CALIFORNIA

Pinot Noir

 

2002 Merry Edwards Meredith Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir $$$

Color:  Medium Red

Nose:  Not, spice

Taste:  Spruce and heat

Finish:  Hot and spice

Evaluation:  Not a solid well structured wine 80 points

2003

2003 Loring Brousseau Pinot Noir $$$

Color:  Rudy red

Nose:  Fruit and earth

Taste:  Big fruit up front with smoke

Finish:  Extremely long and complex

Evaluation:  A great wine with aging potential 92 points

2003 Paul Hobbs Russian River Pinot Noir $$$

Color:  Medium purple

Nose: Violets, smoke, red currants

Taste:  Violet, fruit forward

Finish:  Complex wine with a medium finish.  It combines currants with violets and spices

Evaluation:  First place in a blind offline of pinots and burgs.  My wine of the night.  93 points

2003 Radio Coteau La Neblina Pinot Noir

Nose: Spice, pepper a little hot on the nose
Taste: Spice, earth and pepper
Finish: Medium finish with nice flavors intermixing
Evaluation: A nice pinot with room for growth 90 points

2004

2004 Alesia Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
Nose: Raspberries, cherry and spice
Taste: A huge mouthful of spice, smoke and pepper
Finish: Long multi layered finish with Asian spice, pepper and earth
Evaluation: A very nice pinot with improvement expected with cellaring. 91 points

2004 Artesa Carneros Pinot Noir $$$$

Color:  Medium purple

Nose:  Spice, must, cinnamon, earth

Taste:  Spice, floral, earth, red pepper

Finish:  Medium but fades fast with spice, red pepper, floral, spice

Evaluation:  Nothing that over impresses but well made.  88 points

2004 Aubert Sonoma UV Vineyard
Nose: Spice, Earth, little heat
Taste: Spice, floral and pepper dominating
Finish: Multi layered with pepper, spice and earth components intermixing nicely
Evaluation: This wine should improve nicely with some cellar time. 91+ points

2004 Davis Family Vineyards Russian River Valley Pinot Noir $$$$

Color:  Light purple

Nose:  Floral, smoke, earth, sweet fruits cherry and blackberries, buttery notes

Taste:  Floral, spice, cinnamon, fruits

Finish:  Short with floral, spice and peppery notes with some bit

Evaluation:  One of the best noses on a pinot I have ever smelt.  A really well made wine with in my opinion some serious upside with proper storage.  92 points

2004 Kosta Browne Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir $$$

Color:  Dark purple

Nose:  Fruit forward with some spice

Taste:  Smoke, rich tannins, and currant

Finish:  Medium with complex notes

Evaluation:  Wonderful wine and great value.  92 points

2004 MacMurray Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir $$

Color:  Light purple

Nose:  Spice, earth

Taste:  Smoke, spice, pepper

Finish:  Medium finish with consistent elements above

Evaluation:  A nice value under $20 for a pinot 87 points

2004 Mueller Emily's Cuvee Russian River Valley Pinot Noir $38.95

Color:  Medium Purple

Nose:  Huge nose of floral, spice, cherry, earth

Taste:  Floral, spice, cinnamon, crushed rock, raspberry

Finish:  Brilliant with spice, fruit, crushed rock, floral, and earth on this long finish

Evaluation:  Very elegant and not overpowering.  This is the Pinot you try to determine if you like Pinot.  93 points

Hennepin Lake

2004 Mt. Villa Grand Reserve Pinot Noir $$

Color:  Medium

Nose:   Pepper, spice.

Taste:  A solid everyday drinker with pepper and earth tones dominating.

Finish:  A medium finish with a simple complexity.

Evaluation:  Around $18 a bottle this is an example of an everyday drinking pinot that won’t disappoint.  87 points

