2006 WesMar Pinot Noir

There are some wines that are just so refreshing and delicious that you never get sick of drinking them, and these two Pinot Noirs from WesMar fall into that category for me. I find that sometimes even though wines are well made and a good example of their varietal, after the first glass or two it's possible to not really want to drink more. This is definitely not the case here.

The WesMar name is a combination of the two owners, wife and husband Denise Mary Selyem and Kirk Wesley Hubbard. Denise is the daugher of Ed Selyem, and the couple worked at Williams Selyem until it was sold in 1997. In March of 2000, WesMar winery was started in an old apple processing warehouse in Sebastopol, CA. These wines are made with a focus on balance and aren't your super-extracted, candied alcoholic cocktails that have become all too common in California but instead showcase soaring aromatics and a refreshing flavor profile with snappy acids that make them great for the dinner table.

Aside from being well priced and very good, Denise and Kirk have some of the best customer service I've encountered. I originally planned to let these wines sleep for a while longer, but I received an email with a generous offer to mailing list members --- In part due to these economic times, WesMar was offering a number of free bottles depending on the size of your order. If you ordered a six pack, you'd receive one free bottle of their "sur lees" Pinot Noir. Order a case, and you'd receive three free bottles. That's the first I've heard of any winery with such and offer, and I was impressed. Now all I needed to do was open a few bottles of what I already had to determine if I'd like to order more.

Tasting Notes:

2006 WesMar Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir:
Translucent but not overly light strawberry color in the glass. The nose on this wine is very expressive with aromas of pure strawberry fruit, some interesting minty accents, and secondary notes of freshly tilled damp soil. On the palate are bright red fruit flavors, bordering on the lighter bodied side with fairly high acidity and a crisp, refreshing medium length finish that includes just a little tannin. The mouthfeel on this wine is all just silky bright fruit. This is definitely a wine I could not get sick of drinking, just so pure and refreshing... Showing well and this should have a nice long life ahead of it

Price: $35
Score: 91

2006 WesMar Russian River Valley Pinot Noir:
A little darker than the Sonoma Coast, showing a ruby colored robe, this wine seems a little closed right now. The nose is not giving much up but a little sneak preview of the potential with aromas reminiscent of brown sugar mixed with molasses, some spices that make me think of Christmas, and darker red fruits such as raspberry. While not as showy as the Sonoma, I can only hope the nose comes alive with time, and if it does I could get lost in those scents for hours. On the palate there is more weight, showing a medium bodied wine with great mouth coating texture and flavors of red fruits and spice that lead into a long finish.

Price: $35
Score: 90
Continued...

2001 Brewer-Clifton Rozak Ranch Pinot Noir

Deep in the industrial "wine ghetto" of Lompoc, California are a few guys making some extreme and sometimes controversial renditions of Pinot Noir. If you are a lover of California Pinot Noir, I'm sure you've already heard of Brewer-Clifton, and if not, please allow me to introduce you. A few years ago, wine critic Robert Parker did something that was a bit unusual, by proclaiming Brewer-Clifton the "single greatest revelation" of his 2001 tastings, and comparing the wines to one of the most famed of French Burgundies-- Romanee Conti. As you might suspect, this drew loads of attention and many varied opinions from Pinotphiles and score chasers everywhere. If you haven't had these wines before, I'm going to ask you to try to not compare them to anything, except maybe other Brewer-Clifton's...

Greg Brewer and his partner Steve Clifton run the winery, and while I believe they have now moved out of the humble industrial park affectionately dubbed "the wine ghetto," the Pinot is still the same. Pushing the limits, many Brewer-Clifton wines contain alcohol contents close to 16%, using whole or half cluster fermenting (leaving the stems in). The obvious reason for whole cluster fermenting would be that it adds additional texture, aromas, and flavors to the wine, resulting in more complexity. In the attempt to achieve full stem ripeness, sugar levels will be higher, and many times the end result is a high alcohol wine (in simplified terms). This can be risky, and the results can range from disastrous to utterly sublime. Now, the question by many is what happens to the alcohol when the primary fruit fades away? That's a good question and a valid concern. I'm happy to report that I consider myself to have a sensitive palate to alcohol, and while it was slightly apparent in this wine, it wasn't obnoxious or overbearing one bit.

