land with a bunch of raptors (sharp-shinned and red-tailed hawks, owls, and kestrels), which is not only cool but also probably helps with the pest situation, if they ever have one. They age in French oak and rack "in synchrony of the dark of the moon", and who doesn't love that? Besides the grapes grown on their own 27 acres, they also source grapes from eight other vineyards throughout Oregon.

This is their entry-level Pinot, a blend that is sourced/blended from grapes from seven vineyards (you can see the exact makeup with their pie graph. It's 14.2 percent alcohol, and seems like it should be a respectable Oregon Pinot, although probably not as interesting as some of their single-vineyard offerings.

Notes: Fairly clear blue-red in the glass with pink shading at the rim. It looks young (which it is). The nose is slightly hot with very faint rose/geranium, red cherries, and some slight tobacco. There is a lot of acid in the mouth, and it feels slightly out of balance-- it's a lot of acid and oak and (soft) tannin (more of an astringency than anything) and it overpowers the fruit that is there (mostly a sour cherry flavor). My tongue/throat actually tingles once I swallow it. It's still tight and could use some time in the bottle to sort itself out, although I can't really get a good idea of what it will be like in a year or two. I had it mostly by itself since I didn't even have dinner (dinner of, uh, losers) last night, but had a little cheese and bread with it to see if that would help at all. It did, but only a little. I then even gave the wine some time to calm down (in the bottle, and also in the glass because I had a very bad decanter mishap and my backup is doing vinegar duty, so I couldn't decant) and it still didn't unwind. I will try it again tonight and see if anything new has come about.

Cost: $16

Overall: C

A fistful of Pinots

On Saturdays I usually go to the wine tastings at K&L or at The Wine Club (occasionally both if they are both good and I am feeling crazy). Sometimes they are crowded and you can barely move, sometimes they are quiet and you can actually stand not mashed up against something (the quiet tastings are usually for something unpopular like Zinfandel or happening when there is a sexier wine event going on that day). K&L is a better venue because they have a little corral for the tastings and have clipboards and pens you can use to take notes; The Wine Club usually requires that you slap the sheet on a case of somethingorother (if you are lucky enough to find one not in use) and scribble away. And I guess overall I feel more at home at K&L, but that's neither here nor there.

These are very informal tastings and I usually don't spit every time or take copious notes, partly because I am usually squished in and can't move around easily, and partly because these are sort of a fun thing for me as much as they are any sort of learning experience. I get to talk to other wine dorks like myself, if nothing else, since for some reason I don't normally get to talk to other wine people.

This last week's tasting was California and Oregon Pinot Noir, and it was kind of dead since the store was having a big Italian tasting in Redwood City. I had a million things to do Saturday but stopped by to do a quick tasting anyway. I am glad I did, because I tasted some good ones. I also affirmed that I have expensive taste in Pinot Noir, relatively speaking (some of the first, lighter wines were okay, but I don't think things really started getting interesting until around the Porter Creek). Ten wines were poured:

2002 Essler (California, $10) Pale browny-burgundy, mushroom and berry in the nose, farily one dimensional but okay, some dirt and leather along with the fruit B

2002 Rex Hill King's Ridge, Willamette Valley (Oregon, $14) Pale burgundy, cedar and woody nose, kind of spicy, okay but not fabulous (9 months in oak, 30 percent new French) B

2003 Erath (Oregon, $13) Pale pinky-red, lots of fruit funk in the nose (cherry and raspberry), fairly acidic, pleasant fruity finish, clean, all about the fruit (same winemaker as Cartlidge & Brown) B

2003 A to Z (Oregon, $16) Light maroon, interesting nose full of red fruit, kind of soapy in the mouth with a drying finish C+

2003 Ponzi Tavola, Willamette Valley (Oregon, $18) Light red, cedar and forest floory, nice acid, OK but the finish is kind of eh, almost salty seeming C+

2002 Porter Creek Fiona Hill, Russian River (California, $26) Light reddy-pink, very fruity funk on nose with a little cedar, slightly smoky in mouth, might be interesting with food B+

2003 Roessler Blue Jay, Anderson Valley (California, $28) Fairly deep red-burgundy for a pinot, a HUGE nose full of black and red fruit but is so smooth that it is almost like drinking water, good acid, bright fruit, soft tannins, but I was a little let down by it in the mouth versus what it smelled like (720 cases) A-/B+

2003 Migration, Anderson Valley (California, $27) Nice and dark, almost raisiny with a lot of black fruit, was my favorite of the group overall (16 months in 100 percent new French oak) A

