Wine Focus (March) - Wine 103 "The Wines of Pinot Noir"

Here is a TN on an affordable red Burgundy bought at a shop specialising in organic produce. It was surprisingly good for a lesser Burgundian appellation. At €13,60 it is not exactly cheap and there are other regions and grapes which provide a similar level of pleasure, if not the same flavours and style, for much less. However, for a specifically Pinot fix, it is a price well worth paying.

2018 Domaine Jean et Geno Musso Bourgogne Côte Chalonnaise - France, Burgundy, Côte Chalonnaise, Bourgogne Côte Chalonnaise (19/03/2021)
This was surprisingly delicious for a random purchase of a wine from a previously unknown producer. At first I would not have recognised this as Burgundy but the fresh round fruit tinged with plum and blueberry enlivened by bright acidity pleased greatly. With a little air and a couple of degrees warming from cellar temperature, there emerged an undertow of cherry and a hint of kirsch towards the finish typical of Burgundian Pinot Noir. This is a "fun" wine and I guess that further ageing is more likely to detract from than to improve its appeal. Good+.
Posted from CellarTracker

I bought a young Sancerre rouge yesterday and hope to report on it shortly.

[David M. Bueker]

Nice value for Burgundy. I am looking towards Mercurey now. Hope to have some coming in the fall now that tariffs are on hold.

[David M. Bueker]

2011 Matello Pinot Noir Souris - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley (3/20/2021)
Aging into beauty - this is showing dusty, burnished red fruit, coupled with a loamy/leafy undertone that hasn't quite aged into equality with the fruit. All the promise is there for something wonderful, but I pulled the cork too soon. Learn patience middle-aged Padawan.

p.s. Matello is the old label for what is now Goodfellow

Nice value for Burgundy. I am looking towards Mercurey now. Hope to have some coming in the fall now that tariffs are on hold.

I've also had excellent Givry from F.Lumpp and Joblot and Rully from Dureuil-Janthial and Jacqueson in both red and white. Prices ex-estate are creeping up to €30 and sometimes over for 1er crus. I don't know if these wines makes it States-side.

[David M. Bueker]

I have seen Joblot.

I've had several good wines from Lumpp, but that was years ago. I haven't seen them in the marketplace here recently.

-Paul W.

I've also had excellent Givry from F.Lumpp and Joblot and Rully from Dureuil-Janthial and Jacqueson in both red and white. Prices ex-estate are creeping up to €30 and sometimes over for 1er crus. I don't know if these wines makes it States-side.

Lumpp and Joblot are two blue-chip names for Givry in the US. Dureuil-Janthial has also been present for a while. I don't see Jacqueson as much, but have enjoyed them in France.

[David M. Bueker]

• 2016 Littorai Pinot Noir Les Larmes - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (3/24/2021)
  About 18 months since my prior bottle, and this has settled in nicely. It’s still a little too strawberry/watermelon for my taste (a common issue for me with Anderson Valley Pinot Noir), but the balance is on point, and it has a long, deep finish. If the fruit profile is more your style then it could be outstanding. Just not quite my thing.

[Jenise]

Ever since encountering watermelon notes in the '15 Wind Gap, I've curiously run into watermelon notes in a few other Sonoma pinots to the point that I don't trust Sonoma for pinot noir anymore. I gather its an aspect of ripeness.

[Jenise]

So my blogger buddy brought this sample by yesterday:

2020 Youngberg Hill Pinot Noir Rosé Willamette Valley
Medium pink color. Perfect balance of fruit and acidity with fresh flavors of strawberry, blood orange and red rose petals. An uncommonly good pinot noir rose--but unfortunately, winery priced at $40 each. Won't get a lot of takers there.

[David M. Bueker]

It sure sounds delicious, but yeah, the price.

[Jenise]

Oh, and then there was this one:

1999 Jean Raphet et Fils Clos Vougeot Clos Vougeot Grand Cru Pinot Noir
I've had some great '99 Burgundies: this wasn't one of them. Dull in every way possible. Recent reports on CT are more positive so just one of those inexplicably lousy bottles.

I wonder where in the Clos their vines are.

-Paul W.

[David M. Bueker]

I wonder where in the Clos their vines are.

-Paul W.

Map
https://fernandobeteta.com/blog/2016/12 ... ith-owners

Look for the parcels assigned to Gerard Raphet, who took over from Jean in 2002.

Pinot Noir has a considerable presence in the Loire basin upstream from Orléans in an area known in France as Le Centre. Sancerre, Menetou Salon and Reuilly are the appellations, with which it is particularly associated.

Some producers in Sancerre have great ambitions for it. Alphonse Mellot now has a range of red cuvées, which are much more powerful and highly priced than the norm (the asking price for Sancerre Le Paradis is c.€125 and the entry level La Moussière c.€30). My only experience of these wines has been from public tastings where I found them impressive but too expensive and too woody in their youth to be contemplated for a Pinot fix.

Sancerre also makes rosé from Pinot Noir and I count one, a 1996 from one of the Cotat estates drunk at about 8 years of age, as the finest rosé which has come my way. It had a quasi-Champenois bloom and elegance quite different from 99% of other pinks.

