Merry Christmas everybody ... avec Pierre Frick Rot-Murlé Pinot Noir 2018, Alsace

For another precariously unusual (and painfully pragmatically organized) Christmas – the second in a row - this Pinot from one of France's godfathers of Vin Naturel might be just the suitable choice for such an "undertaking". Challenging wine, in challenging times ... if I may put it like this! The colour of the Rot-Murlé Pinot Noir 2018 by Pierre Frick was astonishingly dark and not so astonishingly hazy. Almost a bit faint. It's nose showed simmering raspberry puree, much more chilled red currants, a lot of black pepper, sesame and really dominant fragrances of muscat. Unfortunately some acetone as well. Not to forget traces of choucroute and not all too well done bitter'ish dolma. I know, the last two - well, actually three - were a little bit "tricky". Let's call ist character! Fortunately the last two character attributes eased over the hours. Acetone choosed to stay and muscat prevailed big time! Same for the tongue. A lot of muscat, cloves, pimpernel, gherkins, resinous pine branches and the already mentioned evident whiff of acetone. The actual fruit appeared lean sappy and surprisingly boiled. Maybe the vintage?! It was quite hot in 2018 after all. Again some warm raspberry impressions and additional aromas which reminded me of kitschy Amarena cherries. Disclaimer: absolutely not a big fan of Amarena cherries. The acid was quite alive and very kicking. Surely not surprising at all – unfortunately in this wine, at this very moment it appeared to be far to erratic for my taste. Well, such a wild combination of warm'ish ripe fruit, sharp nuances of muscat and sesame paired with rather challenging vigerous-sour acid „generated“ a very remarkable and most certaily challenging expierience I actually d'like to miss - hence quite suitable for challenging 2021! So la-la*** at best! Unfortunately! Because other wines of Domaine Pierre Frick – especially Pinot Gris (yes, I am not kidding!) - impressed me on several occasions.
Anyway, Merry Christmas everybody!!!

Swick Wines Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2019, Willamette Valley

Haven't had all too many Pinots from Oregon lately! I guess it's about time to have my probably first veritable Natural Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley. Not quite sure it is, however thinking of this, not so much is all too sure about this wine-sub-category anyway. Today my tongue is off to an old Christmas tree farm in Gaston in the northern part of the Willamette Valley. Actually not too far away from Portland. Just a hop south-west. In the mid 2000/2010s - took a while -  Joseph Swick, a native Oregonian, moved back to the Willamette Valley to start a wine business after working in wine retail and working several harvests around the globe. With help – mostly fruity help - from Ken Cancilla from Cancilla Vineyards Joe produced his first vinatge in 2008. Cancilla Vineyards plantings are mostly located in the elevated northern Patton Valley (500 – 600 ft.) on Melbourne soils - which is a very deep, well drained soil formation in residuum and colluvium weathered from siltstone and sandstone. The rather young vines (planted between: 1999-2005) for the 2019 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir have been cultivated in a wild mix of clones on very - not Mosel steep, but respectably steep - steep slopes. Now, I fear I might stress your attention with far too many details which I hardly - maybe a bit - understand myself, therefore only numbers: 667, 777, 114, 115 (Wädenswil) and 3309 as well as some 101-14 (Pommard). Okay, that was certainly enough stress … let's give it a go!

Happy Halloween Happening Right Now Tasting - Cà dei Frati I Frati Lugana 2018

My Halloween “Happening Now Tasting“ tradition is back (at least this year). I guess an introduction for "this" is not really necessary! It is certainly highly famous. And the photo says more than enough … Let's get the job done ...

Oxney Organic Estate Rosé Brut NV, Sussex

Poor old Wiston – not Winston; I think I have mentioned his dire fate on numerous occasions, if not dosn't really matter - is still rotting away in a veritable dungeon in the persumed, alleged and very formal intellectual heavens of mankind – I know that's really cryptic – and I am not sure if I will be able to free him in the foreseeable future! Hence, I need to go for an adequate substitute in my rather fizzy year 2021. A fizzy year without some British bubbles wouldn't be complete, I suppose. That's why I sent my tongue out to East Sussex to Englands oldest and largest organic winery: Oxney Estate! The quite juvenile Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Seyval Blanc vines for today's Rosé Brut NV have been cultivated on Tunbridge Wells sand, which is a fine sand and silt loam above clay bedrock, just a few miles north the English Channel alongside the border to Kent. Sound quite fine and champange'ish to me so far. Well, sure about this old school proto hybrid-grape – so to speak - Seyval Blanc … whatever, let's give it a try ...