2003 Carter "Hillblock", Willamette Valley (Oregon, $37) Mulberry red with a slightly sweet finish that I thought was maybe a little too sweet, astringent and pleasant otherwise A-

2003 Martinelli "Bella Vigna", Russian River Valley (California, $45) Huge, hot nose, with a slight dull bitterness at finish, very big for a Pinot and I think too big (Helen Turley is the winemaker and it as 16 percent alcohol which is crazy) B

2000 CL Pinot Noir, Armagh Vineyard

Region: Sonoma Coast, California, US

Composition: 100% Pinot Noir

Background: I couldn't find much of anything out about this wine, but I liked it so I want to note it for future reference. It was offered to us as a substitute at dinner the other night (the restaurant was out of the wine we ordered, and the owner recommended this as a substitute, and we figured we would take a chance). As far as I have been able to figure out, "CL" stands for Craven and Lattin: Kendra Craven and David Lattin, a husband and wife team. Lattin has made wine for Acacia in the past and is presently winemaker for Kuleto Estate Family Vineyards (owner Pat Kuleto is the man who brought San Francisco restaurants like Boulevard, Farallon, Jardiniere, and Postrio).

The bottle claims CL has a website at www.clwines.com, but there is no real content there (it looks like the domain is owned by some company in New Orleans, and my attempts to stalk CL via Google failed for the most part). It also says that 191 cases were produced, and I will just trust the bottle on that. It's another one of those hard-to-find wines (sorry about that for anyone who is trying to play along at home, I promise I will drink something not obscure soon)... I know I haven't seen it around.

Notes: This is a fairly intense Pinot Noir... a deep red/purple (it was hard to tell in the restaurant, but dark for Pinot) and has a nose full of brambly dark fruit, along with some barnyard and smoke. It has a lot of black fruit in the mouth, fruit like black cherry, and I am guessing the wine has seen a fair amount of oak from the leathery spiciness that is also present. The finish is almost chocolately, with mocha and a little more leather. As the bottle got some air, the smokiness became more apparent, which I enjoyed. It certainly has a lot going on, something else I appreciate.

Cost: I am not sure, but I think around $27

Overall: A-

1999 Benziger Family Kestrel Vineyard Pinot Noir

Region: Willamette Valley, Oregon, US

Composition: 100% Pinot Noir

Background: I dug this out of a pile of wine I picked up at the winery back sometime in 2001/2002, when we were there a lot since we had family out and were taking them up there to do the wine thing. The winery is very pretty and offers funny tractor tours, a nice tasting room, peacocks, kiwi vines, and has something for just about everyone. I can promise you that your 80-year-old wine buff grandma will love the place, really.

Benziger is located in Glen Ellen, CA, and the 85-acre ranch contains 42 acres of biodynamically maintained vineyards which were planted over 20 years ago. Most consist of Cabernet Sauvignon as well as some other Bordeaux varieties, but Benziger also has a network of growers and source grapes from them (such as this Pinot from the Willamette Valley in Oregon).

The 1999 growing season in Oregon was cool, the summer being colder than usual but then followed by a long Indian summer. This gave the grapes an extra month or so of hang time on the vine and allowed them to reach maximum fruit, sugar, and acidity levels. The fruit was cold-soaked and then fermented for about two weeks. Once pressed, the wine was put into oak barrels for about 16 months to gain some spice and warmth.

Notes: I can title this note: When Fruit Gets Old. All that hang time and careful winemaking was wasted on me today. I think I did this wine a disservice and kept it around too long before drinking it. It feels over the hill to me... rather flat and you can feel the missing fruit. I don't think it was like this when I bought it, mostly because I wouldn't have bought it if it had been like this!

It's dark ruby in the glass, with a slightly pink edge, showing its age a little. The nose is promising, with some tar and forest floor and black fruit evident. But once in the mouth it falls a little flat. The fruit is there but very very distant; and there isn't much else. Distant fruit followed by a pleasant if subdued finish of leather and earth. But that's it. It isn't bad or unpleasant, really; it feels dull and lackluster, and I think I probably should have had this last year, or even the year before.

Oh well, live and learn... I did notice it felt brighter during dinner (for those keeping score... wine and herb marinated Quorn, sunchoke-flavored mashed potatoes, and sauteed broccoli/asparagus/cherry tomatoes with garlic and red pepper). I have to find a better way (or, really, any way other than rooting around occasionally and going "oh yeah, I forgot about this one!") to keep track of my wines.

Cost: $21

Overall: C (and it is probably my fault)