Hello and welcome to my weekly dig through the pile of wine samples that show up asking to be tasted. I’m pleased to bring you the latest installment of Vinography Unboxed, where I highlight some of the better bottles that have crossed my doorstep recently.
This week included a lot of excellent Pinot Noir, a bunch of them from Mendocino’s Anderson Valley.
Let’s start with the Smith Story Pinot that has charmingly been named The Boonies, after the town of Boonville in Anderson Valley. Smith Story is the label of Alison Smith Story and her husband Eric, and perhaps the first fully crowdfunded winery in America. I knew Ali first as a wine blogger in the early days of the wine blogging scene, and have enjoyed watching their winery and its patron saint, Lord Sandwich the Goldendoodle settle into a groove over time. This particular wine, with a little age on it, is showing beautifully, with lots of tangy fruit and lovely dried herbal notes.
Another winery I’ve watched since its very first moments is Minus Tide, a Mendocino-focused label that has quickly become a gem of a project and a great standard-bearer for Mendocino. Their newest Pinot Noir from the Hacienda Sequoia Vineyard in Anderson Valley has this arboreal quality that is really compelling.
GW Lussier grew up in Napa and began his career in the US military, and then by happenstance ended up with an internship at a winery, and the rest of his life opened up in front of him. Now focused on primarily cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from Mendocino, he is one of the newest generation of Anderson Valley winemakers and has a deft touch. His 2022 Pinot from the Golden Fleece vineyard is exceptional.
Winemaker Derek Rohlffs founded his Bravium label in 2007 and since then has leased and now farms the famed Wiley Vineyard in Anderson Valley, where the 2022 Pinot I tasted last week comes from. It has a classic Anderson Valley expression of red fruit and herbs.
One final wine from Anderson Valley, the 2022 Run Dog Vineyard Pinot from Baxter Winery demonstrates why I enjoy Phil Baxter’s wines so much. It’s bursting with flavor and energy and has this quartz-like quality that is very compelling. Baxter trained in Burgundy and brings his experiences there to bear in making wines of great finesse.
Keeping with the Pinot Noir genre for the moment, I’ve got two wines to share from Dutton-Goldfield, one of which is a brand-new wine that I could find no information about. I’ve never heard of the 5 Wells vineyard before, but it’s clearly full of exuberant fruit. The McDougall Vineyard, on the other hand, is one of my favorite Pinot Noir vineyards in California and expresses everything that’s great about California coastal Pinot Noir.
I recently received some new releases from The Extradimensional Wine Co. Yeah!, whose proprietor Hardy Wallace made a name for himself re-interpreting California old-vine Mourvèdre under his previous label Dirty & Rowdy. His new project, with its cheeky mouthful of a name, offers several wines focused on Mourvedre, as well as some interesting old-school interpretations of Bordeaux varieties. Hardy’s winemaking leans towards the natural end of the spectrum, but generally, the wines are quite clean and without any funk. His Evangelho Mourvedre is lithe and bright, as is the less-expensive Ancient Groove, which blends in some Carignane with the Mourvedre. Wallace found a very interesting site in the Santa Cruz Mountains for his Bordeaux reds and is about to release his blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, which is quite fine.
Lastly, and certainly not least by a mile, I’m happy to share my thoughts on the 2021 vintage of the iconic Joseph Phelps Insignia. What can I say? It’s an amazing vintage in Napa, and Phelps has delivered its usual top-quality interpretation of a classic Napa red wine. While not super-ripe (the label offers a modest 14.5% alcohol) it’s definitely a brawny, rich expression of Napa Cabernet, but with its usually impeccable refinement. This particular vintage will likely last decades.
That’s all for this week. Notes on all these wines below.
Tasting Notes
2019 Smith Story Wine Cellars “The Boonies – Helluva Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, California
Light to medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of herbs and earth, cherries and raspberries. In the mouth, cherry and raspberry fruit mixes with dried herbs and a lovely stony freshness. Faint tannins and excellent acidity. Nice freshness. 100% Pommard clone destemmed and fermented in open-top stainless tanks with daily punchdowns. Ages in 35% new French oak. 13.5% alcohol. 150 cases made. Score: around 9. Cost: $70. click to buy.
2022 Minus Tide “Hacienda Sequoia Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, California
Light to medium garnet in the glass with ruby highlights, this wine smells of forest floor and raspberries. In the mouth, faintly saline flavors of raspberry, dried herbs, and sour cherry have a lovely, mouthwatering acidity and faint fleecy tannic texture that coats the mouth. Delicious. 100% Pommard clone fermented with 10% whole clusters and ambient yeasts. Ages for 10 months in neutral French oak. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. 13.6% alcohol. 63 cases made. Score: around 9. Cost: $60. click to buy.
