TasteLive!: Pinot Noir & The Influence of AVA

TasteLive!Some of my favorite wine events don’t actually exist.  Well, that’s not quite right…they don’t actually exist, physically.  Some of the most interesting and educational tastings that occur each month take place virtually, over on the rather snazzy TasteLive! (Twitter, WineLog) Twitter-based tasting platform.  Just in the last month they’ve had a phenomenal tasting of affordable Bordeaux hosted by Planet Bordeaux (Twitter, WineLog) and an even more comprehensive tasting of Spanish wines from Navarra, hosted by Wines of Navarra (Twitter, WineLog).  Join us tonight 6-7pm PST, as we taste through three Pinot Noir for “Pinot Noir & The Influence of AVA.”

Creative FurnaceThe wines that we’ll be tasting tonight from (mine were courtesy of TasteLive! & Creative Furnace) were specifically picked to demonstrate the effect that appellations have upon that finicky grape variety and wine varietal, Pinot Noir.  Pinot has as well-deserved reputation for being very sensitive to its surrounding terroir (or climate/soil/water, etc) of the vineyard.  While these wines are not all from the same producer nor vintage, they were chosen because they demonstrate the expected terroir of each of these three fine California appellations: Carneros, Anderson Valley, Russian River Valley.

You can find all of the wines that we’re tasting tomorrow night for listing in your own WineLog, tagged with “TasteLive2011PinotAVA“.  All of the wines that I’ve tasted during TasteLive events over the years can be found tagged with “TasteLive“.  Even if you don’t have the wines handy, log on to Twitter and catch the #tl_wine stream and participate!

TasteLive2011PinotAVA:

QPRWK - WKBadges Gloria Ferrer Carneros Estate Pinot Noir 2007

Color: Lighter ruby/rose with almost clear edges

Nose: Bing cherry, bigger pepper and some sweeter violet florals and some dried rosemary.

Palate: Lots of sweeter rhubarb and creamier cola, with spicy cherry and a cooler savory herb component into the light-bodied, light-tannin, nicely bright finish. Good deal for this quality of pinot: QPRWK.

Krutz Family Cellars Anderson Valley Pinot Noir 2007

Color: Medium to lighter ruby, slight brick, clear edges

Nose: Sweet Bing cherry fruit, with some toast underlain below it, sweeter cola rounding out the nose.

Palate: Cool round mouthfeel, with some unsweetened Dr. Pepper almost, with the cherry and anise components melding on the rounder palate and more floral and creamier toast going into that finish. Fruitier, not as structured.

Davis Bynum Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2009

Color: Medium dark ruby edges, lightest ruby edges

Nose: Cool, baking spiced red fruit, definitely bright, yet quite plush, unsweetened root beer with some nice light violets to add complexity along with a hint of earth.

Palate: Fuller here, with cool and round red and some black fruit here.  Light, fine tannins and good bright acidity adds to the cherry cola and lightly toasted finish, ending with a bit of cream and more cola.

All TasteLive wines that I’ve tasted:

[winelist query=”TasteLive” num=”200″]

Vinopanion: Ward Kadel - @drXeNo

View posts by Vinopanion: Ward Kadel - @drXeNo
Ward Kadel - @drXeNo is the founder of Vinopanion wine blog, former West Coast Ambassador & Staff Blogger for WineLog.net and former Le Wine Buff for Bordeaux.com (CIVB). He will try any and all wines and tends to write about the parts of his life that include wine...like virtually all of it! He and his wife grew up in Napa and Sonoma and they still live in the Napa Valley. Check out the wines he's recommended with his WKBadges. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram and Like #Vinopanion on Facebook. Contact him: "Ward at WineLog.net". Ward happily accepts samples but does not guarantee a review, positive or negative.

1 Comment

  1. […] you should have at your table some weekend this summer.  Two of these wineries had wines in the last great tasting in which I was able to participate, courtesy of my samples from the website.  If there’s one […]

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