Thirsty Thursday: Tasting Pinot Days San Francisco

Earlier in the week, we had a quick look at some of the highlights from Pinot Days San Francisco, www.pinotdays.com which took place last weekend at Fort Mason. The 170-odd producers poured Pinots (that's Grigio/Gris, Blanc and rosé as well as Noir!) from several countries and many states beyond California, including New Zealand, Australia and Canada; Oregon, Pennsylvania, New York and more.

Let me go grab my tasting notes, and I’ll fill you in on a few of my favorites. (Full audio to come in my “Welcome to Wine Country” Pinot Days San Francisco podcast(s)).

First stop: Bink. www.binkwines.com Don’t let the quirky name and the cute Manx kitty on the label fool you: this is some serious vino! Co-owner/winemaker Deborah Schatzlein poured me her 2004 Weir Vineyard from Yorkville Highlands (an AVA in the Mendocino hills which adjoins the perfect-for-Pinot Anderson Valley). It’s a blend of three clones, including a “suitcase clone”(!) snagged from Burgundy’s famed Domaine Romanee Conti. Rich, complex, elegant, with splashes of bright red fruit flavors. I also tried the ’03, 100% from the “suitclase clone”: great structure, heaps of dark cherry and exotic spice.

Next I cherry-picked (Ha! Guess that's an apt term!) through the alphabet to Canihan Family Cellars. www.canihanwines.com I hadn’t even heard of Canihan until last week, when their Syrah took home our “Best Red” Sweepstakes Award at the San Francisco International Wine Competition (see previous posts). www.sfwinecomp.com As I congratulated him for the huge win, Bill Canihan poured me his 2004 Canihan Family Reserve from the cool southern edge of the Sonoma Valley (rare wine—just one barrel produced!), as well as his ’04 Estate Pinot. His third wine, an ’05 estate wine called “Exuberance” (aka "Irrational Exuberance"), shows lots of spice and yummy plummy flavors that Bill “can always recognize in a blind tasting.” Bill farms biodynamically, and soon his wines will be certified organic.

I spotted Ken Volk of Kenneth Volk Vineyards in San Luis Obispo, www.volkwines.com and joined him for a few tastes. (I had met Ken earlier in the year at the Pinot Summit, when his wine qualified for the big "Top 40" tasting. Podcast soon!). His Santa Maria Cuvee, which combines fruit from several top vineyards, showed Asian spice, earthiness, and ripe red fruits. The single-vineyard Sierra Madre, which Ken describes as “kind of old-school,” is all Pommard clone, with floral and “animal” elements added to the dark fruit and showing “the terroir of the Santa Maria benchlands.”

When I introduced myself to Ramona Nicholson of Nicholson Ranch, www.nicholsonranch.com I mentioned that Chef Mark, Jennifer and I had explored her very inviting winery grounds in my ‘vertible during their recent visit to California. (Podcast soon!) Ramona and her husband built the five-level, gravity-flow winery on its Sonoma hillside, with vines surrounding it. We tasted her 2005 Estate, a blend of five Dijon clones, and the “Cactus Hill” Reserve (named for a stand of old-growth cactus on the site). It’s a “barrel select” wine, made from their 10 favorite barrels (out of a total 60), and the wine gets new French oak and more time in the cellar. It’s deep, rich, dark, concentrated and full of perfume. We finished up with the delicious, refreshing “Ramona Rosé,” made 100% from Pinot Noir. Ramona’s middle name is Rose. Just add the accent!

Throughout my Pinot Days adventure, I talked food-pairing with the producers. Tomorrow we’ll explore some of their favorite food partners, as well as some ideas I've collected from earlier tastings. I’ll come back soon for the full story on both Appellation America Magazine www.appellationamerica.com and Crushpad (the cool San Francisco custom-winemaking facility), www.crushpadwine.com with an entire blog post devoted to each one. Until then,

Cheers,
Rosina
gilded fork, wine, wine writing, Welcome to Wine Country, Rosina Tinari Wilson