Horizontal Tasting of Pinot Noirs, Domaine Carneros
Posted 05/07/2008 at 07:44 PM by Cathy
Here's the thing about tasting a flight of Pinot Noirs: this particular wine oxidizes quickly, so its composition and character literally change while it sits in the glass. You've got to go back and retaste the samples, and they may taste drastically different than they did the first time.
We came to Domaine Carneros to try a horizontal tasting of Pinot Noirs that were all grown within the Carneros AVA. For me, every one of the wines did taste drastically, unsettlingly different every time I tried it.
"My name is Pinot Noir," I almost heard someone say, "and I have multiple personality disorder."
Usually from a horizontal tasting of the same varietal you'd be able to identify some sort of connecting thread that links all of the wines. But figuring out what was typical, or characteristic, of Pinot Noir seemed to be nearly impossible, at least for me. Even my favorite wine of the day, a 2005 MacRostie Pinot Noir, wasn't very typical of Pinot Noir at all.
MacRostie's winemaker told me that a significant percentage of the wine we tasted came from grapes grown on the Wildcat Mountain Estate Vineyard. Wines from Wildcat's grapes are identified by their dark color (when Pinot Noirs tend toward brighter tonality) and full body (when the very best Pinot Noirs are feather-light). Pinot Noirs are notoriously difficult to grow but I never guessed that getting a handle on the finished product would also be this difficult.
Fortunately, despite the struggle, I came away with an appreciation very similar to the one I felt yesterday with Rudd's Sauvignon Blanc: the MacRostie was what Pinot Noir can be. Full, but not heavy. Lush, but not fatty. And satisfying, because of its complexity, not despite it.
E-Mail
| 
Digg this!
| 
del.icio.us
365 Days RSS
| Comments RSS for this post
