Wading Through the Russian River With Six Bottles in Tow

by | Jul 25, 2012 | August/September, Eve's Wine 101, Food & Wine

Wading Through 1
What is one of the easiest ways to learn more about wine?  It’s an easy answer: sampling.  That doesn’t mean going out and drinking copious amounts of wine, threatening our local streets with DUI-fueled accidents or having a hangover the next day.  It means just that: sampling for the sole sake of comparison.  So, how do you sample more than one wine without getting drunk?  Start off by joining a group and sharing.
Earlier this month I had an opportunity to taste and discuss Pinot Noirs of the Russian River Valley with the Grape of the Night group that my staff writer, Rusty Sly, leads.  Rusty chooses the grape every month, and each member, or couple, brings in a bottle that they have tried and want to share with the group.  Or, if it’s a varietal that we are not familiar with we may do a little research before selecting our choice.
Sometimes I get lucky and bring in a bottle that was sent to me for review.  Then I get to provide collective tasting notes to readers.  This time I bought my bottle and took collective notes to share with you, dear reader, virtually:
09 Davis Bynum, 14.5 percent alcohol
Starting off with a wonderful nose of astringent bright cherries, white pepper, mint and stewed red fruits and followed by a taste of the reddest of raspberries that made my taste buds stand up and salute their efforts.  My favorite of the night.

10 De Loach, 14.5 percent alcohol
A very dark color compared to the other Pinots.  Both the nose and the taste had notes of soft fruits, green stems and a hint of…mushroom.

09 Fritz, 14.4 percent alcohol
My second favorite of the night had the most incredibly floral nose (possibly of roses) and velvety smooth cherries.  The taste was balanced between the fruit and acidity, a lovely long finish, soft and ready to drink in my opinion.

09 Gary Farrell, 14.1 percent alcohol
A very deep nose that was filled with menthol, leather soles and red licorice.  The taste was drying on the mid-palate, beautiful red fruits, some acidity, with a long, tingly finish.

08 Kosta Brown, 14.7 percent alcohol
The perfect Pinot nose with just a little hint of burn to the tiniest of nose hairs followed by green pepper.  (Note: Not to be confused with bell pepper.  Pepper in wine can range from white to green to black, and from peppercorn to freshly ground.) The wine had a nice balanced mouth feel that was both soft and subtle.

08 Twomey, 14.4 percent alcohol
This was the Pinot that I brought.  I’m partial to Twomey for a couple of reasons:  They are from the same people behind my beloved Cabernet Sauvignon-only Silver Oak winery.  When Twomey Cellars began they were a Merlot-only winery, and now, adding Pinot Noir to their lineup, I was anxious to give this one a try.
It proved to be softer than the others, possibly due to the age, almost creamy, with some tannins hanging in.  I enjoyed it, but not nearly as much as the Davis Bynum or the Fritz.
For more information about the Russian River winegrowing area, visit www.rrvw.org.

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