Don's Gillette's Weekly Wine Blog
Weekly musings from our store's resident wine guru
Don has over thirty years experience in the wine industry. For the last eighteen years his attention has been focused on the growing local industry. Don has a large following of customers who search out his opinions (never in short supply!) on new releases and on what's currently most distinctive on our shelves. Others seek his insights on wineries and trends that are still under the radar. Check back here each week for Don's latest thoughts on various wine-related topics. Read Don's full bio...
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2007 Sonoma Pinot Noir: In search of a great harvest [Part Four]
Benovia
We did not barrel-taste at Benovia, but did try their full line-up of 2006s, fulfilling a long-held desire to visit the property. James and I had emailed the winery, or spoken to GM Bob Mosby, on about twenty occasions over the last two years. Benovia first caught our attention when they purchased the Cohn vineyard (most often seen in the past, as a vineyard designated bottling from Kosta Brown). We had also learned that they were developing new vineyards of their own in the RRV. Later we found that they contracted with a few of our favorite Pinot growers. It was obvious that they had serious plans for the grape, although it was uncertain that they would offer the wines through any wine store.
Since our initial contact, I had had opportunities at Pinot tasting venues to try barrel samples of the 2006 Benovia Cohn bottling and an as-yet unnamed proprietary reserve blend. Both were extremely impressive, so we continued to call the winery, to keep our foot in the door. This spring Bob told us that Benovia had decided to let NVWE sell their wines and had samples on the way of their first Pinot and, unexpectedly, a tiny-production Chardonnay. When we got to taste them, we thought both were spectacular debuts, and it was with a re-taste of these that we began our winery tour.
The 2006 Chardonnay La Pommeraie was absolutely gorgeous, with wonderfully vibrant RRV fruit and a creamy-nutty underlay that suggested Chassagne-Montrachet. Benovia owns no Chardonnay vineyards, but had wisely contracted for fruit from Martinelli's famous Zio Tony vineyard. The 2006 Benovia Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast, is a blend from several vineyards, and this was my third bottle-tasting of it. It showed beautifully defined fruit and a lovely texture that coated the palate through a long finish. The fruit was centered on boysenberry, cherry, red plum, accented by a splendid array of sweet and savory spices.
Destined for fall released (hopefully to us as well as the winery's direct mail customers) are three more Pinots. They bottled 225 cases of the Cohn bottling, which had aromatic accents that suggested violet, lavender and orange peel, over very ripe cherry, red raspberry and pomegranate. The wine was very long, with dark earthy hints and some roasted grain notes and loads of sweet fruit at the finish.
The proprietary reserve is still without a name (Bob is inviting suggestions), but it was was my favorite. Sadly, they only bottled 175 cases. It is a blend of fruit from Cohn, Martinelli's wonderful Seven Mules, and the terrific Dutton Ranch property called Manzana. It showed a superb nose of Amarena and Maraschino cherry, boysenberry, red plum, pomegranate, red rose, vanilla cream and pink peppercorn. It was deep and sinewy on the palate, with grippy tannins and a super-long finish of cherry, raspberry, pomegranate, cereal grain and some darker, earthier notes.
Benovia also bottled 250 cases of an Anderson Valley Pinot, from the highly regarded Savoy vineyard. Like the other fall releases, it was just bottled. At this point it has a tightly-wound, gutsy impression, with aromas and flavors of wild strawberry, earth and vanilla. It was the only wine we tried that seemed bottle-shocky, so I hope to give it a re-taste in the fall.
The Cohn vineyard is planted to Zinfandel as well and in 2006 it produced 275 cases of a powerhouse. It has aromas of pomegranate syrup, crushed flowers, passion fruit, cherry liqueur and pepper and flavors that are both super-ripe and cuttingly crisp. It will get better for three or four years and it reminded me strongly of the great Sodini vineyard Zins I used to get from Rocchioli.
Kastania
Kastania, owned by "Hoot" Smith and his wife Linda, was our last stop. Kastania was a highly regarded fruit source for several years before it became a winery, so customers may recognize the name. The name has most often been seen as a reserve-level Pinot from Landmark, and more recently as the same from Willowbrook. The Smiths made the extremely wise decision to hire Leslie Cisneros (of Arista fame) as winemaker. Napa Valley Winery Exchange debuted the Kastania label with a delicious Estate Pinot and an even better Proprietor's Reserve bottling from the very fine 2005 vintage.
We tried two barrels of 2007 Kastania. The Estate barrel was a three clone blend, comprised of 667, 115 and Pommard. it offered bright boysenberry and wild strawberry, with sweet smoke, dried orange peel, vanilla cream and roasted grain scents, and showed a fairly gutsy mouth-feel, with flavors of boysenberry, red plum, dried cranberry, smoke, roasted grain and peppery bouillon.
The Proprietor's Reserve barrel had a similar clonal mix, but was deeper, oakier and more tightly wound. The aromas were of sweet red plum, boysenberry, sweet smoke, yellow rose, coriander seed and minerals, while the flavors were a very long, cutting-crisp melange of boysenberry, Maraschino cherry. red plum, roasted grain, yellow rose, pink peppercorn and leather. This one had penetrating flavor and was pristinely focused.
We also tried the recently bottled and soon to be released 2006s, although they were still a bit tight. The Estate version was more delicate than its 2005 counterpart, but had pretty scents of strawberry-rhubarb pie, rose, pink peppercorn and vanilla. On the palate, the impression of delicacy was more apparent, continuing through a lingering finish that reprised the aromas.
The 2006 Proprietor's Reserve was darker and predictably smokier, with strawberry, cherry, yellow rose and white pepper prominent in both the aroma and flavor. The finish was long, but still tightly wrapped. As with the fine 2005, this one will take several months after its release to show all it has to offer. Well sated, but starting to droop, the four of us said our thank yous and hit the road. It had been a long day, marked by pleasure, intellectual stimulation and in my case, writer's cramp.
Posted by Don on April 14, 2008 10:30 AM | Permalink
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