We tasted ystrday some older Calif PinotNoirs at Pig+Fig:
1. Siduri PinotNoir Sta.RitaHills (14.1%) SantaRosa 2007: Med.dark color w/ slight bricking; strong pencilly/Siduri oak bit Burgundian/smokey some cherry/PN quite complex lovely nose; fairly tart/tangy/bit metallic light cherry/PN some pencilly/oakbit thinning/dried out flavor w/ light gentle tannins; long finish which follows flavor w/ light smooth tannins; really lovely mature Siduri nose but starting to dry out on the palate; still offers up some pleasure.
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2. Siduri PinotNoir CargasacchiVnyd/StaRitaHills (14.1%) 2005: Med.color w/ plenty of bricking; fairly strong cherry/black cherry/spicy PN rather pencilly/cedary/Siduri oak fairly complex lovely nose; quite tart/tangy fairly strong black cherry/PN/cherry rather spicy rather pencilly/Siduri oak slightly drying out rather complex flavor w/ light tangy tannins; very long/lingering strong black cherry/PN/cherry finish w/ slightly drying tannins; starting to dry out a bit but still offers up much pleasure; shows its pedigree over the regular SRH Pinot.; speaks strongly of SRH Pinot. $nc (BSvSG)
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3. OjaiVnyd PinotNoir BienNacidoVnyd/SantaMariaVlly (14.0%) 2004: Dark color w/ slight bricking; strong toasty/smokey/Ojai oak some earthy/PN/black cherry slight funky bit Burgundian/smokey some pencilly/cedary quite complex lovely nose; quite tart/tangy strong pencilly/toasty/Ojai oak slight spicy/black cherry/PN light earth/cedary quite complex flavor w/ light smooth tannins; very long/lingering finish mimics the flavor; speaks strong of BN spicy/black cherry Pinot and strong of Ojai style; in amazingly good condition w/ a bit loss of fruit & no signs of starting to dry out whatsoever; a beautiful mature Ojai Pinot. $nc (BSvSG)
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4. Dehlinger PinotNoir Estate RRV (13.8%) 1987: Dark color w/ some bricking; slight fusty strong pencilly/Fr.oak classic Dehlinger rather smokey/Burgundian/black cherry quite complex lovely mature PN nose; lightly tart strong toasty/pencilly/smokey/Fr.oak some cherry/PN/bit Burgundian very healthy balanced/smooth/gentle classic Dehlinger flavor w/ light smooth tannins; very long cedary/pencilly/smokey/Burgundian quite complex smooth/gentle finish w/ light smooth tannins; maybe lost a slight bit of PN fruit but speaks strongly of Dehlinger and in wonderful shape w/ no signs of fading or drying out; a beautiful smooth/gentle fully mature PN thats in beautiful shape.
$nv (BSvSG)
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More pickrsnot from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Three of these Pinots came from the late BlairSwartz cellar & contributed by his daughter, Stacey. We were expecting the 35 yr old Dehlinger to be pretty shakey. It was not. Maybe some loss in intensity but a wonderfully gentle mature PN. The Ojai we had our doubts about & it, too, was in wonderful shape. The two Siduris were the only ones showing signs of cracking up. Lovely Siduri PN nose but showing a bit ragged on the palate, but still a pleasure to drink.
Tom