2005 King’s Ransom Russian River Valley Pinot Noir

Earthy RRV Pinot Doesn’t Disappoint

In case you weren’t aware, pinot noir has a couple different faces it can show. As I mentioned when I paired its duality with Moonlighting, there are more fruit-forward pinots, and earthier, subtler pinots.

I tend to like them both for different reasons, but if I was pushed to choose, I would go with the earthy, mushroomy, a little dirty version of pinot noir popular in Burgundy. It’s not that I don’t like fruit1 but the earth-tone side of pinot noir is simply more unique. There are plenty of grapes that make big, fruit-forward wine. But few that make the subtle dirty-but-you-like-it flavor profile of a good pinot noir.

2005 King's Ransom Russian River Valley Pinot Noir

Now, the issue, of course, is that if you try this and screw it up, you have wine that tastes like dirt. There are people who will like this, no matter what. But the true elegance, in my opinion, is arrived at when you can please the mushroom, forest-floor-seeking pinotards and still bring some of the “I like juicy juice” folks into the fold at the same time.

Obviously, one cannot please everyone, nor should anybody try. It makes for muddled shit, frankly. Have a perspective, go for it, don’t compromise. I just personally like it when some elements of both of pinot noir’s personalities end up in the final product.

Which brings us to this wine, the quite aptly-named King’s Ransom RRV Pinot Noir. In the glass, the wine is ruby in the center and clears up considerably to the edges. On the nose, you discover which kind of pinot this is: you get mushroom here, and forest floor. But there is a sweetness present as well, which I believe is actually the presence of the 14.5% alcohol. The sensation isn’t hot or burning, but rather a touch sweet. Like smelling Porto, which I have to admit, was a bit off-putting here.

The palate is balanced fairly well, neither the perceived sweetness nor the masked alcohol show off here. More forest floor, more moss, more mushroom. What tiny bit of fruit is here tastes spicy in a way, like lightly-brined raspberries. It’s strange, but not altogether unpleasant.

The worst thing I can say about this wine is that it simply does not live up to its price point. While it is tasty, and should please those who like this style of pinot noir, the price—truly a king’s ransom—will shy many, if not most, away.

Price Point: $80-$100

Footnotes

  1. I am by no means a member of the anti-flavor wine elite ↩

2005 Toad Hollow “Rod’s Pride” Pinot Noir

MacBadger Would Be Proud

New School Superstar

So I drank this wine quite some time ago. Last summer, to be exact. I’ve intended to write it up since then, but things get in the way. For instance, I wrote my notes on this wine in an actual notebook. With a pen. It’s a Moleskine. I like them so much, but since I began using Evernote and my iPhone and iPad, I almost never take pen and paper notes.

Plus, my handwriting is downright awful. Embarrassing, even. Your first-grader’s refrigerator door art autograph is easier to read. Doctors sign Rx pads with more clarity. Chickens don’t scratch so illegibly. But after a bit of time, I was able to transcribe the notes from my own private hieroglyphics into actual English, put them into Evernote, and now, I can share them with you.

I drank this wine on a warm day in Walnut Creek, California. Spent with friends and a brief visit with some of my most ardently wino family members (I’m looking at you, Mike and Nancy!), it was one of those good days. The Walnut Creek Art & Wine Festival probably isn’t the kind of event that makes your radar, nor, in all likelihood, should it. If you live within 15 miles of the town, then you should probably make the effort, but I digress.

Scattered all over Heather Farms Park are tents. Some contain art. Others, craftworks of varying origin and value. And others still, contain beer or wine. The tents down on this busy, boisterous lawn (complete with the requisite local bands you’ve never heard of—even if you go to local music events) contain some decent juice, and are probably fine for most people. The very first time I had a viognier was at this event in (I believe) 2006 or so.

But some day, you have to graduate. To the premium wine tent.

2005 Toad's Hollow "Rod's Pride" Pinot Noir

I want to make it sound ominous and amazing, but it isn’t. What it is, however, is away from the din. Away from the overly-loud 70s southern rock cover band tortuously wailing through a rendition of… well, of something by Foghat, I guess. Away from crying babies, and the extra heat brought on by coupling grass and a distinct lack of shade.

And it does contain better wine. Like this wine. The “Rod’s Pride” Reserve Pinot Noir from Toad’s Hollow Vineyards. Pinkish-reddish in the glass, the wine’s color reminded me of the juicy surroundings of pomegranate seeds. The color is pretty prescient, as the nose is taken up by the lightly sweet, and yet robust fruit notes of pomegranate, cherry, and strawberry.

This is no subtle Burgundian, but it’s damn tasty. The wine is medium-bodied with a long finish and bright red fruit up and down the palate. Mostly the same as the nose, pomegranate, strawberry, and cherry. But also with a hint of mango, which I assure you tastes even better than it sounds.

I actually realize that, upon reading this back to myself, I’m making this wine sound like a fruit bomb. It’s not. It’s refined and elegant. But it is “new world” in the sense that you won’t find any of those Burgundian mushroom / forest floor / mossy notes here. This is a light, pink pinot noir in many ways. But it’s delicious, and long-finishing, and restrained.

And easily, easily recommended.

Price Point: $47

2008 La Crema Russian River Valley Pinot Noir

At La Crema, Specificity Counts

La Crema is a pretty big winery.

With vineyards in Sonoma and Monterey counties, this 150,000 case-per-year subsidiary of the massive Kendall-Jackson brand makes some good wine, and makes some wine I just can’t get into.

And I think I figured it out.

La Crema makes wine from one of five listed AVAs. All of their wine will be stamped on the bottle as either Russian River Valley, Anderson Valley, Los Carneros, Sonoma Coast, or Monterey.

The Monterey AVA is huge, as is the Sonoma Coast AVA. The Russian River Valley is a sub-AVA of Sonoma Coast, and Los Carneros and Anderson Valley are two additional small sub-AVAs in Sonoma. So what am I getting at? (Edit: As I was corrected in the comments, Anderson Valley is in Mendocino, not Sonoma.)

La Crema wines marked Monterey and Sonoma Coast have always disappointed me. Those stamped with one of the smaller AVAs (Russian River Valley, Anderson Valley, or Los Carneros) always seems to impress me at least enough to want to drink more of it.

And this bottle fits that paradigm quite nicely.

A Christmas gift from my brother and his wife, I opened the La Crema on a quiet night at home. Just me and my sweet pea, watching TV, eating dinner, and enjoying this bottle quite a bit.

The 2008 La Crema RRV Pinot Noir is a deep burgundy red in the middle of the glass, and lightens to this not-quite-pink, pinkish-ruby on the edges. On the nose are bright, clear aromas of strawberry and ripe red cherry, plus something a bit earthy, a bit dirty that I liked very much.

The wine is light in body and medium in finish. It shows off traditional pinot noir notes of cherry and mushroom, and has an overall smokiness I found very pleasing, plus just a hint of candy sweetness.

Really a very good pinot noir. Definitely more on the “bright fruit” end of the pinot noir spectrum, as opposed to, say, earth and forest floor. But if you’re into that, this one is a very good choice.

2008 La Crema Russian River Valley Pinot Noir