Pinot Noir #4 - Lucienne of Santa Lucia Highlands

Lucienne 2006 Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands Doctor's Vineyard 14.5% alc.

(We continue to explore the world of Pinot Noirs in honor of Pinot Days, SF, 2009. See Pinots 1-3 below.)

Okay, I am still in California, but I've moved south from the Russian River Valley to the Santa Lucia Highlands. Great move! The Pinot Noirs here are quite a change.

The Santa Lucia Highlands are located south of Monterey in the foothills of the Salinas River Valley. It has one of the longest growing seasons in all of the California AVAs due to unique climatic features of the area. Simply put, that means the grapes stay longer on the vine and develop more flavors and acidity before being harvested. This has become one of the outstanding CA. growing regions for Pinot Noir.

A voluptuous Pinot Noir sounds like an oxymoron but that is how I would describe this luscious Pinot. It does not look like a Pinot. It is a dark ruby color. When you sniff it you get red fruits, especially dark cherry, but there are richer aromas like burnt marshmallow, caramel, ginger bread, oak and baking spices. This Pinot is almost full-bodied and has notes of sandalwood and cocoa on the long finish. This Pinot is defintely ageable as it has generous amount of acidity. I would love to taste this in about 5 years as it softens. Retail price: $35 on the Hahn website.

For more information go to http://www.hahnfamilywines.com

Pinot Noir #3 - More Russian River Pinot Noir

2007 L'Angevin Pinot Noir Russian River Valley

Sophisticated yet crowd-pleasing

I just cannot seem to leave the Russian River Valley with such delicious offerings of Pinot Noir (see Pinot #2.) L'Angevin is the project of winemakers Alan Peirson and Robbie Meyer, whose acquaintance I made at the Acme Atelier Portfolio tasting in March of 2009. This Pinot Noir had just been released and I was very pleased to be able to taste it.

This garnet-toned Pinot is filled with aromas of red fruit, especially red raspberry with slight notes of oak, earth and cocoa. On the palate this medium-bodied wine is soft yet juicy and fills the mouth with bright fruit, food-friendly acidity and a little sweetness. The wine is barrell-aged for 15 months (sur lees) and 40% new oak was used.

Pinot Noir can be a very serious wine, or a food wine, but the L'Angevin Pinot Noir is a juicy, fruity party wine that would appeal to a lot of different palates, especially those who maybe don't drink a lot of red wine. Retail for a 750mL bottle is $44.
Visit www.langevinwines.com for more information.

Pinot Noir #2 of "Around the World in Pinot Noir" - Russian River

Gehring Sasser 2007 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir ~ 13.6% alcohol

"Delicate, pure expression of Russian River Fruit"

I love to support locally-made wines. There is a new Pinot Noir on the radar that is vinted right here in Berkeley, CA at Donkey and Goat Winery, made by Charles Gehring and Brad Sasser. These former "Garagistes" have gone public and this 2007 Pinot Noir is their first release to the Pinot Noir-loving public!

The grapes are 50% Dijon and 50% Pommard clones. They use a very non-invasive approach to vinification. They lightly prep the fruit for fermentation, all the juice is free-run and they do not do "cold-soaking" of the grapes. The juice is aged in 2-3 year old oak barrels. These winemakers are truly concerned with the elegance and pure expression of the grapes.

Russian River Pinot Noirs have always seemed soft and light to me and this Pinot Noir is no exception. The color is a light garnet with a medium garnet core. The nose is "perfumey" with notes of violets and rose petals. I also got a whiff of kerosene and strawberry. As for the palate, this is a silky, light-bodied wine with some red fruit. It is not tannic, not oaky, just pure fruit with a generous spritz of acidity. I would love to drink this while eating roasted chicken and mushroom gravy, or a big hunk of roasted salmon. A bottle of this Pinot Noir goes for $27 at the Wine Mine