45th Birthday Tasting Revisited

As planned, I brought out the Pinots we tasted at my 45th to taste again, 3 years older.

Unfortunately, we had to set up inside due to the rain and cold. My birthday is alway hit or miss weather-wise. It's a little cozy indoors, but we make it work. Plying everyone with wine can't hurt this cause.

The tree out front was certain it was spring and cheerfully greeted our guests.

We started off with one of the Kosta Browne 20th anniversary wines: A magnum of 2015 Bootlegger's Hill, Russian River Valley, Chardonnay.

It was a beautiful wine with a surprising amount of schmutz at the bottom for a white. Its dark color surprised me given it's age. Is this a result of the oak fermentation? It was interesting to read Bootlegger's Hill is a selection of Wente clone from the Hyde Vineyard. The Patz & Hall, Hyde, Chardonnay is one of my favorites. I'll have to investigate what clones it uses.

We tasted the four Pinots while Sue filled us with bacon wrapped potatoes and pot stickers.

Results

C - 2012 Kosta Browne, Russian River Valley came in first place with an average of 3.98.

B - 2012 Thomas Fogarty, Rapley Trail, Henry Ayrtons’ Block, Santa Cruz Mountains came in second place with an average of 3.85.

A - 2012 Halleck Vineyard, Estate, Sonoma Coast came in third place with an average of 3.65.

D - 2012 Patz & Hall, Pisoni Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands came in last place with an average of 3.49.


Amazingly the Kosta Browne took first as it did in the original tasting. The average rating improved from 2.98 to 3.74. The bottles were pretty young when we originally tried them. Three years later, it was hard to pick a winner.

Paul Hates Sonoma Coast

Paul has never had a Sonoma Coast wine he liked. We decided to put it to the test.

It was a hot summer day when we met to taste Sonoma Coast Pinots. The wines were definitely warmer than the ideal tasting temperature, but the heat didn't stop us from enjoying the company, food, and wine.

We started with some lovely Sonoma Coast Chards: 2015 Littorai Sonoma Coast, 2015 Flowers Sonoma Coast, and a 2015 Failla, Fort Ross-Seaview, Estate. We picked up the Littorai on our last adventure in Sonoma to party at Kosta Browne. The others I grabbed at K&L. The Littorai was my favorite, but they were all very nice.

Results

F - 2013 Jayson, Sonoma Coast came in first place with an average of 3.59. It cost $56. Bob brought this. It was the most highly rated wine he could find from a NY Times tasting.

D - 2014 Macphail, Sonoma Coast came in second place with an average of 3.54. It cost $35. Ted and Shannon brought this. They first had this wine at Cin cin, discovered the winery, and joined.

G - 2013 Kosta Browne, Sonoma Coast came in third place with an average of 3.52. It cost $64. Sue and I brought this. We enjoyed our first Kosta Browne years ago at a wonderful dinner in the swan room of Aureole. We couldn't see the wine angels, which is why we came, but the food and wine were excellent. Since then I've been buying 3 to 4 bottles a year; it's expensive and there isn't much in our allocation. This tasting seemed like a great chance to share some with friends.

H - 2011 Fort Ross, Reserve, Fort Ross Vineyard, Fort Ross-Seaview, Sonoma Coast came in fourth place with an average of 3.30. It cost $70. Carlos brought this. It was one of two bottles recommended, the other being Flowers. He thinks he would have won had he brought the flowers.

A - 2015 Peay, Sonoma Coast came in fifth place with an average of 3.16. It cost $45. Paul and Jennifer brought this. It was recommended by the Dreagers wine guy. It is a small lot vintage and scored 93 points.

B - 2015 Mario Perelli-Minetti, Sonoma Coast came in sixth place with an average of 2.95. Mac and Rebecca brought this. It cost $30 or so. The man at the store picked it.

E - 2009 Cobb, Coastlands Vineyard, Sonoma Coast came in seventh place with an average of 2.64. It cost $65. Jose and Lili brought this. Jose googled the best years for Pinots. 2009 came up as a great year, so he looked for a highly rated 2009 Sonoma coast wine. This one had a 94 wine spectator rating.

C - 2014 Gary Farrell, Russian River Selection, Russian River Valley came in last place with an average of 2.61. It cost $44. Michel brought this. He wanted to bring something that he already had before and knew he and others enjoyed. It was disqualified from the tasting, since it didn't say Sonoma Coast on the label.

We continued sharing Sonoma Coast Pinots well into the night while enjoying the feast Sue made for us.

I think it's safe to say we convinced Paul about the great wines of Sonoma Coast.