One of the neat benefits of starting a winery is that you are able to write off some of the wine that you buy as a business expense.
On Saturday, while my wife was at our son’s baby shower scoring lots of very nice swag, my buddies Ken and Chris and I went out and did some “palate training.”
First we popped and tasted a 2004 Sea Smoke Ten, then headed out to Moshin and Rochioli. We enjoyed both the Sea Smoke and the Rochioli, but my favorite Russian River pinots continue to be the 2003 Lot 4 and 2003 115 Clone from Moshin.
The ‘04 Sea Smoke Ten was good, but it was also very big. The tannins will most likely soften with aging, and the dark fruit core is delicious, but the highly extracted Ten style isn’t an all time favorite.
When it comes to my preferred style of Pinot, I like a lighter floral/red-fruit nose, supple tannins at an early age, and nice acidity. Thats the type of wine we’ll be making at Capozzi in the next few years if we’re good and lucky (though we’ll also make smaller blends of other more extracted styles as well).
If you’d like to try a wine besides Moshin that fits the bill, the Pellegrini Family ‘04 Olivet Lane also exhibits the floral nose that I love so much - and it’s a pretty good value at less than 30 bucks. If you do happen to taste either of these wines drop me a line, I’d love to hear your thoughts. It would be interesting to see if others share my taste in pinot styles, or if I’m in danger of just making wine for me myself and I.
I think the pinot style you describe as your personal preference is right on! I just purchased some Sea Smoke and now I’m inclined to let my one bottle of Ten age for a while. Like you, I definitely prefer the lighter, fruitier style of Pinot Noir with less tannic weight than you might expect in a wine made for aging.
Alex,
Glad I’m not alone!
I enjoyed reading your blog. Hope you keep it up. I think having your voice out there is valuable and hearing from folks like yourself (young, articulate and passionate about wine, but not wine geeks) is exactly what producers need.