WTN: Dry Creek PN '03

This came in a club shipment in May '06. I was thinking PN, having just contributed to the WOMC, and I was cooking chicken tonight, so I dug this one out.
It's real PN, and nothing like the Jadot I posted on in Wine Focus. I guess the moral of the story is that PN can be more than a bit of a chameleon.
Dry Creek Vineyard, Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, 2003. $25.00. 360 cases (!), 14.5% alcohol.
Darkish clear ruby color, light somewhat astringent aroma. A bright yet fruit-filled entry. Tastes very much like PN, with the acidity and some underlying earthy, herbal (thyme?) and mushroomy feelings. Medium long finish. Very well integrated. I guess “vibrant” is as good a word as any, and that's one thing I like about PN.

Compared to the Jadot, this is a substantially better wine for my palate. The Jadot was like one of those supermodels; sort of glitzy but not much underneath. The DCV is rather more substantial without falling into the overripe, or "is it Syrah?" bins.

360 cases is a tiny bottling for DCV! I guess they were trying something. They've continued to make PN, so maybe it worked for them.

John

Dry Creek's winemaker is, if I remember correctly, Bill Knuttel, who used to toil at Saintsbury, and I'd guess that had something to do with the experiment.

Dry Creek's winemaker is, if I remember correctly, Bill Knuttel, who used to toil at Saintsbury, and I'd guess that had something to do with the experiment.

Close, but no cigar, Steve. Bill was, indeed, winemaker at Saintsbury. Then made wine under his own label, Tria. Then was winemaker at ChalkHill. This Pinot was made by his predecessor at DCV, JeffMcBride. He may have been at DCV to wave bye-bye as this Pinot went out the door, but don't think he had anything to do w/ it. Don't think they've continued w/ Pinot at DCV, though.
Tom

Bill Knuttel and Lisa Forbes are the winemakers at DCV.
And I received a bottle of "DCV10 Estate" PN in the May shipment.

John

Bill Knuttel and Lisa Forbes are the winemakers at DCV.
And I received a bottle of "DCV10 Estate" PN in the May shipment.
John

John,
Just noticed that the '04 Pinot is in my latest VSP shipment, so I guess they're continuing.
Bill has recently stepped up to "Executive Winemaker" and will be leaving more&more of the day-to-day decisions to Lisa,
who Bill thinks is ready for prime-time. He'll be focusing a bit more on his Ottomino label, as I understand it.
Tom