With shipping season well upon us, the UPS boxes have been coming in and it's been tough trying to layoff the wine deliveries and write some fresh tasting notes - oh and drinking them! October is a good month.
Dutton Estate Pinot Noir and a single vineyard Carlisle Syrah were two of the wines I had over this past weekend. My review includes a few other starter wines.
We had some friends over Saturday and I was cooking up some shrimp scampi, rib eye steaks and fusilli pasta salad.
Before the Calisle and the Dutton, we had a starter from Neal Family
2006 Neal Family Sauvignon Blanc
I have had a few of these and my first tasting note on this showed enjoyment but a little too much citrus. This time it seemed less for me and my company absolutely loved it. I will chalk some of this to the fact that 2 of kour guests have really never had quality Napa Sauvignon Blanc like this. If I let them review and put a tasting note, they would probably go 94 points. I will not get that crazy. It showed very nice acidity with Napa style tropical fruit, with a good spritzy finish. I would go 88-89 points. A better showing or maybe it was just my mood last time.
Hey - it happens...!
2004 Dutton Estate Pinot Noir Dutton Ranch Pinot Noir
I was excited to try this as I had heard that Dutton makes very good RRV style pinot for a lower price. This was a wine bought via Internet auction and I paid $25. A steal for quality russian river valley pinot noir. Well, I felt this fell very short in the fruit concentration, complexity and finish vs. the heavyweights of pinot noir.
My Wine Tasting Notes for the Dutton Estate Dutton Ranch were written as I drank it over 90 minutes. I did not decant the wine.
Light color that does not always tell the story, but in this case it kinda does. The aroma showed some good power on the nose of Strawberry and tangerine. The taste had a pretty light-medium mouthfeel of strawberry seeds, mineral and a little fruit tartness that helped the concentration some, but the finish was short and uneventful. I thought the wine might make a comeback after opening some but it stayed relatively shallow and simple. A nice pinot noir for the lower-mid end, but the 2004 Dutton Estate Pinot Noit Dutton Ranch is yet another example for me of why I have a hard time enjoying under $30 pinot noir from California and from Russian River Valley - it's almost impossible.
86 Points
2005 Carlisle Bennett Valley Syrah
Only 300 cases of the Carlisle Bennett Valley Syrah are produced and so tasting this and writing a wine review note on it is always special for me. Yes - I have had this a few times. Carlisle produces great Zinfandel and Syrah across many vineyards. My notes are less detailed on this one as I only wrote general impressions as I was with company. This was paired with the rib eye steak. This wine was a nice cross between a classic rhone style of Copain for instance and modern fruit. I enjoyed the mix. It had good mixtures of current, blackberry, white pepper with a nice rounded finish with length.
91 Points
Ok. So there they are: Neal Family Sauvignon Blanc, Dutton Estate Pinot Noir - Dutton Ranch and the Carlisle Bennett Valley Syrah.
A good weekend with a nice mixture of wines. October is the peak of wine shipping season, so tastings and notes pick up in my house. It's also nice because I didn't pay for any of this wine....at least not in the last 6 months. They were all on back order through auction lots and wine allocation mailing list. Of course I paid for everything, but it's fun to get that case of wine delivered to you when you're not expecting it! Of course seeing your credit card statement in the spring and summer after I order isn't as fun....
Find Any Wine On The Internet Now
No comments:
Post a Comment