The 2005 Blind New World Pinot Tasting

That was fun. Great job on the wines too. No stinkers. And way to go Darren ... the Belle Pente was awesome. Here is my brief write up. Let me know if you guys remember things differently.

Mystery White #1Very pleasant wine. I thought it was slightly oxidized but everyone else disagreed. A clean pure wine with no off flavors. Guesses varied. Dietz landed on a Rhone…which is what I would have guessed … had I not brought it. A great example of what chardonnay can be. Can still hold for a few more years. 2000 Domaine Guy Amiot et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet

Pinot #1As the first wine tasted I liked this. Toasty oak on the nose but not over powering. Clean and smooth. Somewhat simple. NO VOTES 2005 St Innocent Anden Vineyard

Pinot #2
The bar goes up a little bit. This wine is showing much better. Good acid and a fair amount of structure. I think shows good potential for a number of years. (2, 2, 1 = 17) points 2005 Belle Pente Willamette Valley (my 1^st)

Pinot #3
Nose is showing much more candied than the previous two wines. Caramel and bubble gum. Good purity through the middle but the finish seems to dry out. (0, 0, 2 = 2 points) 2005 Kenwood RRV

Pinot #4
Lots of hey on the nose. Not in a bad way…but a good way .. hey. Big red fruit and big juicy acidity. Things do not seem to be integrated to me. (2, 0, 2 = 12 points) 2005 Alma Rosa La Encantada SRH (my 3^rd)

Wine #5
The aromatics imply some whole cluster. Nice although there was an element of stewed tomatoes that I wasn’t crazy about. On the front palate you get big fruit but it is completely overshadowed by the massive oak. The finish is vanilla ice cream. A very tasty wine but I do not think I could drink more than one glass at this time. If the oak integrates and becomes less sweet, this wine could be a blockbuster. At this stage monolithic. (2, 2, 0 = 16 points) 2005 Miner Rosella’s SLH. (my 2^nd) I could not believe this was SLH … let alone Rosella’s

Mystery White #2
Flowery aromatics. Great. The wine showed very sweet fruit. Not really like RS but very sweet. A nice wine. I was sure it was Alsatian. Once I found out it was Cali Chard I was sure it was the Novy Rosella’s...as the foil was being removed I stood up and walked away in all my pompousness. I was right! … ha ha … I was wrong … It was the 2006 Novy Chardonnay Keefer. This wine was very well liked. This was the 06 right?...or was it the 05?

1^st Place = Belle Pente

2^nd Place = Miner

3^rd Place = Alma Rosa

Post Script
Since I brought the Anden, I thought I should do some further tasting. I took it home along with the Alma Rosa. It did show better but very different from anything else we tasted. It showed a little more complexity but ultimately with St Innocent’s track record, I think it will need more time. The Alma Rosa on the other hand was no longer pleasant to me. It was bubble gum city. I could not take the sweetness after a day of trying 7 wines. My wife on the other hand liked the flavor explosion brought on by the acidity a loads of fruit. I stuck to the SI.

Post Post Script
The Cali Pinots showed a lot more sweetness than the 2 Oregonians.

Cheers,
Jason

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