TN: 2004 Alcina Cellars Pinot Noir Sangiacomo Vineyard

• 2004 Alcina Cellars Pinot Noir Sangiacomo Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (7/23/2006)
  Incredible nose that jumped out of the glass.. all spicy fruit, no heat. This is one of those wines that tells you from the first whiff what to expect in the glass. The wine shows terrific balance, nice acidity and lovely red fruit and spice.
  
  We had this with one of our traditional Pinot-food combos: spicy Italian sausages wrapped in bacon and served hot dog style with chopped tomatoes, chopped onion and ketchup. A perfect match for this Pinot's elegance and smokiness. I like this style of good but not overblown fruit and measured acidity, all in balance. With the food this was awesome; sipping it was contemplative.
  
  My only complaint is the synthetic cork. I find them so.. unappealing. It's like removing a gigantic condom from my wine bottle. Give me cork or give me a screwcap!!, but I really really hope that these hard rubber thingies don't become the industry standard. (90 pts.)

Sounds good. Nice tasting note. I'm not familiar with Alcina Cellars. Have you had their wines before? Do you know if they are widely distributed? What about price?

I've had several pinot noirs from the Sangiacomo Vineyards over the years. Regardless of who made the wine, they were all quite good. The experience lends credence to the concept of terroir.

JC... I don't know how widely these wines are distributed, as the case production of the Sangiacomo for this year is a little over 300 if I remember correctly. I have had quite a few of these wines over the last couple of years, and they are, to me, quite elegant. I buy mine from the mailing list, but a local wine shop does carry some of the Alcina line up too.

The winemaker, Greg Piatigorski, has attended quite a number of the off-lines we have had her in So Cal. He is one of the most generous persons I have met, not only in providing his own wines for folks to try, but in sharing other wines he is passionate about. He turned me on to the 1972 Toro Albala Pedro Ximenez Sherry by gifting me a bottle...and the stuff is not cheap (at least that vintage, which is all but impossible to find now). So, I do know Greg, but I wouldn't praise his wines, and certainly I wouldn't keep buying them if I didn't really like them.. a lot.

[James Roscoe]

JC... I don't know how widely these wines are distributed, as the case production of the Sangiacomo for this year is a little over 300 if I remember correctly. I have had quite a few of these wines over the last couple of years, and they are, to me, quite elegant. I buy mine from the mailing list, but a local wine shop does carry some of the Alcina line up too.

In other words JC, none of them reach the east coast! Not even DC. Although NY might get en allotment.

James.. you could be right.... I'm going to check with Alcina about this... It ain't right unless at least some gets to the right coast!!

[James Roscoe]

Jim
Let me know if they allocate any to DC. My suspicion is no, but we're usually second on the list after NY for right coast distribution of low production California stuff.
Cheers!
James

Sounds good. Nice tasting note. I'm not familiar with Alcina Cellars. Have you had their wines before? Do you know if they are widely distributed? What about price?

JC,

We are still very small for distributors to pay attention to us, they usually don't like dealing with small labels nor even give us time of day. As already pointed out above, we are only distributed via mailing list and in CA and NY Tri-State area via distributors.

We are currently in discussions with distributors in states of MA, IL and TX, but nothing concrete at this point.

Wine Spectator has extended an invite to us to pour at their annual California Wine Experience and we hope this exposure will attract more interest from distributors.

[James Roscoe]

Sounds good. Nice tasting note. I'm not familiar with Alcina Cellars. Have you had their wines before? Do you know if they are widely distributed? What about price?

JC,

We are still very small for distributors to pay attention to us, they usually don't like dealing with small labels nor even give us time of day. As already pointed out above, we are only distributed via mailing list and in CA and NY Tri-State area via distributors.

We are currently in discussions with distributors in states of MA, IL and TX, but nothing concrete at this point.

Wine Spectator has extended an invite to us to pour at their annual California Wine Experience and we hope this exposure will attract more interest from distributors.

Greg,
Thanks for responding. It's great to have your input. Your response comes as no surprise. I would hope somone in the DC area would pick you up. DC is usually the second most profitable area after NY on the right coast.

Good luck with the California Wine Experience. I hope it gets you more exposure. Please feel free to poke your head around this forum a bit our beloved leader, Robin Garr, is a great guy, and loves to talk to people in the business. Again, tahank you for a very thoughtful reply.
Cheers!
James Roscoe