2000 Ciardella Santa Cruz Mt Pinot Noir

I have not written about any wine recently because my wife is on a grape-free diet and I dislike drinking alone. I was able to break this Bacchus free streak with the arrival from England of a dear friend of mine, Mandy. On Friday night we opened three wines, (two previously un-reviewed) and on Saturday, a Pinot with my dad's girl friend (my dad does not drink reds), and Sunday for dinner a bottle from the old world.

Today's wine is from a friend of mine from my days at Borland in Santa Cruz, Randy of the Redwoods. Randy, no longer lives amongst the redwoods, but instead he's trying to open a winery just south of the Willammette valley and over the CA border north of Shasta. When Randy did live in the redwoods, he volunteered at some of the mountain wineries and I believe that this wine was a gift from him.

The presentation was good. It came in a traditional Burgundy style bottle with an attractive pen and ink of grapes on the label. The front label has the legals, and the back covers some of the history of the vintner as well as a blurb about the climate in the AVA.

The winery has no website, but a quick Google on them returns a list of awards that their Burgundy style wines have won.

When I went to remove the stopper, I was disappointed to find a plastic capsule and an amalgamated cork. A plastic capsule does not detract from the flavour of the wine, but appears cheap. The cork was penetrated about 1/8 in and left a very light tattoo.

The wine was the colour of dried blood , but translucent as you would expect in a Pinot. There was vinegar on the nose - which along with the colour worried me, as this wine spent at least 12 months in questionable storage at our ski cabin rather than in my cellar.

After a legless swirl, the vinegar nose dissipated, and the initial taste was tangy - almost like it was still fermenting which it should not have been doing.

Despite this, the wine still went down easy (as most Pinots do).

The Verdict:

Any conclusion would be unfair, as I was lax on it's storage conditions.

Style:	Burgundy
Varietals:	Pinot Noir
Appellation/Terrior:	Santa Cruz Mt. AVA, California
Vintage:	2000
Vintner:	Ciardella Vineyards
Alcohol:	12.5% by Volume
Price:	Gift

2005 Château Doppee Unlabeled Pinot

As I mentioned in the review of the Truchard Zin, my wife has a friend Meg, who works for Wine Shop At Home. Well, Meg's Husband Vic works for The Winery At LaGrange, and is an avid winemaker in his spare time. Meg brought out a couple of Vic's creations for us to try, so Wednesday night after slurping down the David Bruce Pinot I wanted to compare Vic's vintage to the pro.

Vic's wine proved to taste as good as the pro's, which shouldn't be too surprising given that Vic spends a lot of time around the pros. In addition to the typical grape taste of a Pinot, I also got pomegranates. There was a tingly after taste; probably due to ascorbic acid that is typically added to homemade wines.

The presentation was that of a homemade wine. It came in a Zinfandel bottle rather than a Burgundy bottle, but hey; I bet it's what Meg and Vic had on hand at the time. There was no label. It had an agglomerated natural cork that had started to unglue - not to the point of damaging Vic and Meg's fine product, but I'm glad I listened to Meg and opened it now rather than let it cellar for a couple of years as I might have ruined it had I done that. (Rule#1: If the Vintner tells you personally to drink the wine now; do so with all expedience).

The Verdict:

I enjoyed this wine, and if Meg and Vic are nice enough to give me another bottle you will hear no complaints coming out of this mouth! I am fortunate enough to also have a bottle of Shiraz that they made, and I'm looking forward to opening it soon.

Style:	Burgundy
Varietals:	Pinot Noir
Appellation/Terrior:	Unknown
Vintage:	2005
Vintner:	Château Doppee
Alcohol:	Unknown
Price:	N/A

2005 David Bruce Central Coast Pinot

The weather in Alameda has been fantastic this last couple of weeks, so much so that we're running out of meat to grill on the barbie. Yesterday when my wife was out buying Kobe beef, pork loins, and other choice smokeables she also picked up a bottle of Pinot on the recommendation of someone at Costco who claimed it to be "chewy" (As in gum; not Wookie).

Now, I'm not normally a Pinot fan, as they tend to lack the fruit and body of my preferred wines (I like my jam) but on a hot day, a light wine is appreciated. and this one was light and airy. I drank it like kool-aid, so it's good that it was also lower in booze content than I'm used to or else I'd of got sploshed.

The presentation was OK; it came in a Burgundy bottle with a painting of David and Goliath. The label lacks any data whatsoever except that required by law. They loose points for that one. The website also has nothing. Obviously Mr. Bruce is trying to market his wine on the quality of the artwork on the label. I don't usually drink wines this young either, but it's a good thing I did as it had an agglomerated natural cork; Which if you read my closure post, is bad news if you want to cellar your wine.

No legs, but I wouldn't expect any either. Now, Pinot usually tastes like grapes, and this wine was no exception, but it also had cranberries. Which is good. Don't take this the wrong way, but this is the wine that Ernest & Julio wanted drinkers of Hearty Burgundy to think they were getting.

The Verdict:

I enjoyed this wine, it's appropriate for a hot day. At $20 it's over priced. It's worth $10

Style:	Burgundy
Varietals:	Pinot Noir
Appellation/Terrior:	Central Coast, California
Vintage:	2005
Vintner:	David Bruce
Alcohol:	18.8% by Volume
Price:	$19.57