Nearly all of Brewer-Clifton’s grapes come from cool-climate vineyards in the Santa Rita Hills or surrounding regions of Santa Barbara, California. Clos Pepe, Rozak Ranch, Rio Vista, Ashley's, Cargasacchi... Plenty of central coast Pinot producers source fruit from these vineyards, and one of my favorite things to do is line up 4-5 bottles Pinot from the same vineyard but different producer in any given vintage and taste through them, as there can be some distinct similarities and striking differences in the wines. For an interesting perspective, try lining up a bottle of Clos Pepe from both Brewer-Clifton and Arcadian, in any given vintage, and tell me what you think.

As if they didn't have their hands full with Brewer-Clifton, like many winemakers, both Greg and Steve have started their own labels. Palmina is the creation of Steve and his wife Chrystal, a winery born out of a passion for the Italian lifestyle and wines, putting a Santa Barbara spin on Italian varietals. Some of the red wines they produce are Nebbiolo and Barbera as well as white varietals such as Pinot Grigio and Tocai Friulano, a white wine often mistaken for Sauvignon Blanc.

On top of being winemaker at Melville, Greg's project is named Diatom, and focuses solely on naked, pure, unadulterated Chardonnay. Greg's goal here is to produce wines that transcend grape and place, never putting them through maloloactic fermentation, or oak barrels (at least new oak.. Neutral oak may be a possibility,) and letting the vineyard speak through the wine. These are some of the most radical Chardonnay's produced in California.

I love a good well made stemmy, funky wine, which is probably one reason why I'm a big fan of Brewer-Clifton. These wines still have plenty of fruit, but there are many other intriguing components to them that can be very unique, and so much more interesting to me aromatically and texturally than just bright, simplistic cherries and strawberry.

Tasting Notes
Translucent burgundy color close to auburn near the rim. Lots of dark, rich, almost candied cherry and strawberry buttressed by damp, dank earth and wood spice aromas. Full-bodied palate that is intense and vibrant with lots of spice and earth with dark berry fruit on the back end. There are still quite a bit of drying tannins on the finish. This is a very impressive wine that has years of potential ahead of it. I'd like to revisit this wine in 3 years and see if these tannins have melted away.

Price: $50

Score: 90-93

Alcohol: 15.8%
Continued...

2006 Lynmar Estate Russian River Valley Pinot Noir

The wily charms of Russian River Valley Pinot Noir have wooed me many times in the past, but the most recent and glaring example would have to be this particular bottle from Lynmar Estate. This was a spur of the moment purchase from Whole Foods of all places, who has a suprisingly good, albeit small selection of wines. Normally I wouldn't drink a bottle so young (who am I kidding,) but after stumbling upon this in the store felt it was my duty to save it from the un-temperature controlled confines of Whole Foods, and pop it open with a nice dinner. On this particular night I was looking for something rich and generous that would provide instant gratification after a long day. Something that comes wrapped in the package of a Russian River Pinot Noir. Yet again, Lynmar did not let me down.

I challenge anyone to dispute that Lynmar is highly overlooked as a serious Pinot Noir producer by many, because when compared with some of the highly touted "cultish" Pinot Noirs from the same region their wines definitely hold their own, and in fact prevail against many. Founded in 1990 by Lynn Fritz, Lynmar produces Pinot Noir and Chardonnay with fruit sourced from the Russian River appellation. Their Quail Hill Vineyard has some of the oldest Pinot vines in the Russian River. Hugh Chapelle is the winemaker here, and has worked with Napa and Sonoma fruit for over a decade, at various wineries including Flowers and Madrona Vineyards. It probably also doesn't that they have Paul Hobbs as a part of their winemaking team. Paul has been consulting winemaker for a number of vintages now.