Right from the attic of the Pinot Universe: Barranco Oscuro El Pino Rojo 2016, Andalusia

This time we are off to the attic of the Pinot universe! Well, at least approx. 1400 m high vinyards in Andalusia's Sierra Nevada sounds pretty convincing that this might be actually the highest Pinot Noir there is. Perhaps there are some Pinothiasts in Yunnan or arable niches in Tibet with a few even higher Pinot Noir vines! Who know!? I don't, nor do I care! Today we are about 30 km south east of Granada on the southern foothills of the might Sierra Nevada in a district called Costa-Albondón. Lorenzo Valenzuela of Barranco Oscuro, son to founder Manuel Valenzuela – one of Spain's natrual wine pioneers, cultivates a broad vareity of mostly French grapes. Well, there is even some Riesling and some more classical Spaniards like Albarino or Tempranillo, too. Starting in the early 1980s, most vines have been planted on predominately slate'y soils at an elevation between 1280 to 1368 meters above sealevel. The vines for today's El Pino Rojo 2016 Pinot Noir have been planted in 1996 on a tiny strip of just 0.6 ha. Let's hold my theoretical input horeses and just give it a go ...

Big Table Farm Pinot Noir 2016 (aka Buttercup), Willamette Valley

Back in Oregon! It's been more than just a while ... I am afraid! I hope this will change in the near future! This time I have had the pleasure to make acquaintance with rather big Buttercup! Buttercup might be a big one! The Pinot Noir right “behind“ Buttercup wasn't like that at all! Originating from eight quite different sites of the northern Willamette Valley Buttercup – or rather boringly stiff and formal: Big Table Farm's Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2016 – showed wonderfully gentle, super sappy and cool Willamette Valley characteristics! Buttercup's theine was a bit faint and unusually dark ruby for a Pinot Noir. Its nose showed plenty of funky Oregon Pinot spices, rose petals, nutmeg, a hint of mocha, maybe some dark pepper, a whiff of oaky vanilla, fresh juicy plums and dried dark cherries. On the palate the Oregon funk voluptuousness – in this very case quite a good and becoming expression I assume; normally voluptuous vibes are not really me– showed tons of moist undergrowth, volcanic fire, flint, dried roses etc. The fruit aromas of plums, dark cherries and some pomegranate were super sappy and crystal clear ... in case this is somehow possile to have ... oh nooo, I better shut my sceptical mug! The tannins were already suprisingly silky! However there was some solid and convincing structure to Buttercup. The touch of vanilla and 0.3 to 0.5 % dispensable alcohlol … Well, I chose to ignore! It was simply too much fun and the quaffability qualities were faar to persuasive! A downright very decent ***** Pinot pleasure!

Happy New Year! Ninfa Espumante Blanc de Noirs Brut Nature Reserva 2014, Tejo

Happy New Year Everybody!!!

There could be worse ways to end a certainly rather "intereresting" year full of fresh air, zero travelling, far too much hiking in the wilderness, homecooking and probably far too much wine ... I assume! Hopefully the year ahead will be a bit less "interesting"! I think the fresh air can stay! That is probably quite healthy! Same for the wine ... of course not really healthy! The dizzy hiking and home cooking!? I don't konw: probably dispensable! Perhaps overall a bit more "pedestrian" wouldn't be too bad at all ...  Anyway, "interesting" or "pedestrian": there will be one constant value in my palatal universe: Pinot Noir, of course! This time a suprisingly crisp and resolutly lean Pinot Noir Fizz from Alto Alentejo in the backyard of Portugals capital Lisboa! Its colour showed youthful pale reflexes with a hint of shiny straw yellow. The mousse was lively, vibrant and certainly resolute. In a quite convincing manner. The Ninfa Espumante's nose seemed quite reluctant to pamper my olafactory senses at first. It took quite a while to show its whole bounty of relatively restraint fragrances which reminded me of red ripe apples, woodruff, yellow grapefruit, yarrow and pink roses. The palate was much more talkative - as already mentioned - right from the beginning. The apples very juicy and snappy sour, the grapefruit rather citric and the woodruff luckily not all too voluptuous. In the first hours I've certainly missed some Danish influence .... This shortcoming eased after some, or a bit more than just some, hours. Then it's body showed the right portion of fat on it's rips. Some marzipan pastry, brioche ... no, better some Pasteis de Belem ex all too much vanilla ... and a quite convincing mouth-feel provided this astounding Pinot Noir fizz the right kick! Definitely a quite convincing and overall very decent ***** start of 2021! More of this will be most welcome throughout the coming 365 days.