Talk-A-Vino

While talking to a friend on Facebook, she asked: “would like to try a local Pinot Noir”? Care to guess my response? Yeah, a dumb question, you know what I said – “of course” and “yes, please” (insert an appropriate number of exclamation points on your own). Mentioning that she will be sending the wine in a few days, she reiterated again – it will be a local Pinot Noir, or may be even rather a super-local.

As my friend lives in Silicon Valley in California, my thought was – okay, of course it will be a California Pinot Noir, so “local” means produced locally in California. I was of course curios what exact Pinot Noir it will be, but hey, patience is a virtue of a oenophile, isn’t it?

The package arrived, with the bottle of California Pinot Noir in it. 2012 Cuveé Wine Cellars Pinot Noir Saralee’s Vineyard Russian River Valley (14.9% ABV). Okay, so I’m sure that most of you never heard of Cuveé Wine Cellars – but the wine has Russian River Valley designation, so that’s the whole “local California” story, you ask?

Well, the wine actually is super-local. While the grapes were harvested in Russian River Valley, the wine was made locally in Silicon Valley, in the town of San Carlos, a small town near San Jose, where Cuveé Wine Cellars is located. As it often happens, especially with the urban wineries, the driving force behind Cuveé Wine Cellars is passion – and you can check their story on the Cuveé Wine Cellars web site.

How was the wine? In a few words – delicious with a great aging potential. When I opened it on the first day, the aromatics of Pinot Noir were incredible, one of the most pronounced California Pinot I ever had a pleasure to smell – forest floor, smoke, mushrooms, licorice – all very concentrated. The palate was well supporting the aroma, with silky-smooth, rich texture. Very concentrated (using the word again, sorry), with lots of fruit, chocolate, the same mushroom undertones and good acidity. But honestly, it was a bit too much. Don’t get me wrong – there was no jammy fruit or sharp biting alcohol in this wine – but you know how sometimes you are looking for the subtlety of the favors, for a bit more grace and mystery? My wish was granted on the day 3, when wine still had all the aromatics, but the palate became more mellow and intricate. Drinkability: 8+

That’s my story of the super-local Pinot – and an ode to the great friends. Cheers!