Pinot Noir…
Take away 3 things from this post:
- There is a public tasting of Pinot Noir 7/15/2010 AT ANABA WINERY (link). You will get to vote for your favorite Pinot Noir by Appellation via Twiiter (more here). We are hosting a tasting for Sonoma and Napa, likely to be in Carneros.
- Los Carneros is a landmark pinot noir growing region. It has shown the ability to rival the mecca – Burgundy. However, there are many great Pinot Noir AVA’s – learn more about them here.
- Napa & Sonoma are 2 different AVA’s – Yet the Los Carneros AVA belongs to both Napa & Sonoma. A common ground to both valleys that is well-respected but under traveled.
Hashtag is the name of the game!
Pinot Noir was the grape/wine that kicked me in the face and made me realize just how expansive and remarkable wine can be. I was in my 4th class at the American Sommelier Association, and we tasted Pinots for 3 hours. They were damn good and the factor that was the kick in the face, was that my palate was stained with a flavor that I can still recall today. The flavor permeated my cheeks and mouth even 5 hours after class ended, this was a wine drinking experience that will last forever. And this is where I learned that Pinot Noir can be an amazing wine.
Pinot Noir can smell like: Barnyard Funk, Leather, Horse Saddle, mushrooms, chocolate covered dry cherries, tobacco, cigar box, and you get the idea – it’s a dynamic grape. But that my friend is just the smell of Pinot. But tasting Pinot Noir can be so contrary to the smell, especially to a new comer in wine. How can such great wine with dusty leathery tannin and vibrant fruit, have such a different nose? Well, Pinot Noir is dynamic and so sensitive to the environment that it is grown in that it is an awesome grape/wine to use to evaluate the growing conditions of a given AVA. And this complex intersection of vineyard site, climate, soil, and varietal clone , makes Pinot Noir a great litmus and product of Terroir.
Terroir – yup I had to say it. Terroir is exactly what the #PinotNoir Tasting is all about, tasting and talking about the way that Pinot tastes from all over the world. Please check out Wine Tonite by Ed Thralls, and see exactly how this tasting will work. He has provided us a step-by-step process of how to “tweet” and even made a thorough and expanding key reference chart that lets you know all the Hashtags so you can vote for your favorite AVA.
And as an extension of this worldwide tasting, we are working with Jennifer Thomson from Thomson Vineyards to host a tasting for our local community in Carneros. We are hoping to draw participants from all over Napa and Sonoma (you hear me Russian River Valley and AlexanderValley?) and anyone drinking, liking, making or growing Pinot Noir. I’d really love to see Napa & Sonoma come together in a communal effort and take pride in the commonalities and diversities that we all share – and to do this with a glass of wine in hand. So now you know WHY Carneros is important Because it is the “Switzerland” of Napa and Sonoma Valleys. And Carneros is an awesome region boasting: cool climate, thin well-drained soil, long growing season, and undulating terrain that produces some great cool climate varietals.
Please stay tuned for the location that Thomson Vineyards and Vineyard Vlog will host this event in conjunction with www.WineTonite.com, www.SuburbanWino.com, and many other wineries and wine lovers.
And again… Can we get some some people from Both Napa & Sonoma to stand together and to drink together.
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