2007 Salinia “Heintz Ranch” Syrah

You’re Gonna Love This Syrah; Or, You Really Won’t

Sonoma's Russian River

I struggled with the title of this one a bit. The fact of the matter is that this syrah, from winemaking couple Kevin and Jennifer Kelley of the NPA, is something I liked quite a bit, but I could see how many would not.

Ain’t that the fun part about wine?

Salinia is the Kelley’s micro-winery with a bit more of a traditional place in the wine world than the Natural Process Alliance. For one, Salinia wine comes in glass bottles. The purpose and driving force behind Salinia seems to be pretty different. While NPA wines are all about process (and the extraction of the winemaker from it in many ways), Salinia wines are all about terroir. The specific vineyard sites, and the general location in Sonoma’s Russian River Valley near the town of Occidental, CA, are chosen for what they bring specifically to the wines.

The thing is, that can’t be all there is to it. Terroir is important, obviously, but other wineries source grapes from Heintz Ranch, and I can’t believe they taste quite like this.

In the glass, the ’07 Syrah offering from Salinia is ruby at its core, but lightens to almost-clear, muted pink at the edges. The nose on this wine is stinky (in that way I oh-so-love) with pickle brine, manzanilla olive, and pimento pepper.

On the palate is more of the same. There is good tannin structure here, and as the wine has just been released, it’s entirely possible that with a few years’ time, it will taste nothing like this, but for now: olives. Manzanilla, kalamata, and olive brine. This is like the wine world’s version of a dirty martini.

It’s different, it’s interesting. It’s stinky in a fun, drinkable way. It really tastes very natural, very un-screwed-around-with, which is a complement in and of itself.

Verdict: B+

(photo: Flickr user clkohan / CC BY-NC-ND)

Single-Vineyard Pinot To Watch For

2007 Perception “Orsi Vineyard” Pinot Noir

One of the workshops I was able to attend at the Pinot Noir Summit last month was “Discovering New Stars,” relatively-new-to-Pinot-Noir winemakers talking about their process and sharing their juice. Perception was one of the wineries at the workshop, and winemaker Mark Ray regaled us with his tale.

Perception makes a “regular” (for lack of a better term) Pinot Noir, but Mark brought with him the single-vineyard version, and I think it was a good call. This was a very complex Pinot, in my opinion, with lots of edges and angles.

The wine is almost tawny in the glass, a bit brownish, but still red at the core. The nose is rather un-Pinot-ish in my opinion, with less fruit and more earth, mushroom, and forest floor to it.

The wine is light-bodied, relatively speaking, and features some subtle strawberry notes along with a more robust cherry. A little white pepper rounds out a rather interesting Pinot Noir. Lots going on here, and I think it’s the single-vineyard factor that really does it: nothing is “balanced out” after the fact. What grows in that one area is all that goes into the bottle.

Quite good work by Mark Ray and the Perception team.

Verdict: B+

My First Review From The Summit

2007 TR Elliott “Three Plumes” Pinot Noir

I don’t mean the top of a mountain or anything. I mean the Pinot Noir Summit, which I attended a few weeks back. I have several Pinots from the event to review, a couple of them are blow-you-away good.

This one, while not quite that level of spectacular, was still awesome.

I tasted this wine blind, at the Summit’s Grand Tasting event, and my notes were all written before I knew what was in my glass, other than what my nose and mouth told me.

The Three Plumes is a bright red color, very pretty, very inviting. Tasting blind I realized how important the color of the wine itself is. I usually find myself perusing bottle labels as I taste, whether for enjoyment or to scoff at some outlandishness. With no label to eyeball, I was left with the juice in my glass.

On the nose, the wine stays what I called “very pretty.” There are some ripe red cherry notes here, and a spice note, very pleasant, like a cinnamon. Take a sip, and the Three Plumes shows itself to be a light, but balanced wine. There is a subtle strawberry note that peeks through, bit nothing here overwhelms. While that’s good, it left me wanting even more, and so I cannot rave about the Three Plumes.

What I can do, however, is recommend it. Without reservation, really. A very balanced, thoughtful Russian River Pinot Noir here.

Verdict: B+