2004 RHYS Estate Family Farms Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir $$$$

Color:  Light purple

Nose:  Violets, earth, raspberries

Taste:  Violets, earth, raspberries

Finish:  Light to medium

Evaluation:  89 points

2005

2005 Colterenzio Alto Adige Pinot Nero Pinot Noir $$

Color:  light purple

Nose:  spice, smoke

Taste:  spice, watery notes, bitter

Finish:  no fruit with bitter tannic vibes

Evaluation:  77 points

2005 Echelon Central Coast Pinot Noir $$

Color:  Light purple

Nose:  Spice, floral

Taste:  Spice, floral

Finish:  Floral and spice on a short finish

Evaluation:  Simple wine but drinkable for the price.  82 points

2005 Fess Parker Bien Nacido Santa Barbera Pinot Noir $$$$

Color:  Medium purple

Nose:  Spice, pepper, floral

Taste:  Spice, cranberry, floral, mineral, mild oak

Finish:  Medium to long and a balanced wine

Evaluation:  Really enjoy it and would recommend.  92 points

2005 Fess Parker Bien Nacido Santa Barbera Pinot Noir $$$$

Color:  Medium purple

Nose:  Smoke, walnuts, spice, cinnamon

Taste:  Smoke, spice, sweet fruits and cinnamon

Finish:  Earth, cranberries, dark fruits, smoke, blackberries, and crisp acidity

Evaluation:  Drink up now this was not as good as two years ago 89 points

2005 Fess Parker Santa Barbera County Pinot Noir $$$

Color:  Light purple

Nose:  Spice, floral, cherry

Taste:  Nice with spice, floral, mineral

Finish:  Medium and balanced

Evaluation:  Wine Spectator rated this one 10 points to low.  89 points

2005 Flying Goat Dierberg Vineyard Pinot Noir $$$

Color:  Medium purple

Nose:  Cola, strawberries, cranberry

Taste:  Cola, strawberries, cranberry, a bit bitter

Finish:  Medium

Evaluation:  89 points

2nd Day Rocking with mineral, sweet fruits and much more balanced 91 points

2005 Flying Goat Dierberg Vineyard Pinot Noir $$$

Color:  Medium purple

Nose:  Cranberry, floral, spice

Taste:  Sweet raspberries, cranberries, floral and spice

Finish:  Medium and full of life

Evaluation:  89 points

2005 Flying Goat Pinot Noir Dierberg Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Maria Valley (2/20/2010)
Light purple. Nose cranberry, spices, and cola. On the palate this wine shows a lot of spice, cranberry, cherry, cola and strawberries. Well rounded wine with a medium finish. No real flaws. (90 pts.)

2005 Hartford's Court Land Edge Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir $$$

Color:  Light red

Nose:  Floral, spice, oak

Taste: Floral, mineral, spice, cinnamon

Finish:  Medium with floral, spice, and mineral. 

Evaluation:  Enjoyed by all at a tasting.  Tannins were mild so drink and enjoy.  90 points

2005 Hartford's Court Land's Edge Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir $$$

Color:  Light purple

Nose:  Fresh with forest floor, cranberry, spice

Taste:  Fresh with good acidity and features spice, cranberry, mineral, rhubarb

Finish:  Medium and has a nice streak of minerality

Evaluation:  Solid right now but drink these up.  91 points

2005 Melville Estate Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir $$$

Color:  Medium purple

Nose:  Floral, spice, cinnamon

Taste:  Spice, cinnamon, violets, mineral, crushed rock

Finish:  Medium with spice and violets dominating. Crushed rock and some buttery notes occur later.

Evaluation:  Cellar but decant if you are not patient for five hours.  This is better five days later then day one as it is showing its true potential.  91 points

2005 J Rochioli Little Hill Russian River Valley Pinot Noir

Medium purple.  Aromas of cherry, cola, strawberry and spice.  Classic Russian River Valley profile.  It was well balance and paired perfectly with my grilled Salmon.  92 points

2005 J Rochioli Russian River Valley Pinot Noir $$$$

Color:  Medium purple

Nose:  Spice, cinnamon, floral

Taste:  Spice, cinnamon, crushed rock, black pepper with good acidity

Finish:  Extremely long and what a complex wine.  Spice, crushed rock, black pepper.  This one just makes your mouth work.

Evaluation:  Top five domestic Pinot's I have tasted.  94 points

Hennepin Lake

2005 Kistler Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir

Medium color with strawberry, mineral and raspberry.  The fruit was very present here and I did not get much earth quality to the wine.  It had a solid medium finish and was

balanced.  92 points

2005 Wildhorse Central Coast Pinot Noir $$

Color:  Light purple

Nose:  Mineral

Taste:  Mineral, strawberry

Finish:  Mineral, light fruit

Evaluation:  83 points

2006

2006 Capiax Sonoma Pinot Noir $$$

Color:  Light pruple

Nose:  Spice, floral

Taste:  Simple with some spice and floral

Finish:  Medium

Evaluation:  Not bad but better out there for the price.  87 points

2006 Belle Glos Meiomi Pinot Noir $$$

Color:  Light purple

Nose:  Spice, vegetables, smoke

Taste:  Water, spices, bitter

Finish:  Short and bad

Evaluation:  Not good 78 points

2006 Dutton Goldfield Dutton Ranch Russian River Valley $$$

Color:  Medium purple

Nose:  Floral, strawberries

Finish:  Spice, scorched earth, cranberries, strawberry

Finish:  Medium and shows good structure

Evaluation:  A really nice bargain wine 90 points

2006 La Crema Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir $$$

Color:  Light

Nose:  Floral, spice

Taste:  Floral, spice, smooth overall

Finish:  Not big but well integrated wine

Evaluation:  Well made and good intro to Pinot Noir 85 points

2006 Littorai Summa Vineyard Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir

Medium purple and a nose of cherry, strawberries and raspberries.  If you like fruit this is an amazing wine.  Super smooth finish and great acidity.  My second favorite wine of the night.  94 points

