It was kind of a Pinot type of weekend for us.  The Fall weather really put us in a great frame of mind to start the weekend off with a Friday night fire in the backyard pit and so we reached into the cellar for some treats. 

2007 Papapietro Perry Pinot Noir RRV– we received our first shipment from Papapietro Perry a few weeks back and were just jonesin’ to pop one open to re-live a little bit of our Sonoma trip this summer.  Barbara (@wineevangelist) reminded me it would be even better at least 12 months from now, which I would concur.  But, we were in that kind of mood… besides, we had more where that came from and were definitely keeping them in the cellar for sometime in the future.  Surprised at the alcohol level (14.5%) but it didn’t matter… bing cherry on the nose and clove, bright red fruits on the palate, with good spice on a lingering finish… just well-balanced and delicious!

2006 Landmark Pinot Noir Grand Detour - Since were in a Pinot-state-of-mind, I grabbed a bottle I had bought for the Pinot Taste Live several months back that had to be postponed due to twitter issues (I think that was when MJ passed?)  Anyway, I had almost forgot it was in there, so we pulled it… I said, it was that kind of evening… the fruit burst out of the glass and was warming to my nostrils with a hint of coffee, chocolate and black cherries.  More red and dark fruits on the palate emerged with a velvety texture and light spice on the finish.  We didn’t actually finish this bottle and 2 days later (after vacuum-pumped) it was even better!

2007 Belle Glos Meiomi Sonoma Coast - by this time, I probably stopped taking notes while one hand gripped a stem and the other a Cohiba.  My wife really enjoyed this wine.

On Saturday, it was Taste Live! time with Hahn Estates the next in line to unveil a custom TasteLive.com page.  Though some bugs were still being worked out in this beta version, there was quite a lot of twitter activity with a live Ustream feed direct from Hahn Estates and Matthew Horbund (@mmwine) pairing up foods with each selection.  We only had the Cycles Gladiator Chardonnay and Hahn Estates Pinot, but enjoy the time with online friends.  I was truly multi-tasking as the Gators were taking on Vandy this night, which sometimes provides the opportunity to become a trap game as they seem to always play us well when we look towards the SEC championship before even finishing out our schedule.

2008 Cycles Gladiator Chardonnay- learned it had about 11% Viognier blended in which was nice and probably the cause for some of the wonderful aromatics (white flowers?) and only a hint of toast (only 20% new oak used).  The oak provided a good, but not overly, creamy texture to complete the  fresh citrus fruit taste on the palate.  A very nice quaffer.

2006 Hahn Estates Pinot Noir Monterey - more elegant than you’d expect from many California Pinot - tart red cherry nose, smooth, silky and petite… mild spices to round it out at the end.

Jason sent me an article about the early April frost and other variables (weather, fires, etc.) experienced throughout the year affecting the 2008 grape production in Napa Valley and surrounding areas.  The particular farmer in the article lost anywhere from 35-50% of his crops.  The results could affect all of us in the wallet as wine prices for this vintage could jump to account for the lower production.

However, upon further research, it appears that some of these affects on production could be isolated to individual farmers and areas.  Additionally, it depends on how the grower responded to each weather situation to manage the potentially damaging effects.  And finally, while some production levels may be down, there is some evidence that smaller berries and reduced cluster size could result in higher quality wines this year from California… hooray!

So, keep any eye out in the wine aisles of your favorite store next year because our current level of “value” may need to be adjusted up, but the resulting drink and experience may just be worth it!

Cheers