When it comes to American Pinot Noir, it is safest to avoid the 2019 and 2020 vintages. 2019 was very small, and 2020 affected by wildfires. However, 2018 and 2021 were very good.
At a recent tasting, I found two American Pinot Noirs standing out. The first was the 2018 Willakenzie Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. This not well known Oregon winery has 420 acres of vineyards across a diversity of soil, aspect, and elevation. The structure built around grippy tannins is the major feature of this blended wine. Blue fruit flavours give way to savoury notes of mushroom and licorice. This is quite different from a pretty wine; more like a grizzly bear, but well balanced (94 points).
The second wine was the 2021 Littorai Les Larmes Pinot Noir. Littorai is one of the influential and trend setting wineries in Northern California, pushing in particular higher altitude vineyards closer to the coast. Most wines are single vineyard, but Les Larmes is a blend from Sonoma vineyards. This is quite a fresh and racy wine. Red fruits, in particular pomegranate feature. The wine shows firm minerality and a lasting finish (94 points).
3 comments:
Guessing the Prince Wine one?
I enjoyed the Littorai but couldn't justify the premium personally. Some decent drops but also some pretty mixed quality I would say especially at the price point they commanded? Similar thoughts for the Prince Chablis tasting too to be frank.
Thoughts on the value-for-money debate here? Do you think the price of the ones mentioned was justified by their quality?
Yes, Prince Wine Store.
The problem with American wines in Australia is that for most of them, similar flavour profiles can be found in Australian wine for half or one third of the price. I reported on these two Pinot Noirs because I felt they had quite different personalities.
The Chablis tasting was very crowded, not suited for solid reviews. Having said this, I found most of the wines I tasted a bit disappointing. And you are right, there is a similar problem. An interesting wine almost always requires 1er cru - and does it make sense to pay more than for Leeuwin Art Series or Yattarna, as examples?
Thanks for the reply, it's reassuring! I was left wondering if I was missing something, some magic that justified the pricing? Good to hear I'm not the only one. And yes to your point if we make some lovely stuff here, the hurdle should be set high for other options.
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