With an hour to spare before a rare date night at an actual movie theater (God Bless Netlifx), the wife suggested some wine and tapas at a wine bar in the mall. She decided on a flight of light reds and was able to select 2 recent vintage Pinot Noir from Macmurray Ranch, but one was made from fruit from Sonoma and the other from Russian River, so she saw an opportunity to do a comparison. Here are our notes:
2006 Macmurray Ranch Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast (Retails around $15)
Nose: Hint of burnt/charcoal oak, and attacked the nose aggressively
Taste: Granite, mineral on tip of the tongue, red fruit, somehwat earthy
2006 Macmurray Pinot Noir Russian Rivery Valley (Retails around $20-25)
Nose: Much smoother and gentler oak with some red fruit
Taste: Very fruit-forward, currant and blackberry, responded with a complete mouthfeel and pepper spice to finish
Conclusion: The Russian River portrayed the attributes that my wife and I enjoy the most and it really stood out compared to the Sonoma Coast side-by-side. Geographically, Sonoma Coast and Russian River Valley are right next to each other, but in this tasting we could tell the difference, however, slight between the two. I would recommend highly reading the tasting and viticulture notes on the Macmurray website via the links above for more information.
