Boise Coop Wine Shop

Pinot Noir Throwdown

• November 15, 2007

Everybody loves Pinot Noir and they always have at least since they saw the movie Sideways. Whether you are a recent convert to the grape or have had a long time love affair with it you have to be excited by the 2005 vintage. In California 2005 has been touted as returning to a more classic style, backing off on those super ripe fruit flavors in favor of better balance and acidity. Balance has been the key word for Oregon as well with presence and purity of flavor entering the mix without the high alcohol heat that has begun to plague the region with global warming. And in Burgundy? Words like fabulous, exceptional and perfect have been applied with the notion that this might be the best vintage in a generation especially in the Côte de Nuits.

We held a tasting Sunday, November 18 to see what around $40 would get you in the way of Pinot from each of those regions, and the general consensus was that it will buy a very nice bottle of wine. Almost across the board the wines were quite good with something for everyone stylistically. The California entries all showed good fruit and were a pleasure to drink on their own. The Halleck Vineyard, Three Sons Cuvee from the Russian River was singing, an absolute delight with sweet grass and bright cherry fruit. The Morgan, Double L Vineyard from the Santa Lucia Highlands showed beautifully with its generous sweet fruit and long finish. The Freeman Vineyard was also very nice offering full cherry fruit and just the right touch of oak.

The highlights from Oregon were the Chehalem Ridgecrest with its ripe berry flavors backed by nice toast and new wood, and the J.K. Carriere with its forward berry fruit. Both wines showed very well when paired with food and would be good candidates for mid-term aging.

The Burgundies also showed aging potential and seemed to go better with food than their California counterparts. The Joblot, Clos du Cellier aux Moines offered lovely complexity wrapped up in a silky core of cherry fruit. The Gavignet Nuits Saint-Georges, Les Argillats also stood out with its lush, meaty, rich berry flavors. All in all the tasting confirmed that 2005 is a very, very good year indeed for Pinot Noir from around the world.