1994 Marc Sorrel Hermitage Les Roucoules (sp?): This was my last of several bottles of this wine. Amazingly, we all thought this wine would last, or even improve, for an additional 3-4 years. After that, I suspect it will go downhill. The nose was exceptionally powerful -- as powerful as any I can recall from a dry white. Butterscotch is the overwhelming characteristic, followed by dry molases, dry honey, and rose petals. On the palat these flavors continue, though the wine is not nearly as boysterous and huge as the nose suggests. I would pair this with a simply prepared light, white meat fish such as a dover sole. This wine paired well with a fresh chevre, but was over-powered by such cheeses as a gorgonzola dolce and a piave. 91.5.
2001 Lake Sonoma Winery Zin: This was good wine, but the low point of the night. Oak and monolithic fruits produced a good, peppery, $16 Zin. I'd like to taste this again as I know that I cannot make an accurate assesment of this wine's quality given the company it was served in. Still, the wine is clearly in the 87-89 range.
2002: Felton Road Pinot Noir. Terrific plumb, black cherry, strawberry characteristics. Cedar and cigar are apparent. This was bigger than I expected out of an NZ Pinot. Struck me as a terrific food wine. 91-91.5
2001 Martinelli Moonshine Ranch Pinot Noir: Wow. This is the second bottle I've had, and I was not let down. For Martinelli PN fans out there, I believe this to be even better than the 1999 Reserve. For PN fans in general, this and the 1999 Peter Michael Moulin Rouge are my 2 favortie CA Pinots. As my friend who brought the Felton Road said, "I didn't think I was going to like the Martinelli more, or, as least, not this much more. But I get so many flavors out of this. Blueberry, but more other flavors than I can count..." To me, the wine does have the blueberry, but, more prominently, has black rasberry and black cherry. Other fruits inlcude strawberry, a hypothetical black strawbrry, casis, and non-existent fruits that cannot be adequately described other than to say they are dark red. Funny enough, the nose on this was only adequate, it was not spectacular. But once this was on the palate, there was no mistaking the greatness of this wine. I was pleased that another friend of mine, one who loves wine but had never tried any wine from Martinelli, was there to experience this. He could not wipe the grin off of his face. 93-93.5
Thanks for the notes. White Rhone is one thing I've decided to beef up in my cellar this year by grabbing any 2000 and 2001's I can still find about. I've been really impressed with how some of my older ones have aged.
Nice notes, Whiner. I have 4 of the '01 Moonshines. Sounds like I ought to try one soon. How much time in the decanter did you give it (if you decanted it)?
Just one more sip.
Posts: 24847 | Location: NY | Registered: Oct 18, 2001
Whiner, after reading your notes, we had a bottle of the '01 Moonshine tonight. It was tasted three hours after splash decanting:
The wine has a beautiful nose of flowers and cherries, with lush flavors of berries, cherries, and dark fruit. This is a powerhouse, highly extracted Pinot Noir with a harsh edge that should mellow with more bottle age. Excellent now, it should get even better. 92-94
Just one more sip.
Posts: 24847 | Location: NY | Registered: Oct 18, 2001
quote:Originally posted by Board-O: Whiner, after reading your notes, we had a bottle of the '01 Moonshine tonight. It was tasted three hours after splash decanting:
The wine has a beautiful nose of flowers and cherries, with lush flavors of berries, cherries, and dark fruit. This is a powerhouse, highly extracted Pinot Noir with a harsh edge that should mellow with more bottle age. Excellent now, it should get even better. 92-94
Just one more sip.
I opened this earlier in the evening... it's had a good amount of air time.
This wine is absolutly HUGE. It's too harsh for me, I can't really drink it. I totally agree with BoardO's notes on this. Huge extraction, but has a harsh edge to it that's overbearing.
================== AIM: Drunken Mariachi
Posts: 1252 | Location: Napa, Ca | Registered: Jun 30, 2003
We had a bottle of the '01 Moonshine on the beach under the stars a week ago, and both the setting and the wine were outstanding. We had no food with it. This wine, while great with the right food, is also great alone.
Just one more sip.
Posts: 24847 | Location: NY | Registered: Oct 18, 2001
We had this wine again this week. It had a fragrant nose of cherries and flowers, typical of vitually all Martinelli PNs. Juicy flavors of ripe sweet red berries and cherries were beautiful. Truly delicious, this wine was ready with only a half hour in the decanter. One of the best CA PNs I've tried. 93
Just one more sip.
Posts: 24847 | Location: NY | Registered: Oct 18, 2001
2001 Martinelli Pinot Noir Moonshine Ranch - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (9/1/2005) Baked cherry pie flavors and aromas. Long and silky. A little heavy on the oak, but quite tasty. Drink now through 2006. (90 pts.)
NOTE: I brought this to a friend's house and she served a (tasty) white clam linguine (instead of salmon as originally planned). The pairing was not a favorable milieu for this wine and may have detracted from my rating by a couple points.
Cheers,
Otis
Posts: 3248 | Location: Chicago | Registered: Apr 03, 2002
