Greenville Wine Meetup Pinot Noir Smackdown

Richard Peck and I went toe to toe / mano a mano this past Tuesday night on Pinot Noir. Richard had four more restrained and elegant Pinots (at least in theory- more on that later) and I had four bigger, badder, bolder in your face Pinots (again in theory).

There were a number of ironies in this tasting. First, the Calicaro Anderson Valley was first up on Richard's lineup. So...here I was supposedly arguing against my own wine!

Next up for him was an Italian Pinot Noir called Grosjean, 04 Arcadian Pisoni (that tipped the scales at 15.9% alc, so much for light and elegant!) and a Morey St Denis Burgundy.

I poured 07 Siduri Sonoma County, 06 Lucia Garys' Vineyard, 05 Martinelli Bella Vigna and 05 Siduri Sonatera.

All showed reasonably well or better, although some of the bigger pinots were in the early stages of their drinking windows and would benefit from more bottle time.

We had 24 at the tasting and perhapos an even split in preference between the first four and the second four. However, the Burg and the Pisoni were both quite big wines, and the Grosjean was amazingly good for an Italian Pinot (this varietal is not their forte by any stretch) with wonderful zingy acidity.

So...the question for me was how the Calicaro would hold up against a $150 retail Burg and a $90 Arcadian from a highly regarded vineyard? The answer is very, very well. The Calicaro was widely praised and a number of folks called it their wine of the night.

My worthy adversary Richard sang its praises too. Were folks just getting behind the local boy and his wine? Maybe that was a factor but I was proud of the wine and it clearly was not outclassed. I am just glad it could run with the big dogs.

As for the bigger end of the spectrum, the 07 Siduri Sonoma County which is a relatively modest 14.1 % alc Pinot, was overshadowed by its predecessors from Pisoni and Burgundy, although it is a beautiful wine in its own right- just too small a wine to follow these two. The Martinelli and the Siduri Sonatera were both drinking wonderfully in my opinion. The Lucia needed a bit more time to soften up- at least another year and it should be in great form.

I poured some bonus bottles- a 2000 Beaux Freres that was wonderful, a 2007 Loring Clos Pepe, very big and well liked, a New Zealond Pinot from Mountford, not much talked about, and finally an 08 Tunisian Pinot Noir. Yes, a North African Pinot Noir! The amazing thing about this wine was that it indeed did taste like Pinot Noir and was not horrible. Actually for about $12 US (8 Euros) I would say it was as good as many similarly priced domestic Pinots.

Richard and I had fun and shook hands at the end although we clearly did not change each other's minds about things. All good fun and the wine world is better for having a diversity of views. How boring would it be if it were otherwise? Hope the participants were able to tolerate all of our bantering in order to drink some rockin' good Pinot Noir.

Cheers,

Dave

North African Pinot Noir??!!

Just got back from a trip that included a brief stay in Tunisia on the coast of North Africa. Visited the ruins at Carthage. Those who remember their high school world history may recall that Carthage was defeated by Rome in the Punic Wars.

It is hot, hot desert terrain. Not what I would consider a climate for a a cool weather varietal such as Pinot Noir. But there it was on the shelves, with a label describing the contents as Carthaginian Pinot Noir. Were there mountains in the area more conducive to growing these finicky grapes? None that I could see.

Nevertheless the shop keeper said this was THE outstanding wine produced in Tunisia. How could I resist that pitch combined with a price of 8 Euros, which is about $12?

Will plan to open the bottle at a Pinot Noir tasting next week as a bonus curiosity wine. One safe bet is that no one will have tasted this wine before! And it will be fun to see if they really can grow good Pinot in North Africa, a land better known for its camels.

Cheers,

Dave

Recommended Reading: Judgment in Paris

Judgment in Paris was written by the sole reporter who actually was present at the watershed 1976 Paris tasting in which California bested France in Cabernet and Chardonnay wine. The author's motivation is to tell the full story and set the record straight, which he does in admirable style. As a credit to the author, knowing the ultimate outcome does not diminish the intrigue and suspense of the storytelling.

The author has done his homework and we are made privy to the multitude of back stories and personalities that came together for that event. As California has moved from success to success in the last several decades, it is important to remember that such was not always the case. In the mid 1970s the vast majority of California winemaking was still jug wine, and the few producers of fine wine struggled to survive.

This small low key tasting event may have done more to bring California into the limelight than anything else. The importance of the event only became clear in hindsight. And for the fans of Cali wine, the reactions of the French judges makes for delicious reading.