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August Briggs Russian River Pinot Noir,
2006
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From August Briggs, the 2006 Russian River Pinot Noir –
their most Burgundian in style of the
vintage. The Russian River Valley is quickly becoming known as one of the
premier locations for Pinot Noir on
earth, and for good reason. The wines
from this appellation consistently show
the bright, fruity exuberance of
California wine, while displaying some
of the haunting nuances of its homeland
in Burgundy. Their Russian River Pinot
Noir comes from the Cummings and Hedin
Vineyards which are located southwest of
the town of Healdsburg on Westside Road
heading out to the coast. The site is an
ancient river bottom with rolling hills
and gravelly soil types.
Enjoy the dense fruit flavors of
plum, raspberry with a moderate amount
of spice, and aromas of violets,
brambleberry, perfume and earth.
Finally, it finishes rich and
warm.
Well structured and ageworthy.
Pair with hearty fare such as
seasoned pork tenderloin or marinated
portabella mushrooms.
606 cases produced.
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Price $46 |
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DuNah Russian River Pinot Noir,
2006
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DuNah Winery is located in Sebastopol,
and produced its first vintage in 2003.
The 2006 DuNah Russian River Pinot Noir
starts off with wonderful aromas arising
from
dark fruits, cedar wood, savory
spice, and smoky blackstrap molasses.
The palate follows the nose with deeply
intense initial dark fruit blast. Really
deep, rich mid-palate adds layers of
roast India savory spices, trailing into
a long, luxurious dark fruit finish. The
aroma absolutely expands with a little
time in the glass.
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Price $55 |
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Saintsbury Lee Vineyard Pinot Noir,
2006
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From Saintsbury, we tasted a fantastic single vineyard
2006 Pinot Noir.
This is the first release of a
single vineyard Pinot Noir from the
kings of the Carneros and it’s a winner!
Ira and Shirley Lee first planted
their vineyard on Los Carneros Avenue in
1969 following closely the other modern
viticultural pioneers of Carneros. The
2006 Saintsbury Lee Vineyard Pinot Noir
displays the most primal pinot fruit
character of their three Vineyard Series
wines. The aromas are of focused,
intense black cherry and warm earth.
This pinot possesses significant middle
richness with a fine structure giving it
a wonderful capacity for graceful aging.
The Saintsbury Lee Vineyard Pinot Noir
is classic Carneros Pinot Noir.
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Price $50 |
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ZD Pinot Noir,
2006
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2006 marked an important milestone for ZD Pinot
Noir, with 100% of their Pinot fruit
coming from organically certified
vineyards. The grapes for this 2006
Carneros Pinot Noir came exclusively
from Jim Haire’s Vineyard in the
Carneros.
Dark ruby in color, with aromas
of ripe cherries, plum and rhubarb, this
wine is classic Carneros Pinot Noir.
Hints of cedar, vanilla and toasted nuts
lead into a full, rich palate of flavors
and silky tannins. Enjoy!
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Price $45 |
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Etude Carneros Estate Pinot Noir,
2006
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The 2006 Etude Carneros Estate Pinot Noir is their third release of Pinot
grown entirely on the Estate vineyard.
Their goal is to produce a
distinctly styled Pinot Noir of the
highest quality, a wine that can satisfy
any “Burgundian” urge and yet be proud
of its California roots. The 2006 Estate
bottling offers inviting cool climate
aromatics of raspberry, pomegranate and
sandalwood with a touch of turned earth.
Classically structured, the palate
bursts with flavors of sweet framboise
strawberries, red cherries and mocha.
The lush fruit combined with the baking
spice notes from aging in French oak
creates a defined Pinot Noir with
elegance and length.
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Price $47 |
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Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir,
2006
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There’s a lot going with the 2006 Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir.
For those who think that South
Africa is too hot to be able to make
world class Pinot Noir the folks at
Hamilton Russell seem to have a pretty
good handle on dealing with this most
fickle of grapes. This is a beautiful
rendition of the varietal. This is an
outstanding statement of how good the
vintage was and just how much Hamilton
Russell has wrapped itself around making
world class wines, both with their Pinot
Noir and Chardonnay. This 2006 Pinot
Noir is a real beauty. The nose gives
full expression to the varietal while
the palate follows through with that
sleek, seductive, silky mouth feel that
everyone looks for with just the right
combo of earthiness and fruit. The nose
brings forth notes of black cherry,
spice, earth and truffle. The palate is
medium weight with a silky texture and
flavors of red berries, dark cherry,
earth, truffle and a cocoa, bitter
chocolate note on the finish.
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Price $45 |
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Vergari Pinot Noir Van der Kamp Vineyard,
2005
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From a very small winery in Sebastopol, we found a wonderful Pinot Noir.
Owner/Winemaker David Vergari has
honed his skills at wineries such as
Phelps, Maddalena and Sonoma Cutrer.
The 2005 Vergari Pinot Noir Van
der Kamp Vineyard comes from a vineyard
located on Sonoma Mountain, at an
altitude of approximately 1200’, which
makes for a long growing season. Ulysses
Van der Kamp says that it’s easy to grow
Pinot Noir, that is, if you’re willing
to work twelve hours every day.
