Sonoma County

• Alexander Valley
• Bennett Valley
• Best of Sonoma
• Dry Creek Valley
• Fort Ross/Seaview
• Moon Mountain
• Pine Mountain - Cloverdale Peak
• Russian River Valley
• Sonoma Coast
• Sonoma Mountain
• Sonoma Valley
• Knights Valley

The perils of buying wines off store shelved that have been there a while.  This wine, recently bought, did not appear to be in perfect shape.  Still, it offered up enough pleasure that it was worth drinking.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose has a slight aquarium note along with a bit of balsamic.  There is also some red fruit fighting to be heard.  The palate was pretty much the same.  There is some complexity here.  Probably a very nice wine as it fought with likely poor storage and heat.  Too bad.  

This is really in a nice place right now.  Purple in color.  The nose is nice with black cherries, spice and a bit of char.  On the palate, this has a really nice texture.  Despite the vintage, a lot of Sonoma Zins did just fine in 2011 and this is one.  Black cherries and black raspberries with some char.  Good finish.  Not a monster Zin but plenty of fruit too.  Works well with food.  

Just a beautiful wine.  Drinking youthfully but showing some development.  Open for business.  Purple in color.  The nose has leather, bramble, black raspberries.  Very deep.  With air, some graphite.  On the palate, black raspberries with an underlayer of charred earth.  A lovely texture; both velvety and intense.  great finish.  This would pair with heartier foods and certainly spicy foods.  This may not get better but has five to seven years left at peak easily and probably more as it morphs into more of a claret styled Zin.  So good right now though.  

Purchased on release, this is holding up and in fact, drinking quite well at age 15.  It did need about 20 minutes to shed some bottle stink though.  Purple in color.  The nose has nice cherries, slight sour cherries, and some barnyard funk.  There is some Brett on the nose and palate showing as barnyard and slight band-aid.  On the palate, drying tannins.  Slightly sweet cherries.  And a bit of barnyard  comes through.  This is not drinking old, but probably never was a top level Pinot Noir.  Still, it has a nice complexity right now and seems in balance.  Would work well with fowl.  There

Purple in color.  The nose has red berries, dust, warmth and some sour cherries.  On the palate, the red fruits continue.  This is ripe.  Not deep but tasty.  Easy drinking.  Went well with roasted acorn squash and butter sauce.  Good finish.  This older winery has a range of nice wines.  This one was $16 and its hard to beat that value.  Drink up in the next year or two.  

Silvery green in color.  Very nice nose with chalk, minerals, tarragon and slight lemon notes.  Decidedly more mineral driven than fruit.  On the palate, the lemon comes out a bit more along with a bit of peach.  Plenty of minerals as well.  A very nice oily texture.  Great balance and acidity.  Long finish.  This is a energetic and persistent wine that is lean and goes great with food.  It has depth and complexity as well and probably be drinking just fine in ten years, but the energy will be gone, so it is best enjoyed in the next few.  

This is really drinking well right now.  Purple in color.  The nose has black raspberries, underlying graphite and slight black pepper.  On the palate, there is nice black raspberry fruit.  Good texture.  Plenty of depth.  Still drinking on the young side of maturity.  Medium tannins.  Good acidity.  Worked well with food.  Not a monster wine but plenty of fruit and delicious.  Still some development to go and possible upside.  

Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose is dusty with slight aquarium notes.  Also some cherries and black cherries.  On the palate, there is a lot of heat and it seems disjointed.  Tart cherries but brown sugar.  Alcohol on the finish.  Again, this appears to be a poorly stored bottled, but how to know for sure or where the issue is.  Drinkable for sure, but doesn't work with food at this point.  Hopefully, this bottle was not representative.  

Ruby/purple in color.  Cloudy.  The nose is sweaty socks.  Perhaps some macerated cherries.  On the palate, this is very soft.  Very sour cherries with some dank earthiness.  It is a style of Pinot that I like but this seems either mishandled or way past prime at this young age.  Not sure if this bottle was representative  It reminds me of some of the unclean Burgundies that were more prevalent 25 years ago.  That is not to say undrinkable or even bad, as this wine is certainly offering some nice and interesting notes, but more to say, what this might have been (or a pristine bottle is).

Light green gold in color.  The nose is nice with minerals and melons.  On the palate, this is tight.  Obviously it's young, but still it took some time to open.  The melons carry thru to the palate along with a slight grass note.  Good finish.  Works well with or without food but needs a bit of air.  Very solid but seems like some patience may be rewarded. Good now, but will greatness develop?  I think so.