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Pinot Noir
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2007 Carneros "Toyon Farm"
This is a brooding Pinot Noir, emphasizing dark flavors and rich textures. The initial nose is subdued, hinting towards dried cranberries and blueberries with ripe plums accented by cacao, clove, cardamom, cinnamon and a whiff of kirsch and dried rose petals. The palate opens with more spices and mid-palate of plum and black cherry. The palate continues to develop richness, a significant tannic mouth-feel and bramble berries. The weight is nicely counter-balanced by a bright acidity, and the finish moves again towards spices and dried fruits, tobacco and dark chocolate.
Tasting Notes |  Download / Print [362.7 kb]
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2007 Carneros Pinot Noir
The nose opens with a burst of fresh, just-ripened cherry fruits moving towards a richer dried cranberry and kirsch, spiced with chocolate, cloves, and baking spices. Aromas open up to exhibit an exotic, perfumed overlay of sarsaparilla, cola, sandalwood, rose petal and lilac. The palate is well-structured, exhibiting a balanced basket of black, brambly fruit, plum, ripe cherry and strawberry, spiced with cardamom and dark chocolate. The midpalate is lush and deep, lifted with a fresh wash of acidity and followed by mouth-filling tannins.
Tasting Notes | Download / Print [338.3 kb]
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2007 Napa Valley "Haynes Vineyard Old Block"
The key word for describing this wine is elegance. Lighter in color, gossamer in texture, this is a wine emphasizing grace and balance and subtle textures. The nose is airy and lively, belying its complex and layered nature. Initial fruits of strawberry, cranberry, and dried cherry intermix with butterscotch, blood orange zest, lilacs, rose petals, and sandlewood. The fruit deepens somewhat, giving whiffs of fresh summer cherries and ripened, cured black cherries. The palate is especially bright and expansive, with a silken texture. It finishes with a light, understated grip, and moves backward through the finish. The fruits and spices of the palate nicely mirror the nose, however the finish continues to evolve toward more earthen and mineral notes, as it coats the entire palate and continues to reveal new aromas. This is a wine that delivers a unique look into the history of California Pinot Noir, and it promises a long and vibrant life in the cellar.
Tasting Notes | Download / Print [409.5 kb]
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2007 Napa Valley "Mink Vineyard" Pinot Noir
This vintage produced a brooding wine. Look for depth and complexity, with slow, subtle development over the course of a meal or a tasting. The nose opens to rich arrangement of dried blueberries, fresh raspberries, pomegranate, and ripe red apples, with a whiff of mint interwoven into the fruits. Dark chocolate, coffee, black tea, and tobacco notes provide a counterpoint to the fruit, reminding one of the deep structure of this wine. The palate moves towards darker fruits, plums, blueberry, and blackberry, showing a surprising brightness and lift in balance with the rich flavors and intense structure of the tannin. The wine finishes with Mink Vineyard’s signature chalky minerality, a mouth-coating and rich flavor.
Tasting Notes | Download / Print [301.8 kb]
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2007 Russian River Pinot Noir
The nose and palate of this wine present a consistent mirror to one another, with subtle changes that work forward from the long, finishing nose and and lingering after-taste. The fresh, unctuous fruitiness shows wild cherry, ripe raspberry, strawberry, and blackberry, lifted with a delicate whiff of candied violets and rose petals. Deeper notes of smoke, toast, pepper, coffee, cacao, and tobacco and a gripping tannic finish add layers of sophistication to the hedonism of the fruit. This wine brings to mind the classic Pinot Noir descriptive, “An iron fist in a velvet glove.”
Tasting Notes | Download / Print [316.3 kb]
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2007 Santa Rita Hills "Fiddlestix Vineyard" Pinot Noir
Typical of this vineyard, the wine opens with a vibrant, spiced nose of cinnamon, cardamon, nutmeg, and clove, underlaid with earthy tones. Intense, fresh red fruits lead the palate, settling on the mid-palate with focused, ripe flavors of strawberry, cassis, and currants. Good acidity provides brightness and balance, while structure, always a strong suit for this wine, is emphasized by mouth-filling tannins. The spicy aromatics continue through the long finish. This vintage produced a softer, more mineral tannin than previous years, yielding a wine that is voluptuous in its youth, yet promises to age with grace for the coming decade.
Tasting Notes | Download / Print [328.5 kb]
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2007 Sonoma Mountain "Red Dog Vineyard" Pinot Noir
A pretty, effusive floral nose of rose petals and lilac, infused with sage, cedar, tobacco, and cinnamon. The palate leads with ripe soft strawberries and sweet huckleberry, growing into a full-bodied and tannic mid-palate coated in rich, dark tones of plum, blackberry, boysenberry, cacao, and tobacco. Finished with a lingering earthiness under traces of the leading red fruits. This is decadent vintage for this vineyard, showing off the yin/yang nature of this wine in its fullest.
Tasting Notes | Download / Print [3.0 mb]
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