FETE DU PINOT NOIR – The Case For Wine

A celebration of Burgundy’s famously fickle heart break grape.

2017 Symbion Pinot Noir – Willamette Valley – Oregon
$44.95 per bottle – 6 bottles per case
Winemaker Steve Doerner has been making wine for 38 years – 14 at Calera in California, and 24 at Cristom in Oregon. This is his personal home vineyard offering.
Red berry and cherry aromas, exotic spices, cola and forest on the nose. Suave and energetic on the palate, offering silky red fruit, cherry cola and cake spice flavours, the wine gains intensity with air and picks up a deeper savoury herbal note. Seamless and focused on the impressively long finish.
The 2017 Symbion brings back all the beauty of old school Oregon Pinot Noir, which came as a big surprise given the hot weather experienced at various times during the growing season. The 2017 will go down as a throwback to the classic vintages experienced in the Willamette Valley over the past 30 years.

2018 Burgundy Vintage Report:
The 2018 growing season in Burgundy was the warmest year yet in the 21st century, with temperatures on average 2° Celsius higher than normal. Generally speaking, the wines are big, dense, fleshy and fruity with unbridled exuberance and youthful appeal.

Domaine Joseph Voillot
“His wines are a masterclass in under-statement, letting the terroir do all the talking via relatively low alcohol levels plus a prudent use of oak (mostly Damy) and sulfur. The magic happens when you allow his wines to age in bottle. Having had the privilege of vintages back to the 1960s, I can vouch that they have an unerring ability to mature with grace and style…” –Neal Martin. Wine Advocate

2018 Joseph Voillot Volnay Vieilles Vignes – Burgundy
$82.95 per bottle – 6 bottles per case
Delicious red fruit at the core, superb elegance and a perfume that is quintessentially Volnay. Beyond the silky delicate style there is a firm, fine-grained tannic structure and a fresh finish.
Anyone who wants to grasp the essence of Volnay and Pommard needs to look no further than Domaine Joseph Voillot.

2018 Domaine Aurélien Verdet Nuits St George – Burgundy
$99.95 per bottle – 6 bottles per case
One of the pioneers of the biodynamic movement in Burgundy in the 60s and 70s. Winemaker Aurélien Verdet says nothing is done by rote. Everything is done by feel, by taste, by intuition, by the phases of the moon, and as the wines from each parcel and from each vintage demand.
Pungent and expressive, sporting macerated cherry, ripe cherry, boysenberry, violet, mushroom and spice notes. Firms up, turning more linear in profile on the long finish, one for the cellar. The Domaine produces genuinely exciting wines of great purity and personality.

2018 Domaine Boris Champy Hautes-Côtes de Beaune Burgundy Rouge “Altitude”
$49.95 per bottle – six packs
The Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Beaune “Altitude” is a blend of the two climats of “Le Clous” and “En Bignon”. The nose takes three or four minutes to warm up, eventually revealing very attractive, tertiary-tinged red fruit. Scents of orange rind and mint eventually emerge. It has a clean and pure bouquet with iris petals, blackberry and blueberry fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with silky supple tannins and good tension.
A joy from start to finish. I can envisage this offering 8 to 10 years of drinking pleasure. Neal Martin.

2015 Chanin Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir Santa Barbara.
$49.95 per bottle – six packs
The value play from Chanin, the 2018 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills saw 15% stems and 15 months in 15% new French oak, which is the same treatment as the more expensive releases. Black cherries, black raspberries, smoked earth, and underbrush notes all emerge from the glass, and it’s rounded, medium-bodied, and beautifully textured. It’s well worth seeking out.
“Not enough can be said about the quality consistently being produced by Gavin Chanin. Pulling primarily from sites like Bien Nacido, Los Alamos, and Sanford & Benedict. Unfortunately, quantities are minuscule, so most of these releases are under 200 cases, about 4-8 barrels a wine.” Jeb Dunnuck.