Last night I had the good fortune to be invited to an “Aged California Pinot” tasting, hosted by the ever affable and lovely couple, Steve & Lisa Rigisich. As usual, Steve & Lisa were outstanding and generous hosts, welcoming a dozen Pinot-heads into their home and allowing us to temporary turn their kitchen into a gourmet disaster area and litter their living room with over 30 bottles of aged Pinot.

The company was outstanding, and it was a real pleasure to meet some new faces (Jamie Kutch, Al Osterheald, Paul Galli…) as well as spend time with old friends.

As for the food, wow – all I can say is we are fortunate indeed to have such gourmands about, from the outstanding “Smoked Barbarie Duck w/ Goat Cheese Pizza, w/ Carmelized Shallots in a Balsamico & Pinot Noir Reduction”, to the Orecchiette Pasta with sausage, the baked salmon in a soy marinade, the array of wonderful cheeses… YUM!

On to the notes:

Pre-Tasting:

1988 Joseph Swan Chardonnay Estate Bottled (magnum)
Quite dark yellow, nearly the color of honey – and cloudy, this aged chardonnay is far from dead, showing still vibrant acidity, good structure, and an interesting if somewhat reticent nose of oranges and minerals. Tasty, and holding quite well for it’s age.

2002 Patz & Hall Chardonnay Dutton Ranch
The polar opposite of the ’88 Swan, this wine displays the exuberance of it’s youth, with lively acidity, dense but balanced fruit, lovely notes of sweet lemons, a healthy dose of minerals and a touch of toast. Very nice.

Flight #1

1985 Chalone Pinot Noir
A bit funky, but an interesting nose of earth, forest floor, and meat, this wine seemed surprisingly youthful in some ways, showing a firm palate, some black cherry fruit, but plenty of meaty/gamey notes. Quite interesting and drinkable, though several years past it’s prime imo.

1975 Mt. Eden Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mnts
Very dark red core with significant browning to the edge, this wine is sadly long past. Tart and acerbic, lacks fruit, and shows meaty notes that pretty much dominate the flavor profile.

1983 Caymus Pinot Noir, Napa Valley
I’m not sure this was ever a good Pinot, but it sure isn’t now. Surprisingly dark in color however, looked more like a Syrah than a pinot, and throwing tons of sediment. Mostly oxidized on the nose, lacks fruit, not for consumption.

I brought two bottles of the next wine in order to be on the safe side, and I am glad I did. Earlier in the day I was cleaning the gunk off the top of the corks, and I got a tad too aggressive with one of them – to the point I heard this dreaded pfffft sound of the seal on the cork breaking. By the time the bottles where transported to the tasting this cork was swimming, and had to pushed into the bottle. Thankfully the other bottle was in much better condition.

1985 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir, Rochioli Vineyard (swimming cork bottle)
Good, but certainly seems to have suffered from exposure to the mold on the outside of the cork, showing some funk (almost TCA-like) along with the expected character shown by the next bottle.

1985 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir, Rochioli Vineyard
Take my notes for what they are worth, I am biased by this wine and simply love it. Outstanding elegance and balance, fully integrated, smooth, and still plentiful sweet fruit – just lovely, and my (biased) WOTN!

Flight #2:

1990 Mt. Eden Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mnts
Wow, now here is a really terrific aged Pinot, showing a terrific nose with lovely, deep aromas of red cherries, cranberries, earth, and an intriguing meatiness. Smooth and fleshy on the palate, with vibrant acidity, good balance, and a long finish – one of my top wines of the night, and certainly my #1 of this flight.

1990 Chalone Pinot Noir
This wine showed pleasant nose of strawberries, cream, and light spice, but on the palate it fell short, lacking fruit, somewhat austere, and with a short finish.

1986 Acacia Pinot Noir, St. Clair Vineyard
Some thought this wine was corked, I did not. However, it did have a bit of musty/funk that would come and go, so I’ll certainly concede it could have been lightly tainted. Nonetheless, the wine showed some very interesting spice – anise and clove, along with some persistent but light cherry fruit in the background. Not bad, but not great.

1991 Saintsbury Pinot Noir, Reserve
Stinky! With chemical notes, the nose made me not want to put this in my mouth – but I did anyway, and it was actually slightly better on the palate, with a smooth texture, which is the best thing that can be said about this wine, which lacks fruit, structure, etc.

1986 Joseph Swan Pinot Noir Estate
Quite interesting nose, if fairly muted, with some strawberries and earth notes. Mid-to-light weight on the palate, with good Pinot character, but rather boring, lacking much in the way of depth or structure.