2022 LUSSIER “Golden Fleece” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, California
Light to medium garnet in color, this wine smells of dried herbs and flowers layered over forest floor and raspberries. In the mouth, notes of forest floor mix with dried herbs, dried citrus peel, and raspberries as sour cherry and citrus peel notes linger in the finish. Gauzy tannins stiffen slightly over time. A mix of Calera, 667, and 115 clones fermented 33% whole-cluster. Ages 16 months in 50% new French oak. 13.3% alcohol. 50 cases made. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $56.
2022 Bravium “Wiley Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, California
Light to medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of brown sugar, herbs, and raspberries. In the mouth, bright raspberry and cherry flavors are wrapped in gauzy tannins and shot through with cedary and herbal notes. Excellent acidity. A mix of heritage and Dijon clones: Swan, Pommard, 2A, 37, 115, 459, 667, and 828. Hand-picked and fermented with ambient yeasts and 30% whole clusters. Spends 11 months in 20% new French barrels and puncheons. 12.9% alcohol. 450 cases made. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $40. click to buy.
2022 Baxter Winery “Run Dog Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, California
Medium garnet in color, this wine smells of sour cherry and raspberry fruit. In the mouth, bright sour cherry and raspberry fruit have a crystalline brightness as faint gauzy tannins hang in the background and stiffen over time. Sour cherry and citrus peel linger with dried herbs in the finish. An organically dry-farmed mix of 95% Pommard clone and 5% clone 114. Native fermentation with 30% whole cluster, hand punch downs, gentle basket pressing, and extra long barrel aging for 24 months in 100% Neutral French oak. 13.7% alcohol. 75 cases made. Score: around 9. Cost: $58. click to buy.
2022 Dutton-Goldfield “5 Wells Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, Sonoma, California
Medium garnet in color, this wine smells of candied sour cherries and candied raspberries. In the mouth, silky, bright flavors of raspberry and redcurrants have a lovely aromatic sweetness to them as hints of sweet oak emerge faintly in the finish. Gauzy, barely perceptible tannins add structure, and excellent acidity keeps the saliva flowing. Very pretty. 14.1% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $??
2022 Dutton-Goldfield “McDougall Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Fort Ross-Seaview, Sonoma, California
Medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of chopped green herbs, raspberries, and cherries. In the mouth, beautifully gauzy tannins caress a core of raspberry, cherry, and orange peel as faint dried and fresh herb notes linger through the finish. Impeccable balance and poise, with fantastic acidity and a hint of stoniness. 14.2% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $65. click to buy.
2022 Extradimensional Wine Co. Yeah! “Ancient Groove” Red Blend, Contra Costa County, California
Medium purple in the glass, this wine smells of black cherries, blueberry, and wet earth. In the mouth, blueberry, black cherry, and blackberry flavors have a hint of black pepper and lots of dried herbal notes as fleecy tannins coat the mouth, and a nice acidity keeps things fresh. A faint cola note emerges in the finish along with dried herbs. A blend of 60% Mourvèdre and 40% Carignane. 13.2% alcohol. Closed with a technical cork made from plant-based resin. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $45.
2023 Extradimensional Wine Co. Yeah! “Evangelho Vineyard – Old Vine” Mourvedre, Contra Costa County, California
Medium garnet with purple highlights, this wine smells of mulberries, blackcurrants, and fresh flowers. In the mouth, fleecy tannins wrap around a core of black cherry, purple SweetTarts™, and dried herbs with floral notes and that wonderful purple grapeyness lingering in the finish. Excellent acidity is accompanied by a faint salinity. 13% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $55. click to buy.
2022 Extradimensional Wine Co. Yeah! “M-CF – Mariana’s Vineyard” Red Blend, Santa Cruz Mountains, California
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of bright cherry and plum flavors shot through with a touch of cedar. In the mouth, gorgeously supple tannins coat the mouth as mouthwatering flavors of cherry and plum skin mix with dried herbs and dried flowers. Notes of orange peel emerge on the finish with a hint of nutmeg and cedar. Outstanding acidity. A blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc. 13.4% alcohol. Closed with a technical cork made from plant-based resin. Score: around 9. Cost: $125.
2021 Joseph Phelps “Insignia” Red Blend, Napa Valley, Napa, California
Very dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of black cherry, tobacco leaf, sweet cedar, and licorice. In the mouth, powdery tannins fill every nook and cranny as a core of black cherry, dried herbs, licorice, blackberry, and cola swirl in a seamless, juicy gush across the palate. Hints of sweet oak emerge on the finish along with cola and vanilla, but excellent acidity keeps things from being too heavy. Big, rich, concentrated, and very Napa in its qualities, but hard to fault in any way for this consummate expression. An exceptional wine from a fantastic vintage. A blend of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Petit Verdot, 2% Malbec, and 2% Cabernet Franc, all aged for 24 months in 100% new French oak. Fruit comes from six distinct vineyard sources across the Oak Knoll, Rutherford, Stags Leap, and St. Helena AVAs. 14.5% alcohol. Packaged in a heavier-than-it-needs-to-be bottle weighing 1.54 kg when full. Score: around 9.5. Cost: $350. click to buy.
