Pete Marsh
Left Coast
Barrel Racker
Posts:1508
 | | 04/17/2005 1:32 AM |
| This afternoon a few of the VC irregulars showed up with some Pinot noir from Australia and New Zealand to taste while we watched the vines grow. Served single blind with flight determined as wines cmae onto the tasting table.
Flight #1
1998 Bass Phillip Pinot noir South Gippsland, AU
2001 Moondarra Pinot noir "Conception" - South Gippsland, AU
2001 Moondarra Pinot noir "Samba Side" - Gippsland, AU
2001 Villa Maria Pinot noir Reserve Marlborough, NZ
2002 Akarua Pinot noir Bannockburn Central Otago, NZ
Flight #2
2002 Black Estate Pinot noir Waipara, NZ
2003 Felton Road Block 5 Pinot noir, Central Otago, NZ
2003 Sticks Pinot noir Yarra Valley, AU
2001 Ata Rangi Pinot noir Martinborough, NZ
Ringer - Oregon Pinot noir made by BH Vineyard
Flight #3
1999 Bass Phillip Pinot noir South Gippsland, AU
2001 Huia Pinot noir Marlborough, NZ
2002 Dry River Pinot noir Martinborough, NZ
2003 Felton Road Pinot noir Central Otogo, NZ
Ringer - 2002 Kistler Kistler Vinrard RRV Pino noir
The top two vote getters were the 2003 Felton Road Block 5 and the 2001 Moondarra Conception. The QPR champ was the 2003 Sticks. Every wine was good to excellent. Most everyone picked out the Kistler as the ringer.
Pete | |
I've learned that wherever I go, the world's worst drivers
have followed me there. | |
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David Sullivan
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2276
| | 04/17/2005 2:20 AM |
| | was DavidN one of the VC irregulars? | | | |
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DukeRiley
McMinnville, OR
Barrel Racker
Posts:1995
| | 04/17/2005 4:02 AM |
| Thanks again to Pete and Barbara for the hospitality. What a spectacular and beautiful spot! And the food - WOW!
The Felton Road Block 5 was the only wine chosen either first or second by every participant. Given the quality of the wines presented, that's a very strong endorsement.
One other statistic, the second flight gathered the most votes for strongest flight of the tasting.
Thanks also to Skwid for bringing the 1985 Charlie - it's not Krug but it's pretty damn good! | |
Heater Allen Brewing
www.heaterallen.com | |
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David Niederauer
Los Gatos, CA
Master Sommelier
Posts:15756
| | 04/17/2005 5:10 AM |
| Actually I am pretty regular... thank goodness 
I thought the 2003 Felton Road Block 5 Pinot Noir, Central Otago, NZ was one of the best Pinots I have ever had. The complexity of the stuff was simply amazing in my mind (and mouth). Red meat, bacon fat, strawberries, spice, vanilla/oak and more all rolled up into one great-tasting juicy ball.
What a lovely home... with a view of the Pacific Ocean with the Marsh vineyard in the foreground. And Barbara... please Barbara... I would love to have that dip/dressing recipe. Yum! | | | |
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mountainman
Mammoth Mountain
Wine Bottler
Posts:3147
| | 04/17/2005 7:11 AM |
| | Everything was great. I am now pinot'd out (after K-B, Martinelli, Williams Selyem,Hartford before I showed up late) for a while though....long day. 2 chardonnays on the coast since. Funny getting a cell call from T Bird exiting Turley while I was there. Sort of a phone line / off line. | | | |
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JonesWineNo1
Sommelier
Posts:8568
| | 04/17/2005 9:53 PM |
| Thanks very much to Pete and his wonderful family for hosting the event/food/donating some "hand imported" very fine wines/etc. Thanks to everyone else for attending/bringing wine/etc (a special thanks to WineBrat and his wife for bringing bags and glasses - having glasses provided really made things easy).
FYI, The 99 Bass Phillip was the "Premium" Pinot Noir.
Sorry about having to leave early. Ended up being only about 15 minutes late for that dinner in Los Altos Hills. While I was unhappy about having to taste and run (as well as drive from Marsh Vineyard all the way to Los Altos Hills), the dinner host made up for it with his wine selections. Since Pinot had been the order of the day at the Marsh tasting we focused on Cabernet for dinner - 1974 Mondavi, 1978 Rubicon (magnum), 1975 Phelps Eisele Vineyard (special wine), 1970 Beychevelle along with a token Pinot (2000 Littorai One Acre), a token Chard (2001 Ramey Hyde from magnum), and a token Riesling (1993 Trimbach Cuvee Frederich Emile from magnum). | | | |
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Winetex
Austin, Texas
Master of Wine
Posts:10751
| | 04/17/2005 10:49 PM |
| It sounds like a great time with some good PInots. I'm going to try to source the Felton Road as we liked the previous vintage.