Delightful ruby color and a bouquet of
spice, earthy, gamy, and red cherry
aromas invite you in for a taste.
There is a fruit-driven entry
that opens into a silky-textured,
balanced mid-palate and extraordinarily
long finish. This wine will evolve in
the glass. The mountain fruit bodes well
for long aging.
142 cases made. |
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Price $50 |
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Davis Family Russian River Pinot Noir,
2005
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The fruit for the Davis Family Russian River Pinot Noir
2005 comes from their own vineyards.
These are southeastern exposure hillside
vineyards on Vine Hill in the center of
the Russian River Valley. Founder &
winemaker Guy Davis planted these vines
at his home in 1996. This Gold Medal
winner at the Sonoma County Harvest Fair
starts off with leather, wet stone, herb
and Bing cherry in the nose. The palate
has great structure, delicate mouth feel
showing licorice, cherry, clove and
mineral balance and length.
957 cases produced.
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Price $46 |
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Longboard Pinot Noir Russian River,
2006
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Oded Shakked, who was winemaker at J Vineyards for many
years, has a marvelous Pinot Noir from
the vineyards of J Winery.
The 2006 Longboard Pinot Noir is
an elegant wine with a complex nose of
fresh fruit aromas of cherry, raspberry
and cranberry followed by hints of white
pepper, cola, and spicy, earthy notes.
This wine offers crisp acidity upon
entry unfolding with flavors of black
cherry, raspberry and hints of vanilla,
evolving and gaining complexity as the
wine breathes. Rich, yet delicate, the
mouthfeel is round, soft and intense,
which leads to a lingering finish of
Bing cherries and notes of toast.
Extremely limited!
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Price $30 |
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Enkidu Pinot Noir, Tina Marie Vineyard,
2006
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Their first vintage of Pinot Noir from the Tina Marie
Vineyard 2006 produced wines of
extraordinary softness and complexity.
Aromas of ripe strawberries and
raspberries, with a tinge of orange
rind, white chocolate, toasted oak and
dried mushroom. The silky texture
supports the ripe fruit flavors of black
cherry and strawberry and toasted bread,
which lead to a long toasted oak finish.
250 cases produced.
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Price $45 |
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Row Eleven Bien Nacido Reserve Pinot Noir
2002
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2002 Row Eleven Bien Nacido Reserve
Pinot Noir is as smooth as silk,
refreshing as the ripest red berries and
dark cherries, and elegant to the
palette. The spice is almost cola like.
The Bien Nacido Pinot Noir was made to
accent the fruit forward character of
California Pinot Noirs.
Winemaker, Ricardo de los Reyes,
says that not
only are all vineyards not equal, but
all rows in a vineyard are not equal.
Thus, the name Row 11 – the row
in the vineyard he chose to make his
first vintage.
Medium ruby in the glass
this wine has an alluring nose of
cranberry, raspberry, and rhubarb
aromas, mixed with a very Burgundian soy
sauce note. On the tongue the wine has a
lovely mouthfeel and a nice balance with
flavors of cranberry, pomegranate, dried
herbs, and a rich, creamy note that
leans towards Worcestershire sauce. The
wine finishes well, with good length and
with elements of black tea. |
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Price $50 |
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MacRostie Pinot Noir 2005, Wildcat Mountain
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The grapes for this Pinot Noir
came exclusively from the Wildcat Mountain Vineyard, owned by Steve
MacRostie and his partners Nancy and Tony Lilly. Here the vines dig into
the sparse volcanic soil and stand firm against the brisk winds that
race in off the Pacific Ocean most afternoons. This foggy mountaintop
vineyard is Carneros at its coolest and most challenging, but the vines
produce fruit of great distinction. Dark ruby color, with aromas of
black raspberry, clove, and coffee. In the mouth there’s loads of ripe
raspberry, plus a hint of cinnamon-laced cocoa, like good Mexican
chocolate. Very full-bodied, weighty and rich, but still light on its
feet. The finish turns slightly toward cedar, but the fruit goes on and
on. 600 cases produced |
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Price $47 |
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Truchard Pinot Noir 2004, Carneros
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Seven separate clonal
selections of Pinot Noir grow on the Truchard Estate Vineyard. Each
clone provides a unique element of fruit, spice, and texture to the
final blend. The vines are planted in select sites that take full
advantage of the thin soils, rolling hills, and cooler temperatures of
the Carneros region. The 2004 Pinot Noir has smoky aromas of wild
strawberry and ripe plum; combined with subtle notes of citrus blossom,
earth, and sweet vanilla. The mouth is broad and silky - layered with
bright flavors of cranberry, rhubarb, cherry, and toasted oak. Balanced
acidity and delicate tannins focus the palate and provide a lingering
finish of fruit and spice. |
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Price $39 |
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Adelsheim Pinot Noir 2006, Willamette Valley
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With
its wide variety of origins and clones, this wine displays both red and
black fruit aromas (cherries and raspberries), on the nose and the
palate. In addition, one finds a light touch of brown spices (nutmeg,
cinnamon, allspice) and even a little black pepper. True to our house
style, it is elegantly textured with satiny, polished tannins showing in
the finish. Pair it with salmon or ahi, veal or pork, poultry (think
duck) or beef, and/or hearty vegetarian entrees.
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Price $35 |
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