Young Pinots sometimes are reserved when first opened and airing, to a point, can help. Pinots are not fond of being shaken however and some go to sleep after travel. Both effects are noticeable to aware retailers and restaurateurs, although any "occasional" problem is hard to track or predict. Wine magazines, I believe, seldom look closely at this or any other topic which might reflect on the accuracy of their point scores.

Salesmen pour Pinots here at NVWE nearly every day. Salesman can be careless with samples, leaving wine in the trunk of a car for days at a time, or showing bottles that have been open much too long. Most salesmen we see, after weeding out careless ones for the last 19 years, are quite conscientious.

Problems still crop up though. I can recall many instances where a Pinot sample opened at NVWE failed to excite and was not purchased, yet later proved to be spectacular when tasted elsewhere. This is a painful surprise if the wine has sold out in the meantime!

ON SHAKY GROUND
I keenly remember how disappointed I was with the samples of 2003 Dutton-Goldfield Sanchetti and 2003 Russian Hill Tara Pinot that I tasted at our store. Weeks later, I had "settled" bottles of each at two separate dinners in the Russian River Valley. Both proved on re-tasting to be classic RRV Pinots: stars of what turned out to be a great vintage! My surprise and disappointment turned to outright dismay as I recalled that each NVWE sample had been "same day delivered" from the winery, by my salesman at my request. These bottles were shaken beyond recognition after only 80 miles in a car!

This is not a problem with most Pinots, which cross the country, yet drink brilliantly upon arrival. The effect is random. So what should one do? Williams Selyem, perhaps our most famous Pinot producer, has always recommended "resting" shipped bottles after arrival, just to be safe. Sound advice, if you're not thirsty or planning a comparative tasting that has time constraints.

COMING UP FOR AIR
The weird thing is that young Pinots do like air. Again this can be a random situation. Rick Longoria recently released his wonderful 2005 Fe Ciega SRH Pinot and, with three bottles tasted so far, the bottles have been uniformly marvelous immediately upon opening.

In contrast, the 2005 Ketchum RRV Pinot seems simple, tight and overripe upon opening, but appears elegant, refined, complex and obviously age-worthy after airing for several hours. The 2005 Tandem Auction Block RRV, a jammy "California" monster, becomes a racy Burgundy-style beauty at the dinner table; if it is opened in the am. The deeper, more youthful bottlings, seem to be the ones where such treatment is appropriate.

SOME SIMPLE ADVICE
When customers ask how to handle a tight young Pinot, my suggestion is to have a glass when you start cooking or before, then replace the cork and revisit the wine at dinner. I personally try never to shake up or decant Pinots, although I will gently decant mature ones to avoid sediment.