Flight #3

1992 Gary Farrell Pinot Noir, Allen Vineyard
Starting this flight out right, this wine was a very pleasing nose of black cherries, meat, and earth. Complex and smooth on the palate, with supple fine tannins, great balance, depth, and a fine medium finish.

1993 Gary Farrell Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley
Very shy on the nose, with muted sweet cherries and (at least at first) alcohol. Medium in body, with some structure, but lacks depth and finishes short.

1993 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir, Olivet Lane Vineyard
Nice on the nose, with notes of earth and strawberries, but overall an uninspiring and rather boring wine. Nothing offensive, just not showing much.

1993 Hanzell Pinot Noir
My #1 wine of this excellent flight, and certainly in the top three wines of the tasting for me, this Hanzell had it all. Starting off with a terrific complex nose of spice, pine, berries, and earth, the palate was no less enthralling with bright acidity, a solid core of ripe fruit, and firm ripe tannins that suggest the wine could go another 10 years.

1992 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir, Ferrington Vineyard
At first fairly muted on the nose, with some coaxing this wine opened up nicely to show good depth of sweet black cherries, spice, and roses. Full bodied, with a broad rich texture, smooth fine tannins, and a med-long finish, very nice indeed.

Flight #4

1994 Longoria Pinot Noir, Santa Maria, Bien Nacido
This wound up being a very close #2 wine of this flight for me, I loved it. A just wonderful nose with deep aromas of black cherries, meat/game, and forest floor. Moderately tannic on the palate, but wonderfully balanced with a core of sweet fruit, good structure, and a pleasing med-long finish.

1994 Carneros Creek Pinot Noir, Signature Reserve
Showing a decent nose of strawberries and mint(!?), the wine is quite high in acidity, medium in body, and overall just sort of so-so.

1995 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley
My #1 wine of this flight and another top flight showing for Williams Selyem, this wine was complete and just delicious. Sweet black cherries and spice dominate the nose, while the palate shows great acidity balancing the abundant sweet fruit. Tannins are very fine and sweet, and the wine finishes long and satisfying. Terrific now, I don’t doubt this will drink well for another 5+ years.

1995 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir, Olivet Lane Vineyard
At first I thought this was going to be a real disappointment, but with some aggressive swirling the wine finally opened up to reveal a delightful nose of red cherries, flowers, and very light spice. Broad and complex on the palate, with fine balance and length, and a medium finish, I would not hesitate to hold this wine for a few more years.

1995 Rochioli Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley
Some stink on the nose sort of put me off on this wine (someone mentioned soy, good call), but this also showed black cherries and smoke. Smooth rich tannins mark the full broad palate, and the wine finishes fairly long and pleasant. Would have ranked higher with me but for that off initial stink.

Flight #5

1994 Dehlinger Pinot Noir, Reserve
A serious contender for top wine of the event for me, this wine was just awesome. The wine opens with a wonderfully complex nose of spice, black cherries, flowers, cinnamon, and earth. On the palate this wine is complete and complex, with outstanding balance, fine tannins, wonderful structure and depth, and a fine long finish. Drinking beautifully now, but I see no sign of fading anytime soon.

1996 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast
Very nice wine, with creamy, strawberry aspect to the nose, plenty of sweet fruit, and good acidity and balance.

1997 Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyards Pinot Noir – corked

1996 McHenry Pinot Noir, Carneros, Massaro Vineyard
Yuck! Medicinal nose, unappealing palate. Avoid.

1998 McHenry Pinot Noir, Carneros, Massaro Vineyard
A step up from the 1996, but still qualifies for DNPIM (Do Not Put In Mouth, with credit to FloridaJim )

And the post-tasting wines – no notes taken, just some general impressions, so take these for what they are worth.

2003 August West Pinot Noir Rosella's Vyd
Wow. WoW! Wow, this is good stuff. So much better than the 2002 version, broad, rich, full of fruit, finishes long and fine. I don’t think this is one for the cellar, but WOW is it good now.

2003 Alcina Cellars Pinot Noir, Pisoni Vineyard
Perhaps this wine needs some time in bottle to come together, while others were clearly raving about it, I didn’t find it to be my cup of tea and found it a bit disjointed.

2003 Alcina Cellars Pinot Noir, Sangiacomo Vineyard
Very good, classic Pinot character, nicely balanced.

2002 Alcina Cellars Syrah, Gabrielli Vineyard
This Syrah ROCKS! Vibrant, rich, broad, and delicious!