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.

I visited a small lot winery with some wineblogger pals and continued to cement my love for the persnickity grape that is Pinot.  The story of C. Donatiello is that of taking the bull by the horns blended with timely opportunity as well as love for the grape.  Partnering with Bill Hambrecht, who has an eye for success having previous ventures with Gary Ferrell, Ravenswood and Ridge, Chris acquired the old Belvedere winery, scaled down ops and focused on the best Chardonnay and Pinot Noir they can find in the Russian River Valley.  Chris told me “their main goal was balance,” which I found evident in spades in his aromatic 809 Clone Chardonnay that showed zesty citrus and slight minerality (who else hates this word?).  It was aged in neutral oak and did not go through MLF… nice, clean and lean.

My favorites, however, were the 2007 Maddies Vineyard Pinot as well as the 2007 Floodgate Block 15.  Maddies was bigger with full on cherry, raspberry and strawberry fruit bowl and a medium spice on the finish.  I did receive the 2008 Marie Pavic Rose as a complementary gift which I consumed later in the summer back home and was fantastic.  A nice summer sipper with rose petals on the nose with sour strawberry on the palate.

Now, if the wines and the music weren’t just awesome to begin with, Chris has set up a nice musical series where he brings local and national acts to his courtyard that makes for a nice one-two punch to enjoy on a wonderful, sunny afternoon.  I heard he recently even had the talented Sara Bereilles on stage.  Can you say, Sha-wing!? (I know, that’s so ’90s Wayne’s World)  And then finally, walk through his herb garden.  My descriptions cannot do it justice, but he encourages visitors to stomp and walk all over the herbs on the steps.  By doing so it releases the aromas that fills the air and adds to your sensory experience.  It’s simply something you cannot miss.

I’ll be back to Sonoma and RRV next Spring and I’ll be sure to hit C. Donatiello again… and I’m bringing more friends!  Enjoy this video:

If I had time and could’ve kept myself from getting sloshed I would’ve tried seven of them to make the title work, but you’ll have to just settle for only three today.  These Zinfandels we tasted are quite deadly, but in a good way.

2006 Rancho Zabaco ‘Heritage’ Zinfandel  Sonoma   $17
Color: Lightest of the flight,  like rhone syrah ruby red
Nose:  Toffy and Big oak!  Cedar?
Taste: Vanilla, whipped cream,  red berries, smooth and spicy finish

Black Eye ‘Round One’ Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel  $17
Nose: Caramel, honey,  tropical?  Medium oak,  smelled like a campfire
Taste: Big mouthfeel, chewy and coated the teeth,  spicy finish and hint of cherries.  Ripe, sweet apple, but not tart

 2005 Oriel ‘Hugo’ Russian River Zinfandel   $26
Nose:  Green and vegetal, not very revealing,  port-like sweetness or toffy in the background
Taste: Weak,  medium spice, and strawberry jolly rancher

It was interesting that the most expensive wine in this flight was our least favorite.  Sure there’s a bull and a boxer in this tasting, but that’s not why they’re deadly.  This was a wonderful eye-opener into 3 very different Zin-ful wines and I would recommend this flight to anyone.

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.