To be honest, I can't recall a Pinot from the Russian River that I have disliked. I'm sure if I thought hard enough I might be able to name one, but they seem to be far and few between. While I was thinking of that, my girlfriend's nose finally came away from the glass, and the first thing out of her mouth was "this is why I love Pinot." I can't think of a better endorsement than that.

Tasting Notes:
This wine is sort of a "middle of the road" Pinot... Not too light, and not to extracted, while holding a striking shade of red-violet in the glass. Perfectly ripe, but not overdone pure fruit aromas leap out the glass- cherry, raspberry, citrus, a little clove and a touch of mint making an attractive and fruit forward nose. Full bodied on the palate with much of the same cherry, raspberry, and spice flavors. Beautifully balanced with good acidity, well integrated tannins and a half minute finish, this might become a little bit more interesting in a year or two, but I don't see any reason why you should avoid drinking it now.

Price: $40

Score: 87-90

Specifics:
14.4% alcohol
14 Months in French Oak
Cases Produced: 3,196

Continued...

2005 Tyler Pinot Noir - Dierberg Vineyard

Lately I've been watching a lot of young, creative assistant winemakers branch out to begin making their own wines with some stunning results. One thing that excites me so much about this is the chance to enjoy the wines from the beginning, and watch how they evolve over time. This is only the first vintage from Tyler Winery, and a very impressive debut...

Founder and winemaker Justin Willett honed his chops working as assistant winemaker at Arcadian, as well as holding the position of wine director at Sevilla, a restaurant in Santa Barabra. He left both to pursue this project and has succeeded in making some very distinctive, high quality Pinot Noir that carries a remarkable sense of place, unique profile, and will age nicely for years to come. After tasting the wines of the premier release (2005) I can't wait to see what the upcoming vintage has to offer.

Justin's aim is to produce delicate wines with structure and nuance, which is a nice change from the overextracted, alcoholic jammy fruit bombs that have become very common throughout California. It's a bit more Burgundian than the average Cali Pinot but still has the stamp of a central California wine done right. The fruit is sourced from the Dierberg vineyard, located in the Santa Maria Valley, a vineyard rife with sandy loam soils and a healthy western exposure. The Dierberg will definitely improve with some time in the decanter and will only get better if you choose to cellar it for a few years to come. I can see this wine becoming just stunning years from now. It has the structure, balance and backbone to age gracefully and although it's very nice and drinkable now, I'd advise some patience. Decanting helps, but time is the only thing that will reveal the true colors of this wine. With the small production so far, this is one mailing list I'm excited to be on and will continue to watch out for the upcoming 2006 vintage.

Tasting Notes:
Dark ruby in the glass, the nose on this wine is what I'm captivated by. Very expressive with tons of earth and tinges of funk wrapped up tight in a blanket of spice, ripe dark cherry, raspberry, and orange citrus. 14.2% alcohol and it's no where to be found. After some air time, there is some lovely subtle and tasteful oak that makes an appearance as well. With a mouthfeel of velvet and silk, flavors of tart black cherry and black currant effortlessly transition into earthy notes on the mid palate, with finely grained tannins and a nice, long finish.

Price: $50

Score: 89-93

Specifics:
14.2% Alcohol
60% New French Oak
56 Cases Produced

Continued...

2005 Siduri "Terra De Promissio" Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir

I think in some little section of their brain, every serious wine lover has the dream of dropping everything, moving to wine country and becoming a successful winemaker. For some, this dream becomes a reality, and for Adam and Dianna Lee, I guess you could say it's a dream come true. Back in the early 90's, the two had a passion for Pinot Noir and took a chance by moving from Texas to California, with no prior winemaking experience to succeed in making some of the best single vineyard Pinot around.

