So, like, what is this stuff, anyway?
I taste a bunch-o-wine (technical term for more than most people). So each week, I share some of my wine reviews (mostly from samples) and tasting notes with you via twitter (limited to 140 characters). They are meant to be quirky, fun, and easily-digestible reviews of currently available wines. Below is a wrap-up of those twitter wine reviews from the past week (click here for the skinny on how to read them), along with links to help you find these wines, so that you can try them for yourself. Cheers!
- 11 Lokoya Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley): French press coffee from paradise; plunging will take about 10 years. $350 A >>find this wine<<
- 12 St. Innocent Freedom Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley): Guilty of tasting a bit too much as though it were from RRV. $41 B+ >>find this wine<<
- 10 Villa Franciacorta Emozione Brut (Franciacorta): Plenty of croutons on this edible flower salad, for those bread lovers out there. $35 B+ >>find this wine<<
- 14 Urban Riesling (Mosel): Pleasant enough company it is, but living up to the legends of its storied namesake it quite isn't. $14 B >>find this wine<<
- 14 Willamette Valley Vineyards Whole Cluster Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley): Actually, that'd be a whole lotta fruity, spicy fun. $22 B+ >>find this wine<<
- 13 Tortoise Creek Le Charmel Muscadet Sevre-et-Maine Sur Lie (Loire Valley): Stones, pears, and in a hurry to get going, right now. $12 B >>find this wine<<
- 12 VIE L'Intruse Mourvedre (Santa Barbara County): Not intrusive at all; in fact, it knocked first, & brought chocolate and tarragon. $39 B+ >>find this wine<<
- 12 VIE Thompson Vineyard Syrah (Santa Barbara County): Throwing blackberry chunks, in large pixelated blocks, aiming at your head. $45 B+ >>find this wine<<
- NV Contadi Castaldi Franciacorta Brut (Franciacorta): Not complicating things, and not stopping you from drinking the hell out of it. $20 B >>find this wine<<
- 12 Willamette Valley Vineyards Bernau Block Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley): Pucker up for earthy, tart-berry kisses, & feel the luv. $55 A- >>find this wine<<
Comments
scrappy
I’m curious to here more about your experience with the St. Innocent wine…
1WineDude
Scrappy – if memory is serving me correctly, it was my first from them. Would not have pegged it for WV blind, that’s for sure. Thought it a bit out of character for WV. It’s a very good wine, and certainly will appeal to folks who like bigger Pinots; I generally want more regional typicity, particularly in that price range.
scrappy
Cool, that’s a good answer. Does the fact that the wine is “bigger” make it seem more like a California pinot? Also, do you think some of that can be attributed to vintage? The 2015 vintage will definitely make Willamette Valley wines taste like they’re from California.
1WineDude
Scrappy – not only that, but conditions won’t be exactly the same across the entire Valley, which is one reason why I hate generic vintages reports. Vintage for sure comes into it, but I found that wine in that case to be markedly different than every other WV Pinot I’ve had from the same vintage. It’s tricky, though; without having previous knowledge of the producer, in some ways I’m taking a chance on that call.
scrappymutt
St. Innocent is one of the classic wineries of Eola-Amity (as is it’s estate vineyard, Zenith). That said, their wines do offer more “polish” than your average Oregon pinot noir, which might be what you equate to California style pinot.
2012 was a warm vintage, but the harvest was long enough to get balanced wines. 2014 was a very warm vintage, and 2015 will be even warmer. I’m curious to hear your thoughts on Willamette Valley pinot in the context of California when those wines go to market.
And btw, this is gabe. I’m slowly handing over all my social media accounts to my dog. He’s pretty good on twitter and instagram, but is even better at racing pugs in the dog park.
1WineDude
Hey Gabe (& Scrappy) – thanks. Pug you! :)
Yeah, I knew a bit of the history and so was pretty stoked to try the wine. The entire time I was thinking “WTF, this tastes like RRV!” Again, a solid wine, clearly well-made. But it stood out in a lineup of WV `12 PNs that all had similar markers (tea, dried herbs, consistent acid profile) that the SI didn’t display.