Tried these two at Pig+Fig last week:
1. Drew PinotNoir McDougalRanchVnyd/SonomaCoast (14.7%; 270 cs) Elk 2008: Med.dark color w/ some bricking; strong cedary/pencilly/oldRed bit earthy/dusty/OV light black cherry/PN/spicy quite complex some old RedBurg quite interesting nose; rather tart/tangy/metallic fairly cedary/pencilly/oldRed light cherry/PN bit aged but not particularly old/tired complex bit oldRedBrug flavor w/ light gentle/tangy tannins; showing a bit of wear&tear around the edges but in amazingly good shape for its age & still offers up some pleasure.
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2. Drew PinotNoir RioVistaVnyd/Sta.RitaHills (14.1%; 171 cs) 2008: Very dark color w/ some bricking; some cedary/pencilly/oldRed very strong black cherry/PN/black cherry cola very spicy some c-c/peppery more youthful fairly classic SRH/PN/spicy rather complex nose; quite tart/tagy rather cedary/pencilly/oldREd strong spicy/cherry/black cherry cola rather SRH/pepperylight earthy rather complex flavor w/ light gently slight gritty tannins; very long/lingering finish that follows flavor; rather youthful & still in wonderful shape for an '08 PN; showing a bit of tangy/metallic character of a wine starting its decline but lovely/complex shape for an '08 PN.
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More gipperfroot from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. These two were made shortly after Jason/Molly moved from SantaBarbaraCnty/Buellton up to Elk on the MendocinoRidge. These were before they changed their style and were still making pretty big wines. I had low expectations for these two but they far overperformed. I somewhat preferred the SRH PN for its more intense & youthful character.
Tom