21 Blind Pinots

I’m in catchup mode at the moment, utilising the long weekend to attempt to transfer tasting notes from notebook (and random pieces of paper scattered around the unit) to website.

So apologies in advance for the rather random nature of this weekends posts.

The following wines were all served blind over a very long lunch last month, with the experience once again reminding how mercurial the Pinot Noir grape is, variable and divisive to the end.

These notes are in unedited raw form, so they can seem a little haughty.

Bracket 1:

Pyramid Valley Calvert Vineyard Pinot Noir 2007
Subdued, mildly volatile, bark and black pepper, hint of stems. Classic fleshy Pinot nose. Firmly oaky and alcoholic palate is quite extractive, firm and dry, with a nice cut of sweet fruit through the finish. Sweet fruit lingers too. Very serious, needing years. Top wine. Victorian? (wrong there!) 18.4/94+

Bald Hills Pinot Noir 2005
Much more fleshy after wine 1, this shows caramel oak and red fruit in a quite sweet fashion. Fleshy. Floral. Lovely fleshy and soft palate, though slightly hollow through the finish. Lots of pleasure here. 18/93

Fromm Marlborough Pinot Noir 2002
Old leather, spice and cinnamon. Obvious age. Dry and quite astringent palate. Drying out, touch of mint on the back. Not much love and little fun to be had here. 14.6/82

Peregrine Pinot Noir 2004
Looks slightly older. Volatile, stewed and meaty. Stewed red fruits. Mildly horsey. Still plenty of flesh but just a bit awkward and metallic through the back end. Heat through the finish. 15.8/86

Neudorf Moutere Pinot Noir 2006
Lots of wood on the nose. Volatile and backwards. Vegetative edge. Tangerine citrussy character on the palate. Just a fraction awkward. Nice flow through the finish though. Desperately in need of time. 16.5/88+

Bracket 2

Maurice Ecard et Fils Savigny Les Beaune Les Jarrons 1er Cru 1999
Mature, roasted game and a sniff of volatility on the nose, with a slice of bark and old wood. Palate is nice and complex with leather and roasted beef. Fully resolved and comfortable if very dry through the finish. A lovely drink and interesting stuff. 17.5/92

Jean Fery & Fils Savigny Les Beaune 2006
Strawberry fruit and oak with lots of sweetness on the nose which is offset by the truffley savoury overtones. Palate is quite sweet but also extractive with lots of oak, finishing with oak tannins. Awkward acid to finish. Potential sure, but not quite there yet. 16.5/88+

Domaine de Courcel Pommard Les Croix Noires 1er Cru 2005
Golden syrup sweetness with some caramelised notes, though still quite floral. Palate is extractive and liqueured with harsh acid and soapy oak, but still there remains some decent fruit in there somewhere. Lots of heat through the finish. Just not quite there. Time might sort things out. 15.7/86

Anne Gros Vosne Romanee Les Barreaux 2001
Cinnamon and pepper, mushroom and spices. Secondary and wild nose. Palate is very dry and faintly leathery with lots of tannins and acid. Impressive length. Complete wine. 17.2/90

Bracket 3

Tarrington Pinot Noir 2004
Bacon bits. Redcurrant. Big and heady nose. Rich, full and heavy palate is thick and intense. Long. Very good. 17.5/92

Bannockburn Pinot Noir 2003
Horsey bretty stink. Bandages. Palate though is sweet and classic with just a fillip of bretty sausages on the finish. Bretty character hits hard on finish. Small amounts of brett are fine, but this is just too much. 15.0/84

Lucy Margaux Pinot Noir 2009
Rich, plush, liqueured cherry nose. Volatile and sappy. Semi sweet oaky palate is all oak at present. Lots of pretty fruit in there though. Just needs time. 17/90++

Picardy Pinot Noir 2001
Lots of bacony development. Palate is a bit horsey and acid is rising up, palate losing its fruit. Interesting enough though on the decline. 16.3/87

Paringa Estate ‘Estate’ Pinot Noir 2007
Plush. Youthful, sappy and extractive. Big nose. Oak a tad intrusive. Very tight and sour palate that is long but desperately in need of some bottle age. 17.5/92+

Bass Phillip Estate Pinot Noir 2004
Lovely resolved nose. Faintly volatile and stewed, but so utterly Pinoty. Beautifully weighted sour palate, complex and full. Deliciously gamey. Lovely wine. 18.5/94

Bracket 4

Stefano Lubiana Estate Pinot Noir 2008
Soapy oak sitting on top of the fruit. Soapy, dry palate is withdrawn and still smashed by oak, with sweet fruit just poking through. Very very backwards. Vinfanticide. 17/90++

William Hatcher Willamette Pinot Noir 2005
Sweaty, lovely sweet pure Pinot fruit with some chocolatey oak and no shortage of plush impact on the palate. Meaty chunk through the back. Very well balanced, nice chewy tannins. Excellent stuff. 18.5

Hillcrest Premium Pinot Noir 2005 (I’ve had better bottles of this)
Cherry fruit opulence, smoky and spicy, citrussy even. Sausage meat and sap on the chewy palate. Just a bit metallic through the finish. Dry and savoury, though not overly generous. 17.3/91

Beaux Freres Beaux Freres Vineyard Pinot Noir 2006
Lifted and lightly volatile nose. Very full and very chunky palate that finishes very hot. Big and extractive palate. Lacks delicacy, but plenty of impact. Oregon? (picked it!). 16.3/87

Evesham Wood Le Puits Sec Pinot Noir 2006
Raspberry and spice, again with a hint of citrus. Interesting palate is full and ripe with cherry fruit. Tail end is very extractive, hard and unappealing. Disjointed. 16/87+

Main Ridge ‘Half Acre’ Pinot Noir 2006
Caramel and berries, spicy and just a bit sappy. Palate is very dry and unwieldy with a stemmy finish. A bit greenish and mean at this stage but very very serious. Should blossom with bottle age. 16.5/88+