Surprising results of Pinot Noir blind tasting

The other night, our group decided to have a blind tasting of locally available high-end Pinot Noir wines from different regions. Unfortunately, our resident note-taker and regular WLDG contributor, Jay Labrador, could not attend the affair. But I found the results so surprising that it had to be shared in the WLDG.

First, the mechanics. I was tasked to purchase four Pinot Noirs sold locally for between $65 to $72 (prices of high end wines here in Manila tend to be higher than most other countries). I had initially planned to get one PN each from Oregon, Sonoma, Central Coast and New Zealand, but when the wine I wanted to get to represent the Cenral Coast (the Au Bon Climat Knox Alexander) was out of stock, I decided to get one from Russian River, making it two wines from Sonoma. To these, I added a mid priced Australian PN from Yarra Valley ($30) and a low priced one from Chile ($15).

I made arrangements with one of our friendly restaurants to have all the wines opened an hour before they were to be served blind and simultaneously so that each person had 6 glasses in front of him. We tasted the wines without food and later with dinner and freely discussed our impressions and then were asked to simply rank the six wines from favorite to least favorite. There were 9 raters.

All six wines were clear ruby color with no discernable major differences in hue. All but one exhibited the typical nose and fruity flavors expected from good PN. In fact, everyone said that with the one exception, all the wines were very good. When the wines were finally revealed after dinner, we got a big but very pleasant surprise - the two lower priced wines ended up in the Top 3!

The wines as they were finally ranked:

1) Patz & Hall Sonoma Coast PN 2005 ($72) - This was the most expensive wine and ended up being the favorite of 6 of the raters. It had the fullest body, most complexity and showed well from the start till the end. (Incidentally, this was my favorite PN when I toured Napa/Sonoma a few years back when I was able to buy the 2002 vintage for $33)

2) Coldstream Hills Yarra Valley PN 2006 ($30) - This bottle came from my personal collection and was the favorite of the remaining 3 raters. It showed a slightly confected nose, and had a slightly sweet attack but with a dry finish. (Incidentaly, this was one of my favorite wines and certainly favorite PN when I toured Australia a few years back)

3) Montes Limited Selection PN 2006 ($15) - Beat out the 4th placer by just one point. Absolutely the best QPR and showed very good fruit and balance comparable to the wines 4 to 5 times its price. The revelation of the night. (I actually ranked this 4th, but really found my 3rd to 5th ranked wines very interchangeable)

4) Belles Soeurs Williamette Valley PN 2004 ($67) - This wine had a body and complexity very similar to the Patz & Hall but also had a very slight "effervescent" (for lack of a better word) or "lifted" feel in the mouth which turned off some of the raters (one insisted it was flawed) but which I and some others actually liked. (I ranked this 3rd)

5) Merry Edwards Russian River Valley PN 2004 ($65) - This wine started out so well and was among most people's favorites (including mine) at the start. It was lighter and more delicate than the rest, but had the best nose and was so elegant and balanced that people were initially saying that it was the quintessential PN of the lot. However, it did not stand up to food (nicoise salad and smoked duck in my case) and by the end of the evening some people were saying it had faded or turned watery. (I actually think it remained the same but our tastebuds were just less receptive after the meal and all the drinking)

6) Felton Road Block 3 PN Central Otago 2006 - 8 out of the 9 raters considered this their least favorite wine. The 2004 Block 3 had been my favorite PN from New Zealand so I was so disappointed with this latest vintage. It had practically no nose (at least compared to the others) and was "closed" throughout the night. It had the least ripe fruit flavor and had a bitter finish.


Just as in my personal ranking, the group also had consensus on the best two and worst wine of the night, but the scores for the 3rd to 5th rank were bunched together. All of us were so happy that we found a very good QPR wine in the Montes. In addition, I was personally pleased that my two favorite PNs ended up #1 and # 2.

As if that wasnt enough, we found the 2000 Prahova Reserve PN ($ 12 from Romania) in the resto's winelist and tried to push our luck by ordering a bottle to taste while we still had some of the original 6 wines in our glasses. Unfortunately, this one had a barnyard smell and was unbalanced - too woody and not enough fruit. The Felton Road was much better, perhaps indicating that the Felton is really a good wine, but it just paled in comparison to the other five.

Had the Felton Road 06 at an 'international' tasting of Pinot Noir at the Marlborough Wine Weekend recently. Unfortunately there was no US example included.
Haven't typed up my tasting notes yet, but my Felton Road 06 impressions are quite different.
"Rich, sweet, biscuity, liquoricey herbs, juicy fruit, full and fleshy with just a little bit of grip to the tannins, dark oak,a spicy floral lift and a dry savoury finish with underlying acidity giving the 'peacock's tail flare". I particularly like the sweet/savoury ying/yang of the mid palate.
It was received very well by the panel with one of the panelists commenting on the "incredible fruit" in the wine.
I didn't detect any bitterness at all.
Funny how the same wine can be so different. Mind you, the wine I tasted didn't have to travel very far.

Sounds like you had a fascinating tasting, nevertheless.

Were there any outstanding food matches?

Cheers,
Sue

Thanks for the notes, Arnie! I've been having some surprising luck w/ QPR pinots lately too, the latest being Devil's Corner from Tasmania for $15 (enjoyed it with a host of mediterrenean mezzes last night).

Thanks for the notes. Along the lines of Sue's question, I was wondering if tasting the wines with food changed your impression of the wines.

Best,
Marc

Hi Sue & Marc,

Re the Felton, I was so surprised myself at how poorly it fared considering how I liked the 2004 vintage. But note my last point that it was so good compared to the Prahova. A possible explanation is that the assessment was a relative one compared to the other five wines. Another might be that the wine had just recently come in the last couple of weeks, and may still be in "travel shock" although I know that some people consider that a myth.

I thought the most of PNs paired very nicely with the smoked duck breast, which was the specialty of the restaurant. They also were not too bad with my salad nicoise.

Finally, except for the Merry Edwards which seemed to "fade" when taken wiith and after food (again see my possible explanation), my assessment of the wines was consistent with and without the food. Then again I chose to order food which I knew would pair well with PN. In fact, in the case of the Patz & Hall and the Coldstream Hills, my assessment was also consistent with my impressions during wine cellar tastings without food held a couple of years ago.

Regards,

ARNIE

Thanks for the notes, Arnie! I've been having some surprising luck w/ QPR pinots lately too, the latest being Devil's Corner from Tasmania for $15 (enjoyed it with a host of mediterrenean mezzes last night).

Wish we had more Tasmanian PNs available here. Unfortunately I can only remember tasting two - Tigress and TK, neither of which impressed me too much or I would have tried to include one of them in the wines to be tasted.

Thanks for the tip. Will look out for Devils Corner.

What restaurant was this held at?

[Jenise]

Arnie, another Tasmanian pinot to look out for is Dalrymple.

Hi Nico,

If I may reply for Arnie, I believe this was at Restaurant 101 which is the training restaurant for Enderun College.