2013 Sojourn Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
The delectable Chandon de Briailles from the night left us thirsty for more pinot noir experience, and in light of the fact that three days of excessive winds had finally abated for Sunday's play, I went to the cellar for a Wind Gap. But once there, I saw this Sojourn, purchased I can't-remember-where-or-why, and decided to open it instead. Strawberry fruit, dried leaves, powdered milk and that Sonoma Coast salinity dominate the palate. More herbal and less overtly sweet than a Meiomi but otherwise similar; and too lactic/plush for my tastes. We decided not to finish the bottle and I brought this out:
2010 Catherine et Pierre Breton Bourgueil Franc de Pied Cabernet Franc
Last of three bottles tasted since 2014. Much softer than a year ago and no longer herbaceous, rather the dark red fruit is dominated by new dusty notes from entry to finish. Not unpleasantly so if you like dusty wine (I do, but where did that come from?), but we needed to move the wine to a smaller, narrower glass to punch up the elusive CF character.
2009 Clos Pegase Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
But the Breton was too geeky for our guests, so I went to the Cellar for a crowd pleaser. Had a great in-the-moment bottle four months ago, but this one seemed to be heading OTH. Not sure why--cork was good--but this one was all chocolate with an undercurrent of tobacco but no black cherry. Why drink a Napa Cabernet if you don't get black cherry? Since others on CT reported better bottles over the past few weeks, I'll put this down as flawed. The guests liked it though, so we drank the Breton and they finished this.
2014 Savage Grace Wines Chardonnay Celilo Vineyard Columbia Gorge
Needed for batting clean-up, as is so often the case at our house, was something cold, bright and white. So I reached for this. Most of you probably haven't heard of Savage Grace. It's a relatively new outlier of a WA winery wherein winemaker/proprietor Michael Savage is making the kind of unspoofulated, Eurocentric, expressive wines denizens of this board love (Brian Miller, are you listening?). A few years ago at Taste Washington, his Riesling had the strongest geek buzz of any wine there (geek buzz being where the ITB people corner their friends and go, "Have you tasted with Mike Savage yet? DON'T MISS HIS RIESLING." I wasn't there and I'm not a Riesling fan, but even I heard about it afterward. Last summer his Sauvignon blanc blew me away, and before that a syrah that had one of the prettiest noses I've ever encountered from that grape--not typical, but beautiful nonetheless. And so a few weeks ago when I needed a few more bottles to make up a case at a local retailer, I nabbed two cab francs, a Gruner (neither of which I've tasted yet) and this chardonnay. STUNNING. Maybe the best WA chardonnay I've had. Drinks more like a French wine with a multi-faceted personality--vivid and sunny on the midpalate like a good Macon, then minerally crisp/clean on the finish like a Chablis. It's really not a surprise that such a wine comes from the Columbia Gorge which I'm starting to think is the most interesting AVA in this whole state. Yesterday, I ordered a case (and I rarely, rarely buy cases).