This year I only attended two events at the Pinehurst Wine Festival which is an annual event on Labor Day weekend. I drove over Sunday afternoon for the Pinot Noir tasting and stayed for the Culinary Showcase which featured restaurants and resorts in Moore County, NC with some of the wines represented during the festival. The Culinary Showcase is sponsored by the Moore County Chamber of Commerce and took up space in two ballrooms.
The Pinot Noir tasting was well worth attending I felt. Ste. Michelle Wine Estates conducted the tasting. We had pours of seven wines representing three wineries and geographically Marlborough, New Zealand, Oregon, and Sonoma Coast and Santa Maria Valley, Santa Barbara County in California. The wines were tasted in three flights going from less expensive and lighter Pinots to more expensive and fuller-bodied, richer Pinots. Empire was the distributor. The wineries were Erath, Villa Mt. Eden, and Villa Maria.
The handouts given to us have paragraph descriptions of the wine and if anyone wants to ask about a particular wine I can post or e-mail a more complete description (although the presenter may have some bias in describing wines they are selling). For now I will just post my impressions plus some facts narrated to us as we tasted through the seven wines. Also, I will list the price at which we could order the bottles during the Wine Festival--in some cases less than the usual retail price in North Carolina.
First flight:
1. 2010 Erath Pinot Noir, Oregon. $12 Their basic Pinot with grapes allowed from anywhere in the state of Oregon. Best selling Pinot Noir from Oregon. This wine, along with #6 (also from Erath) were the palest color of the wines. Very light-bodied. Almost comes across as watered down. Cherry or raspberry fragrance--notes in the handout say raspberry pie among other things. Very little oak. A blend of grapes from multiple vineyards.
2. 2010 Villa Maria Estate Pinot Noir Private Bin, Marlborough, New Zealand. $15 I liked this better than #1. Woodsier (some might say earthier.) I found red currants on the nose and an interesting flavor that finishes with muddled berries and some savory elements also. Handout mentions ripe cherry and raspberry fruits, savory and spice elements, fine-grained tannins. This was a good QPR--nearly tied in my estimation with the #5, the other wine from Villa Maria which was more expensive.
3. 2009 Villa Mount Eden Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast, CA. $17 Presenter mentioned Helen Turley as one of the early pioneers in seeing possibilities for growing Pinot Noir grapes in the cool climate of Sonoma Coast. (Ted Lemon of Littorai also mentioned Helen and her husband along with Burt Williams of Williams Selyem as one of a group that met to taste and discuss Pinot Noir in the Sonoma Coast area.) Having attended the West of West Festival in Occidental, CA in early August, this Sonoma Coast wine brought back memories of some I had from that large AVA. Very pretty on the palate; leggy on the glass. Grapes from five or six vineyards are used in the blend and some new oak is used but it did not detract from the fruitiness. My first impression was that the wine spoke of richer material or more extraction than either other wine in the flight. As I continued to sip this, I decided it might be a combination of new oak barrels and rich fruit material. The handout describes it as medium-bodied with "rich and complex flavors of red fruit with an earthy accent note."
Second flight:
4. 2009 Erath Estate Selection Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, OR. $28 Grapes are from four or five vineyards. Dick Erath sold the winery in 2006. 4000-5000 cases a year of this wine. I really liked this so much better than #1, the Oregon Erath P.N. Some rose petals on the nose and palate. Aged in French oak about 14 months with 40% new oak. I found it slightly more elegant than the #3 wine. Presenter's descriptors included raspberry, strawberry and cranberry with vanilla cream overlay and spiciness. The handout suggests aromas of spiced red plum and orange blossom and flavors of chocolate, caramel, bright red fruits and hint of bay leaf. I didn't pick up on all of that, but I did like what I was sniffing and tasting.
5. 2006 Villa Maria Estate Cellar Selection Pinot Noir, Marlborough, New Zealand. $23 Presenter said that one expert commented on the South Island being known now for Sauvignon Blanc but in future years it may be known primarily for Pinot Noir with S.B. an also grown grape. The founder of this winery in 1961 is still the owner. The winery was a leader in using Stelvin closures. This was more complex than the #2 from Villa Maria Estate, but I didn't find enough difference to justify the higher price for my purposes. Presenter said it had the material and structure to go another six years with weight and harmony on the palate. It spends about 12-14 months in French barriques.
Third flight:
6. 2010 Erath Leland Vineyard Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, OR $35 Again one of the paler colors among the seven wines. I found this a bit watery again. The lady from New York sitting to my left and I both prefered the less expensive Erath Estate Selection over this single-vineyard designation and I believe her husband also prefered #4. Clones used are Pommard and Wadenswil.
7. 2008 Villa Mount Eden Grand Reserve Pinot Noir, Bien Nacido Vineyard, Santa Maria Valley (Santa Barbara County, CA). I didn't get the price recorded but I think it was offered at less than $25 a bottle. (Suggested price on the winery website is $22). These grapes are from a warmer climate than the Sonoma Coast grapes. Bien Nacido Vineyard has about 600 acres; 200 acres are planted to Pinot Noir and numerous wineries source grape from Bien Nacido. This and the #4 Erath Estate Selection were the favorites at my end of the table.
I ordered, for later pickup, two bottles of #2 and two bottles of #4 to possibly put in a church fundraiser wine tasting, and one bottle of #7 for my own consumption.
After about an hour break it was time for the Culinary Showcase. Some of my favorite dishes were a delicious oyster and clam chowder with optional toppings (I went with smoky bacon) from Pine Needles Resort and Golf Club, smoked or grilled shrimp with tarragon from Mid Pines Inn and Golf Club (they also had a venison bite I didn't get around to tasting), beef tips with onion and mushroom from Texas Roadhouse (I heard their ribs were delicious but they looked messy to eat by hand) and shaved lamb on flatbread from Pinehurst Resort. There were also entries from the Sandhills Community College Culinary Department, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Mellow Mushroom, Outback Steakhouse, Ledo's Pizza and Pasta, etc. and two breweries. I wasn't blown away by any of the wines I tried during the Culinary Showcase.