ChangeMe 
Grape Destemmer
Posts: 85
 | | 12-22-2004 12:27 AM |
| Had to crack one last night. I did not take formal notes on this wine. Brought this to a new tapas restaurant in Renton, WA called Red House and opened it there - no decanting. It was very tight when first opened and slowly started unwinding as we swirled away. A bit of earth and sulfur on the nose which blew away to reveal the berry notes underneath. WOW!! Huge flavors of cherries, raspberries and a wonderful earthiness underlying everything - very approachable now but give it time to open up. This is a killer wine - my buddy couldn't stop raving about it and made me promise to open my next one with him. Perfect with food IMO. I'd actually recommend decanting this wine if you can. | | |
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Winetex
Austin, Texas (pretty fall colors here)
Master of Wine
Posts: 11301
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dinwiddie
Barrel Sampler
Posts: 2197
| | 01-01-2005 03:04 AM |
| I opened the first one of my A.P. Vin Gary's this evening (the last of the bottle is in my glass at the moment, I'm trying not to finish it too quickly) with dinner of marinated flank steak, scalloped potatoes and steamed asparagas. I didn't decant, but I did open the bottle about 3 hours prior to dinner. As the evening progressed, the wine only got more subtle and much better, now 6 hours later, the wine is sublime.
Initially showing a nose of cherrys, cola and allspice, as the evening progressed it gained cinnimon and licorice notes.
On the palate rich flavors of cherrys and blackberrys with a wonderful earthiness, mild tannins that softened with each passing hour. I can't imagine what this will taste like the second day because I can't imagine any bottle lasting that long.
Jake liked it too, commenting with his typical "Ohh, that's good!!" (He just finished the last gasp in the final glass. That boy has no respect for his elders.) Well worth 92 points or "glad I have more of this" on the dinwiddie scale. | | | |
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Greg Beall
Grape Fermenter
Posts: 510
| | 01-01-2005 01:45 PM |
| agree with your notes. Wife was a little miffed when I ordered six of these. Not anymore; she enjoys a good Pinot. Only have 4 left. May have to ration these to make it to Andrew's next offering.   | | | |
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Russ Williams
Grape Fermenter
Posts: 459
| | 01-06-2005 04:33 PM |
| - 2003 A.P. Vin Pinot Noir Garys' Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands (1/5/2005)
Decided it was time to finally taste Andrew's baby. I decanted for 30 minutes before taking my first taste. The color is a translucent dark cranberry. The nose was a little reticent and not showing the normally explosive Garys' aromatics. On the palate the wine was a little light and somewhat disjointed. I decided to take it slow and give the wine a chance to come around. Smart move, as the wine really fleshed out with 1.5 hours of air. The nose became more aromatic with nice cherry, cinnamon, and earth notes, but still not as explosive as other Garys' wines. The mid-palate was showing rich cherry fruit, cinnamon, and subtle dark chocolate notes with very nice balance. The finish was what made this wine stand out as a very nice core of acidity lifts the cherry fruit and leads to a long delicious tangy cherry finish. The last sip of my 2nd glass was the best which is always a good sign for a young wine. I saved half the bottle in the fridge for day 2 to see how it would hold up. Well, good news, the wine was drinking just as well as the last sip from the previous night. The wine was rich, balanced and oh so smooth. The intriguing thing for me is how the wine is light on it's feet but at the same time keeps you coming back for more with good supporting acidity, fruit intensity, and subtle flavors of cinnamon and dark chocolate. This wine will certainly continue to improve short term, but I am going to have a very hard time being patient. If you drink this now, definitely decant for at least an hour and then drink it slowly to watch the evolution.
Awesome job Andrew!!! I am blown away by the fact this is your first attempt at making wine. I suppose another example of how passion, dedication, and extremely hard work pays off. Thanks for sharing. Posted from CellarTracker! | | | |
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Andrew P. Vingiello
Grape Fermenter
Posts: 419
| | 01-06-2005 06:06 PM |
| Quote:
2003 A.P. Vin Pinot Noir Garys' Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands (1/5/2005)
Awesome job Andrew!!! I am blown away by the fact this is your first attempt at making wine. I suppose another example of how passion, dedication, and extremely hard work pays off. Thanks for sharing.
Thank me for sharing...huh...  ...THANK YOU!
I gotta say though Russ...I think you gave my secret recipe away!
but ya left out super mentors...and super growers! Now that's the complete recipe!
Thanks for the notes and support Russ! Glad you opened one in it's youth. 
Andrew | | | |
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dinwiddie
Barrel Sampler
Posts: 2197
| | 01-06-2005 06:31 PM |
| Andrew, as you can tell from my first post, I loved your wine. I don't know if I will be able to keep to it, but I'm stashing one somewhere where I won't drink it and see what it is like in 5 years. The other four probably won't make it past May. Great first effort and I am definitely looking forward to next year's mailer. | | | |
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Brian Loring
Grape Sorter
Posts: 386
| | 01-06-2005 06:45 PM |
| Quote:
Glad you opened one in it's youth.