Here is a TN of a very young red Sancerre, which was a bit of a disappointment -

2019 Tassin Père & Fils Sancerre Rouge Domaine Tassin - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre Rouge (27/03/2021)
About 30 years ago (and maybe still) there was a vogue in Parisian brasseries for lightish, fragrant, mineral and fresh red Sancerre consumed quite cool. Expecting something like that, I experimentally paired it with some scallops and mushrooms but found a much more deeply coloured and robust wine than I was expecting. On the entry to the palate gracious pinot fruit was detectable and there was some fresh minerality but towards the finish quite strong malt and liquorice notes kicked in and infused the marked backbone. I found this unbalanced and quite tiring to drink. It is possible that this is a function of youth and the wine may become more harmonious in a year or two. Only fair at present.
Posted from CellarTracker

Youngish reds from le Centre can be much better than that as this Menetou-Salon witnesses -

2014 Domaine Henry Pellé Menetou-Salon Morogues - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Menetou-Salon (03/06/2018)
Medium/light in colour and body but elegant with fine Pinot fruit, delicate minerals and spice, some depth and complexity, fresh acidity and discreet backbone. Moreish and reasonable in alcohol (12.5%), so we found that we had finished the bottle in one sitting. Very good.
Posted from CellarTracker

[David M. Bueker]

Thanks for trying!

I am sipping on an unusually large-scaled 2018 Hudelot-Noellat Bourgogne right now. It's actually well-balanced, but with the volume turned up. Thankfully no alcohol showing, just ripe fruit that is dominating the structure.

Currently enjoying a PN.

Patricia Green Cellars Berserker Cuvee, Willamette Valley, 2014

Another good bottle, and value at or just above average. Ruby to crimson, medium legs. Aromas are fruit -dominant: raspberry, cherry, hint of strawberry. Minimal toast, vanilla; seems to have less oak than last year. On the palate, spices are subtle. Medium body, shy or just more subtle than prior bottles. Finish is medium, acid medium plus. This is the fourth of six bottles. I think 2020 may have been the prime year, but 2021 certainly good. Planning one more bottle for 2021 & final bottle 2022. A nice effort and a purchase I don't regret. Noted that a smaller, classically-shaped glass enhanced the finish. We have some glasses from Villeroy & Boch which were a gift. Will use those for the rest of this wine.

Sancerre rouge 2019 Domaine Tassin

Ref. my TN posted above -

Retasted 28/03/2021, it was definitely better balanced with the aftertaste now blending in quite discreetly. A more friendly pairing (roast veal) probably helped.

Regarding the Hudelot-Noellat Bourgogne, what was the vine production like in 2018? There was one vintage a decade or so back (2009, IIRC) where despite very aggressive pruning several of the top estates ended up with more than the legally allowed harvest at their grands crus. The excess production somehow ended up in their generic Bourgogne, even though that's against the rules. There were several fantastic and overachieving Bourgognes from that vintage. I wonder if something like that happened in 2018, or whether it's just climate change?

-Paul W.

[David M. Bueker]

Regarding the Hudelot-Noellat Bourgogne, what was the vine production like in 2018? There was one vintage a decade or so back (2009, IIRC) where despite very aggressive pruning several of the top estates ended up with more than the legally allowed harvest at their grands crus. The excess production somehow ended up in their generic Bourgogne, even though that's against the rules. There were several fantastic and overachieving Bourgognes from that vintage. I wonder if something like that happened in 2018, or whether it's just climate change?

-Paul W.

It's climatic. 2018 was not a bumper crop.

[David M. Bueker]

• 2018 Vincent Pinot Noir Armstrong Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge (3/29/2021)
  Prompted by an online discussion about the potential of Oregon versus Burgundy (I know...but cut us some slack, it’s the 700th week of pandemic quarantine), I had opened a 2018 Bourgogne last night, and opened this lovely number tonight. High toned aromatics surprised me at first. It was as if an orange peel had been rubbed on the rim of the glass. The fruit showed ripe sweet - a cherry ready to eat when picked off the tree. Nothing sugary, just ripe goodness. Ninety minutes open, and an earthy bass note emerged, grounding the wine. It’s got enough friendly richness now that it’s easy to quaff if you don’t feel like thinking about it. A few sips in I wanted to think. The shape shifted from angular, slightly prickly (from a little trapped CO2) to contoured yet still acute, flashing some acidity like a sun beam glinting off a polished surface. There’s a lot to unpack with this wine. If I had the chance to do it over again I would have bought six bottles to offer more opportunities to assess it over a longer period of time.

[Jenise]

And one more Oregonian from my cellar last night:

2013 Gran Moraine Pinot Noir La Première Yamhill-Carlton
Restrained dark fruit with some Asian spice tamed by bottle age--in a great place right now. We swooned over every drop. PnP, no sediment.

I don't know much about this winery, but I purchased a few of their pinots recently at auction after discovering their chardonnay a few years back in Kauai. Their wines seem to hit my sweet spot with old world intentions on new world fruit. GM will be at the top of my list next time I show up in the Willamette Valley.

TN: 2018 Domaine Les Tuileries Pinot Noir IGP Cevennes.

Purchased after an excellent Cab Sauv from this Languedoc region.
Good natural cork, 14.5% alc, no sediment, $25 Cda.
Delicious, easy to drink by itself really. Raspberry, black cherry and an earthy finish (plus plus) with herbs.
Light tannins, crisp acidity, great fruit balance with some spice tones Should fly off the shelf but pinot noir folks seem to look elsewhere eh.

[David M. Bueker]

TN: 2018 Domaine Les Tuileries Pinot Noir IGP Cevennes.

Purchased after an excellent Cab Sauv from this Languedoc region.
Good natural cork, 14.5% alc, no sediment, $25 Cda.
Delicious, easy to drink by itself really. Raspberry, black cherry and an earthy finish (plus plus) with herbs.
Light tannins, crisp acidity, great fruit balance with some spice tones Should fly off the shelf but pinot noir folks seem to look elsewhere eh.

Sounds good, and like a good value. Like you said though, people rarely look to the south of France for Pinot Noir.