2006 Nottingham Central Coast Pinot Noir $$

Color:  Light purple

Nose:  Cranberry, spice

Taste:  Cranberry, spice, forest floor

Finish:  Good structure for an inexpensive Pinot

Evaluation:  Good value 86 points

2006 Rossler Red Label Sonoma County Pinot Noir $$

Color:  Light purple

Nose:  Floral, strawberry, mineral

Taste:  Nice vibrant wine with floral, mineral, strawberry

Finish:  Satisfying and shows good acidity

Evaluation:  My new under $20 Pinot Noir 90 points

2006 Wildhorse Central Coast Pinot Noir $$$

Color:  Light purple

Nose:  Floral, raspberries

Taste:  Sweet fruits with floral and minerals

Finish:  Medium

Evaluation:  Nice everyday Pinot at $13 on sale 86 points

2007

2007 Domaine Alfred Chamisal Vineyards Edna Valley Pinot Noir $$$$

Color:  Medium purple

Nose:  Cherries, mulberries, spice, floral

Taste:  Sweet fruit, spices, floral, ink

Finish:  Medium and intense

Evaluation:  A nice wine that is geared towards food 90 points

2007 Castle Rock Monterey County Pinot Noir $$

Color:  Medium purple

Nose:  Intense with spice and smoke

Taste:  Cranberries, sharp acidity, smoke and spice

Finish:  Medium and good concentration for a cheaper wine

Evaluation:  The best Pinot under $10 on sale I have ever tasted 88 points

2007 Erath Oregon Pinot Noir $$

Color:  Light purple

Nose:  Strawberries, floral

Taste:  Mild tannic quality with floral and raspberries

Finish:  Pleasant but light

Evaluation:  Simple everyday Pinot 85 points

2007 Etude Pinot Noir Deer Camp - USA, California, Napa Valley, Carneros (4/6/2010)
Some heat on the nose. Spice, floral and strawberry on the nose. The palate shows some intensity and this wine is a bit off balance. If it was $25 I would buy but at $50 I am looking elsewhere. (88 pts.)

2007 Martin Ray Angeline North Coast Pinot Noir $$

Color:  Light purple

Nose:  Cherry, floral

Taste:  A lot there for a $13 Pinot with cherry, floral, and mineral

Finish:  Persistent and pleasing

Evaluation:  A great wine for the price.  Highly Recommend 88 points

2007 Martin Ray Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir $$

Color:  Medium purple

Nose:  Floral, spice

Taste:  Strong and concentrated for the price point

Finish:  Smooth overall with spice, strawberry and floral

Evaluation:  Another good value Pinot 88 points

2007 Orogeny Pinot Noir Green Valley - USA, California, Sonoma County, Green Valley (4/6/2010)
Classic California Pinot with spices, strawberry and floral on the nose. A perfume quality is evident on the nose and more so on the palate. Medium finish and drinking well right now. At $21 a bottle a most have for an everyday Pinot. (90 pts.)

 

2008

2008 Francis Coppola / Niebaum-Coppola Pinot Noir Diamond Series Silver Label - USA, California, Central Coast, Monterey County (4/14/2010)
Light purple. Nose of spice and cranberry. Not concentrated on the palate and finishes weak. Very simple wine. (81 pts.)

2008 Rossi-Wallace Pinot Noir - USA, California, Napa Valley (4/5/2010)
Easter egg dye on the nose and water downed on the palate. Not sure what happened as I liked the 07. (77 pts.)

2008 Saintsbury Pinot Noir Garnet - USA, California, North Coast, Carneros (4/6/2010)
Too sweet. Floral, raspberry and jammy fruit dominate this simple pinot. (84 pts.)

2008 Mark West Pinot Noir California - USA, California (4/17/2010)
I have seen several people recommend this wine for a value Pinot but I have yet to see this wine more then water and spice. I will buy Erath at $11 on sale all day long over Mark West. (76 pts.)

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