Thanks all for the notes. | | | |
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JonesWineNo1
Sommelier
Posts:8568
| | 04/17/2005 11:38 PM |
| | If you find any extra Block 5 winetex please let me know. My source has (make that had) only one bottle left. I'm hoping vinfolio can track some down for me. Felton Road is a very reliable producer and the fact that finally for the 2003 vintage the US market is getting the Pinots (even the "Blocks") closed with a screwcap only makes it more desirable. | | | |
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Pool Boy
Laurl, MD (DC suburb)
Master of Wine
Posts:13698
| | 04/18/2005 12:45 AM |
| Pete-- Sounds like you are quite the host. Sorry to have forgotten your contact info at home while I was out there last week or Mrs. TJ and I would have stopped by to say 'hey'. I blame getting up at 3:30 AM the day I had to fly out there.  | |
www.roguefood.com -- www.cellartracker.com | |
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Winetex
Austin, Texas
Master of Wine
Posts:10751
| | 04/18/2005 12:47 AM |
| | I'll let you know. For the previous vintage I was able to special order these up to six bottles. Will PM you if a go. | | | |
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Jim Hanlon
Barrel Filler
Posts:1205
| | 04/18/2005 5:17 PM |
| Thanks to Pete, Barbara, and Kristin for hosting us all on Saturday. I have to say that this was one of the most consistent tastings I've ever been to. Hardly any poor wines -- in fact, on several occassions I thought that my third or fourth favorite wine in a flight could easily win many other pinot flights from past tastings.
My favorite wine of the tasting was probably the 2002 Dry River, which is a bummer since its (a) hard to find and (b) expensive by non-Burgundy standards. That said, it was so good I may try to source a couple bottles. The Dry River was just one of many excellent wines though -- the Moondara also made a great impression, as did several others. Thanks especially to Pete and Dan for sourcing several very rare wines that Americans rarely get the chance to taste.
We now have direct flights from SFO to New Zealand. I'm ready to go!
Thanks again to everyone who made the tasting happen (and to Barbara for the excellent food). Those of you lucky enough to get the chance to visit the Marsh Vineyard should not pass on the opportunity. | | | |
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JonesWineNo1
Sommelier
Posts:8568
| | 04/18/2005 5:55 PM |
| A couple of interesting points re this tasting.
1) The Wine Spectator rated the 2002 Dry River as an 80 point wine. IMO this is Exhibit 1 in proving that Harvey Steiman does not have a clue.
2) Parker wrote in his latest Australia issue that he had tasted the Moondarra 2001 and 2002 Pinots (not sure how he could have tasted the 02s since Moondarra's owner/winemaker told me that he had fed his 2002s to his cows) and that he could not recommend any of them. That means he did not rate the 2001s as high as 85 points. People have questioned his Pinot Noir acumen for years and imo he really misrated the 2001 Moondarra Pinot Noirs. | | | |
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Bradley Molzen
Bayonne, NJ
Wine Lover
Posts:4986
| | 04/19/2005 2:12 PM |
| | Sounds like a great time out there... I'm envious. Glad to see some good pinot coming out of that area. I haven't even scratched the surface there. | |
If you drink wine, you get smarter.... | |
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JonesWineNo1
Sommelier
Posts:8568
| | 04/19/2005 5:33 PM |
| | Found two more bottles of the Block 5. Unfortunately the US importer tells me they are completely out of the wine. | | | |
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Jim Hanlon
Barrel Filler
Posts:1205
| | 04/19/2005 6:14 PM |
| Quote:
Found two more bottles of the Block 5. Unfortunately the US importer tells me they are completely out of the wine.
At least the 2004 is resting safely in barrel and the 2005 may be being harvested right now. | | | |
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Pete Marsh
Left Coast
Barrel Racker
Posts:1508
| | 04/20/2005 2:58 PM |
| Over the last three nights, we tasted all of the wines. Three of the wines showed significant improvement.
2002 Dry River Pinot noir
2002 Akarua Pinot noir
2001 Ata Rangi Pinot noir
Nex time, I'll try to source some NZ pinot from Fromm, Neudorf, and Rimu Grove. The NZ vineyards are starting to harvest from vines planted to UCD clones. It will be very interesting to watch this region develop.
Also, I big thank you to Skwid for bringing the 1985 Charlie and to DavidN for bringing the Merchant Prince Rare Rutherglen Muscat made by Campbells in Australia.
Pete | |
I've learned that wherever I go, the world's worst drivers
have followed me there. | |
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JonesWineNo1
Sommelier
Posts:8568
| | 04/20/2005 3:54 PM |
| | Which Pinots showed serious degradation Pete? | | | |
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David Niederauer
Los Gatos, CA
Master Sommelier
Posts:15756
| | 04/20/2005 4:14 PM |
| | If someone finds some of these for sale can we put together a consortium? I'd sure like to. | | | |
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JonesWineNo1
Sommelier
Posts:8568
| | 04/20/2005 4:15 PM |
| | Are you talking about the Block 5 David? | | | |
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Pete Marsh
Left Coast
Barrel Racker
Posts:1508
| | 04/20/2005 4:24 PM |
| Dan:
Both of the Bass Phillips wines had fallen off considerably. The Huia was declining. All the rest held their own or improved. I have high hope for the Akarua. There are two Akara labels. One is white (we drank) and the other is gold? IMO, the white label is the better quality wine. The Kistler was not retasted as it was finished by the end of the tasting.
Pete | |
I've learned that wherever I go, the world's worst drivers
have followed me there. | |
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