After moving to California, the Lee's decided to take their life's savings, and make a little wine. Lo and behold, the first vintage in 1994 turned out to be pretty damn good. So good, in fact, they drunkenly decided to drop a bottle off on Robert Parkers doorstep at the Meadowood Resort, like a gift wrapped present from the stork. Upon sobering up, they realized what they had done and frantically tried to get the bottle back, to no avail. Well, old boy Parker ended up hailing it as "terrific," and gave it a score of 90+. As novice winemakers, what better publicity can you ask for?

This was just the beginning of their good fortune. For the next vintage, they scored top grapes from Hirsch Vineyard, who sold to Kistler and Williams Selyem, among others. For two new winemakers in California, this must have seemed like a gift sent down from the gods. Even if you take away the scores and reviews, the quality of Siduri wines will continue to speak for themselves. Throughout the years they've focused solely on single vineyard Pinot Noir, letting the terroir of the vineyard express itself with great results, as well as branching off to include a second label, Novy, which focuses on Syrah.

One thing that I love about the Lee's is that they're genuinely nice people... Family oriented folk that wanted to make wine because they had a true passion for it. They have a large production with prices ranging from $19 to the mid 50's, and with the skyrocket price of some Pinot Noir, who can be mad at that? Producing single vineyard Pinot Noir from 27 different vineyards and countless 90+ scores from wine critics, Siduri is not going anywhere, and they still don't even own their own vines, which is amazing. Combine that, two children, and their other Novy, and you'll see that the Lee's are very, very busy.

Tasting Notes:
Dark ruby red in the glass, I've had this wine 3 separate times now and on each occasion there is some degree of a burnt rubber aroma. I can't say I'm a huge fan of that but after opening up a bit, there's a nice mix of dark fruit and nice ripe cherry, along with a funky core of earth and dirt on the nose. Slightly hot, there's an abundance of nice red fruit in the mouth, ending with a bit of spice. Pleasant finish on the medium- short side. Unfortunately, I tasted this wine way too young, and I think it should have at least another year in the bottle. Should you open one soon, definitely decant.

Price: $44

Score: 85-88


Continued...

2004 Scherrer Russian River Valley Pinot Noir

It's been a while since I've drank a Pinot Noir and for the life of me I don't know why it's been so long! Diversity is one of the things I love about wine. It's all fermented grape juice but the contrast between a Cabernet and a Pinot Noir can be so great at times it will make you shake your head in wonder. A few weeks back after tasting Napa Cab after Napa Cab I was DYING for something different so at dinner I ordered a plate of Fettucine and a bottle of a Sangiovese dominated Tuscan blend, something I would not normally do with so much fine dining in wine country. At this particular moment, if I had a glass of Cult Napa Cab in one hand, and the Tuscan in the other, I would have enjoyed the Tuscan by ten fold. Switching up what you drink now and then can be so beneficial to the experience and is something I try to do often. But now I'll probably be drinking nothing but Pinot for the next two weeks.

Scherrer Winery is located in Sebastopol and has been pumping out quality juice since 1991. It is owned by Fred Scherrer, a UC Davis graduate who is also the winemaker. Scherrer offers up bottlings from about 6 different varietals which are Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Vin Gris (Rose). While I don't know a whole lot about the other varietals, I've heard numerous good things about the Pinot. And they weren't wrong. With 800 cases produced, the grapes in this particular bottle are sourced from the Russian River Valley, grown in the sandy Goldridge soils, and said to highlight the regions distinctive 'orange peel' aromas. This wine is a winner at the $35 dollar price point. It's not cheap but it's not outlandish either for a very good bottle of wine. I drank a glass then drank a few more with a nice block of Bes P'tit Basque that had me feeling sad when they both ran out. The earthy, subtle flavors complemented each other nicely.

Tasting Notes:
On the nose, this wine has a great bouquet, beginnning with cinnamon, clove, orange peel and oddly enough, apples. After some time these aromas morph into delicious red fruit heavy on the cherry and strawberry. A wonderful translucent ruby red in the glass, the wine opens up with mouth watering acidity, strawberry and dark cherry moving into a lengthly finish. Well balanced and a fine wine to enjoy young.

Score: 89

Price: $35

Alcohol: 14.5 Continued...