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Friday
at the Bored Doughnuts:
We wasted
little time getting right down to sampling the wines, along with breads,
cheeses and Mark’s and my favorite, Madame’s delicious deviled eggs
with various secret ingredients. Whites: 1997 Flowers Sonoma
Coast Chardonnay, 1971 Le Haut-Lieu Vouvray: Mike C. had poured half of this for some folks the night previous, and brought the rest along for us to try. A pale gold with delicious mineral/beeswax/slightly sweet pear character, this elicited such additional comments as: “…very mild Seville orange; a little steely, a little pineapple” – the Zinfan; “…still has wonderful fruit.” - califusa 1998
Flowers Sonoma Coast Chardonnay Porter-Bass Vineyard, 13.8% alc.: Mark
described this medium straw as “like a cross between California Chard
and white Burgundy, and while it shows typical Flowers toasty oak, we
didn’t think it as overtly fruity as many of their pale offerings.
Someone mentioned “hazelnut/butterscotch/minerality,” which
Larry punctuated with “nuts and stones.” 1997
Flowers Sonoma Coast Chardonnay Camp Meeting Ridge Vineyard, 14.3%
alc.:
Another pale gold, this features a little more fruit than the ’98
Porter-Bass, but again, has nice restraint and balance, with pretty
pear/subtle maple syrup and good acidity. 1997
Flowers Sonoma Coast Chardonnay Camp Meeting Ridge Vineyard Moon Select,
14.2% alc.: A pale gold, this is a bigger, somewhat fleshier version of
the previous selection with toasty maple syrup, nice spicy pear but not
as much tropical fruit as some, causing Larry to wonder,
“…a little austere, isn’t it?”
The
general consensus was that none of the Flowers Chards were as in-your
face as we remember them having been in the past, and that’s not a bad
thing.
1996
Thunder Mountain Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay Bald Mountain, 13.9%
alc.: Like many of Milan Maximovich’s Chardonnays, this pale gold is
slightly cloudy and a horse of a different color that out-oaks the
Flowers’ whites by a long shot. Mike
Connor (left) mentioned “very exotic fruit,” while Bree notes “cinnamon and
allspice,” adding that “the Moon Select has as much oak, but also
the fruit to balance.” 1997
Jayson Napa Chardonnay, 14.4 5 alc.: This pale-medium straw from
Pahlmayer exhibits “that creaminess right away,” according to Larry;
it has surprisingly good acidity and some nice spicy pear, but
stimulated less conversation than Firestone Tires while we tried it.
A nice enough wine that pales in comparison to the Flowers. 1997
Rio Seco Monterey Pinot Blanc San Bernabe, 12.5% alc.: Frank and
Mary
Anne brought this pale straw along; it has nice apple/pear fruit with
good acidity and no excess oak. I
liked it better than the Jayson or Thunder Mountain Chards.
Reds: 1994
Navarro Alexander/Mendocino Pinot Noir, 13.6% alc.: This ruby dark
garnet features “muted black cherry/not cola,” according to Bree
(and he brought it); Larry chimed in with “leafy forest floor.”
I noted pretty cinnamon/spice with good tannins and acidity, but
I’d guess that this has lost some fruit, as Bree seemed to indicate. 1977
ZD Napa (Carneros) Pinot Noir, 12.5% alc.: This old soldier shows
surprisingly little rust to the ruby dark garnet color, but it’s all
musty earth on the nose, with some mushroom/forest floor emerging with
air. There’s still some
good fruit here, with “stewed plum/oyster shell/sea
air/plankton/aquarium” characteristics, according to Kerr.
Past its prime, but not over the hill!
1989
Calera Harlan Mills Pinot Noir: I brought this and the following bottle
for the following reasons; first, they’re delicious and have developed
some lovely complexity with age, and second, they’re big boned, much
like Flowers Pinots, which I thought it might be interesting to compare
them with. This has some slight brick to the dark garnet color, and
shows deep rich fruit that features plum/black cherry/coffee and a hint
of Brasso. The acidity is
good, the tannins continue to mellow and it finishes long and delicious.
It drew such comments as, “creamy sweet cherry/vanilla/cola;
right there,” – Bree; “pepper and spice,” – Larry; and
“lovely lavender,” – Kirsten (right).
My wine of the night, and while I didn’t take a poll, I
wasn’t alone in this assessment. 1990
Calera Harlan Mills Pinot Noir: This dark garnet shows a little funk
over big spicy black cherry and some sea air on the nose.
Flavors echo with some Brasso and coffee here too, and at first I
wondered if I didn’t detect a little more depth of fruit than in the
’89. It’s more acidic
for sure, but ultimately, the ’89 is richer and more charming.
Still, this is a lovely Pinot with a nice future still ahead of
it. 1990
Coste-Caumartin Pommard, 13% alc.: The Zinfan brought this inky
monster; the iodine/plum/black cherry nose follows through on the
palate, but it just isn’t that attractive at this point.
Larry got a whiff of roasted corn.
Still monolithic and brooding, this needs years yet to develop,
so I won’t even think about opening the two in the cellar from hell
for at least five years. 1998
Flowers Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard, 13.6% alc.: Ruby
garnet with a smoky overripe plum/black cherry/sea air bouquet that
echoes in the flavors with a Syrah-like note of rhubarb.
Already remarkably smooth and approachable, I was again struck by
a certain lack of depth in the mid-palate, but califusa thinks it will
put on some weight in a few years. At that point, we still had a ’94 and '95 Flowers Moon Select and the ’95 and '96 Flowers Camp Meeting Ridge Pinots, but we also had a bonfire, a guitar and the lake, and while they were all special, they went undocumented by this taster. Fortunately, Larry jotted down his impressions of these at 2 AM, so we do indeed have a record of these. And I never did get a taste of that ’96 Siduri Oregon Pinot that Joel Goldberg sent with his compliments, due to a protracted swim in the heavenly bathwater that was Lac du ‘Deauxnut that wonderful night… Larry Meehan's Tasting Notes: 1994 Flowers Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
Camp Meeting Ridge "Moon Select" -- Burgundian, earthy nose/
mushrooms/cherry/wisp of vanilla. 1995 Flowers Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir Camp Meeting Ridge -- dense and dark...very tight, somewhat closed nose of plum, chocolate and mocha...fairly soft fruit (masked by acids?)...still a tannic crunch...Will the fruit last long enough to mesh the tannins and acids?...I'm thinking not...who knows though. 1995 Flowers Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir Camp Meeting Ridge "Moon Select" --still pretty backward...dark wine...muted nose of petrol, black berry and espresso...palate flavors include dark berries, cola, and mocha...massive tannins...lots of acid. Same question applies as with the CMR, "will it ever come together"...seems like more fruit here. 1996 Flowers Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir Camp Meeting Ridge -- sweet nose of oak/jammy fruit...intense ripe berry/cherry fruit...nice balance ....smooth tannins...ample acid...somewhat "simple", but seems like it will develop (nice quantities of all the 'fixins') |
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© Copyright Gang of Pour September, 2000 |
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Once
again, Mark and Teresa Overberg hosted The Gang of
Pour’s annual summer party at their beautiful home by Lac du
‘Deauxnut on August 25th.
