Category Archives: Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir, Walraven Vineyard, Domaine Anderson, Anderson Valley AVA, California, 14.5% abv., 2019 US$70
Travelling down the highway from Mendocino on our way to Truckee, California, I yearned for a tasting at Domaine Anderson. We’d been to the Anderson Valley several years prior, but had visited their sister winery, Roederer at that time. Domaine … Continue reading
White Pinot Noir, Eclipse, Tenbrink Vineyards, Tolenas Winery, Suisun Valley AVA, Fairfield, California, 2022, 14% abv., US$37
This is pretty cool and happening stuff. While Pinot Noir grapes have been pressed and used forever as part of sparkling wines and blends, it’s rare to find white versions as still wine. This is the wine that won winemaker … Continue reading
Pinot Noir, Clone Collection Dijon 777, Code Wines, Okanagan Falls, Okanagan Valley, BC, 2020, 13.5% abv. C$34
Owners Shay and Harlee Code decided in 2016 to purchase land in Okanagan Falls on which they planted Viognier, Syrah, several clones of Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay grapes. In 2021, they made the full time move once their home and … Continue reading
Pinot Noir, Dehart Vineyard, Martin’s Lane Winery, Okanagan Valley VQA, British Columbia, 2015, 14% abv., C$100
From the heavily lauded Martin’s Lane Winery located in Kelowna, BC, this Pinot Noir is absolutely world class. Its translucent garnet tone offers a deep nose of mulberry, cherry, deeply ripened strawberry, freshly turned soil, and mushroom. The palate has … Continue reading
Pinot Noir, Ayoub Estate Vineyard, Dundee Hills AVA, Willamette Valley, Oregon, 13.5% abv., 2017, US$65
Mo Ayoub is a fascinating person and well-reviewed vintner for whom growing grapes and making wine is a retirement gig – and what a gig it is. His wines are eagerly sought after and elusive, as he doesn’t make much, … Continue reading
Pinot Noir, Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Cru Aux Vergelesses, Simon Bizes et Fils, Côte-d’Or, Bourgogne, France, 2010, 13.5% abv. US$95
Simon Bizes et Fils is a fifth generation Burgundian winery in Savigny-les-Beaunes south of Dijon. The Pinot Noir grapes for this 2010 bottle come from vineyards planted in 1939, 1949 and 1954. On the eyes, it’s a translucent garnet with … Continue reading
Pinot Noir, Estate Cuvée, Maysara Winery, McMinnville AVA, Willamette Valley, Oregon, 2008, 13.5% abv., US$35
Back what seems to be a lifetime ago, when the border with the US was open, and we ventured out on a 35 day driving tour, we stopped in at one of my perennial Willamette Valley favourites, Maysara Winery. A … Continue reading
Bunker Red, Rathjen Cellars, Saanich, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada, 12.1% abv., C$22++
We’re nine months into this pandemic and I’ve been writing a little less than usual, but drinking a lot more. What about you? Yeh, that’s what I thought. However, I have made a concerted effort to support local wineries and … Continue reading
An Oregon Wine Board Tasting with Winderlea Vineyard + Winery, and Troon Vineyard
If these were normal times, and the world’s longest undefended border was open, I would have been in Oregon’s Willamette Valley last weekend, participating in the 2020 version of the Wine Media Conference. But alas, these are Covid-19, not normal … Continue reading
Pinot Noir & Pinot Meunier, Extra Brut Rosé, Nichol Vineyard, Naramata Bench, Okanagan, BC, 12.1% abv., 2018
It’s August 2020 and by some miracle, there are Covid NHL playoff games happening on TV. So, what does a Canadian do? Celebrate this miracle on ice with a delicious (and pretty) sparkling wine, of course.
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