Nicely done Russ! But be careful... you'll get addicted to that young, bright fruit!! | | | |
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mountainman
Mammoth Mountain
Wine Addict
Posts: 6195
| | 01-06-2005 07:57 PM |
| I opened my first AP Vin last night. Decanted for an hour and consumed over the next 2 hours in a Riedel Sommelier glass. My experience seems a little different than others here. While there was nice fruit, oak, tannins, etc. the wine seemed a little disjointed and had a slight off- putting flat cola note as well. FWIW this was the first '03 pinot I have opened. Needs more bottle time perhaps? slightly off bottle? | | | |
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Drew
Sammamish, WA
Wine Bottler
Posts: 3359
| | 01-06-2005 09:02 PM |
| Interesting post, Mountain. I've had 2 bottles and have liked them both, but noticed the 60 minute decant made a very big difference. The wine was a little fizzy immediately after opening, almost as if it had carbonation in it, but went away after 10 minutes or so. I have not had a lot of experience drinking pinots (I'm still relatively noobish to wine and have a limited budget), but I very much enjoyed this wine. | | | |
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AlexRed
Northern VA
Wine Thief
Posts: 2673
| | 01-07-2005 07:59 PM |
| I haven't decanted the 2 that i have had but i have noticed that with time (1 to 1 1/2 hours) the nuances start to really show. with both i have noticed the slight fizz at the begining but like many others have said it dissipates rather quickly. I have enjoyed nursing a glass for a while and really enjoying the nose and how it develops.
Definitely looking forward to the next go round.
this is my first year for Lorings too. glad i pounced on both. Vinocellar is a great place to get the skinny on these great wines.
keep up the good work, you have many fans.
Alex | | | |
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Matt Letson
Barrel Filler
Posts: 1339
| | 01-08-2005 01:29 PM |
| This is a fabulous wine. Decanting for an hour is the right call. I would love to hang onto this wine for a couple of years but there is no way that's going to happen--it's too enticing now. | | | |
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DdB
Barrel Filler
Posts: 1452
| | 01-08-2005 06:21 PM |
| Same problem here. 2 down already! | | | |
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Budman
Philly Suburbs
VinoCellar.com Extraordinaire
Posts: 23705
| | 01-08-2005 08:31 PM |
| Metoo. Only 4 left.  | | | |
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ChangeMe
Grape Sorter
Posts: 267
| | 01-29-2005 01:59 AM |
| This is a very good pinot. The nose is the most aromatic CA pinot I have had in a while. Garys' vineyard pinots always seem to have a more earthy nose. At first this was a little one dimension (albiet one hell of a dimension), but after some time it developed much more nuance. I loved the cherry and vanilla flavors that hit right out of the gate. It finished with a very subtle hint of leather. I've got two more and will hopefully have the patience to drink them at one year intervals to see if they gain anything. 92 pts. | | | |
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mountainman
Mammoth Mountain
Wine Addict
Posts: 6195
| | 03-14-2005 06:44 PM |
| Someone might want to splice these threads. | | | |
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Winetex
Austin, Texas (pretty fall colors here)
Master of Wine
Posts: 11301
| | 03-14-2005 07:21 PM |
| web page Other AP Vin thread | | | |
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Drew
Sammamish, WA
Wine Bottler
Posts: 3359
| | 04-06-2005 09:27 PM |
| Had a bottle last night with some cream of mushroom steak dinner my wife made. Sounds weird, tasted great. Interesting note this time was that I had NO fizz at all upon opening. Past experiences (as posted above) gave a slight fizz for 5-10 minutes, which settled after decanting. I took a sip and then let it decant for approx. 30 minutes. Very pronounced cherry taste, much more fruit than I remembered from before. My wife, who is not a big pinot fan, tried a sip and asked me to pour her a glass.  I really enjoyed the bottle (as I did the previous ones) and think it has improved in the last 3 months or so. Not a big fan of ratings, but would give this a low 90s if you twisted my arm. | | | |
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Russ Williams
Grape Fermenter
Posts: 459
| | 05-16-2005 03:38 PM |
| - 2003 A.P. Vin Pinot Noir Garys' Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands (5/13/2005)
Decided it was time to try another one of these since I had been hearing rumblings the wine was not drinking as well as it did several months ago. Upon opening and for the next 2 hours in the decanter the wine was definitely shut down. The mid-palate was hollow and the finish was short. I decided to double decant back into the bottle as I was concerned about over decanting. At the 2.5 hour mark the wine began to come out of its shell. At the 3 hour mark with grilled marinated pork tenderloin finished off with a praline mustard glaze, twice baked potatoes, and very nice sweet brocolli, the wine hit it's stride with rich dark fruit, anise, cinnamon spice, and good supporting acidity. After dinner the wine fell off a notch but that was either due to 4 hours of air or this wine is performing better with food and significant decanting. Either way, the wine does appear to be in a closed phase and since I still have 4 bottles I plan to wait 6 months before trying another and based on that bottle will decide when to drink the remaining 3. At this point the wine requires patience.
Posted from CellarTracker! | | | |
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ChangeMe
Grape Destemmer
Posts: 86
| | 06-04-2005 01:41 PM |
| - 2003 A.P. Vin Pinot Noir Garys' Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands (6/3/2005)
Decanted 2 hours. Nose of earth giving way to mushrooms, dark fruit and a spice. Very elegant palate, silky textured, with tart cherries the dominant flavor, supported by some spice. (90 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker! | | | |
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