WTN:Vieux Lazaret, Loring, (short and very boring)

Tonight is a night where so far chasing winners has not been successful. Last week, it became clear I needed to open a Loring after realizing on this site that the style may have changed from the early years. Being away from home several nights in a row, I finally tonight got the opportunity to have a Loring.

WTN: 2006 Loring Wine Company Pinot Noir Clos Pepe Vineyard (USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills - Sta. Rita Hills) Screwtop Open twist top and smelled a mild amount of fruit. Decanted the bottle, found purple wine but no gust of flavors. The wine was lean, lacking and at best would help your garden grow. I cannot believe it but it was dead. After several hour of decanting, it will be sent to my garden to feed the plants.

So number 2 on my list was opened.

WTN:2000 Domaine du Vieux Lazaret Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Exceptionnelle Cork, opened purple, not much scent at all. The wine has opened up, Some of the flavours are missing, but it has pepper, and some plum. No real ending. We had spaghetti and meat sauce, and the wine was ok. With three hours decanting it is smoother but no signs that it is not past its peak. Much better than the Loring but nothing to get excited about.

sounds like I will need to check on what is left of my 2006 Lorings..Your note was not very encouraging..

sounds like I will need to check on what is left of my 2006 Lorings..Your note was not very encouraging..

Let me know as I have more.

will post as I deplete the stash

found a 2005 Clos Pepe..Opted to open it without looking further..Nose subdued, wine decent but not nuanced, wd say drinkable but not outstanding..Wd say " not bad" and leave it at that..If this had been my intro to Loring, wd ahve said goodbye and not have pursued subsequent vintages..Will update when I pull some other Lorings from the cellar.
All in all, disappointing.

Bought 2 Suduri's today.

I should have labelled my note above "phase 1".. We have a passive cellar, totally underground, temperatures range from 46 in the Winter to 64 in the Summer..Still fairly warm here and cellar temp in low 60's currently..When cellar temp is in the mid 50's or lower, bottles are pretty cool/cold to the touch, ie you can drink whites without sticking them in the fridge first..As temps rise in the cellar, bottles still cool but whites not cold enough ,to my taste, to drink without some chilling..Also, I prefer my reds a bit colder than served in a lotta restaurants who seem to think room temperature is in the 70's and not like a room in a drafty old Scottish castle.. last night's bottle cool but not cold to the touch which should have been my first clue..In the past, I have found that some reds perk up with some time in the fridge..Again, that is my taste, your mileage may vary..Long story short, several hours later, I pulled the bottle out of the fridge and poured a glass to sip while doing some reading..Wine seemed much brighter, fruit more evident, it had come back to life. Now drinking quite nice nicely..For the life of me, no clue re why I didn't stick in fridge to begin with when bottle felt slightly warmeer than usual coming out fo the cellar..

I opened a second bottle tonight of the 2006. I still have one more in the cellar. WTN: [b]2006 Loring Wine Company Pinot Noir Clos Pepe Vineyard [/b} The wine was medium burgundy in colour. As the wine came to the right temperature and for at least an hour after, it kept improving. I smelled a bit of fruit but much friendlier than the first bottle at the start. The wine was lovely with beef tenderloin and pork tenderloin. The latter unseasoned, was improved tremendously by this lovely Pinot Noir. My wife, who tastes but rarely drinks more than a bit for fear of falling asleep at the table had me give her three time an additional bit in her glass . I am impressed, This wine is not as big and fruity as the Siduri I was raving about a couple of weeks ago, but is a nice tasting wine. I suspect it still has time and is not over the hill but that it is best you drink soon.

Out of interest, the first bottle with screwcap had sedement

2nd loring.jpg

and seeds etc as in the bottom picture. The better bottle was as though it had been prefiltered. Go figure!

David: Must say I have never seen seeds and/or stems in a bottle of wine before....Phase 3 was tonight..didn't drink the PN last night as we went to an SU football game and then grabbed a bite to eat at a local resto..After spending the extra time in the fridge, the Clos Pepe PN was at its best tonight..There was some sediment in the bottle. . We are several hours south east of you, near Syracuse.

Jon,

We should meet half way some time. i should not have said stems but sedement. I have some left for tomorrow night.

The now empty bottle tasted lovely tonight 24 hours later. It showed no sign of fading.