Carneros Appellation
Winery: Domaine Carneros
Suggested retail price: $45.00
Drink The Bottles score: 95/100
Carneros Appellation
Winery: Domaine Carneros
Suggested retail price: $45.00
Drink The Bottles score: 95/100
Our lineup for the night consisted of:
The age statemen from Bull Run on the Pinot Noir finished whiskey varies, depending on the batch. But we tasted the 15 year offering that includes an additional 8 month of finished aging in Pinot Noir casks. The initial mash bill of 99% corn and 1% malted barley spends the first part of its life in former bourbon casks. We are fans of finished bourbons (especially in red wine casks) so we were excited to taste and provide our thoughts on this one. Bull Run used the prestigious Seguin-Moreau cooperage for the aging casks and the result is a huge hit!
Medium to dark crimson color with mahogany colors and stunningly beautiful. Aromas of cherry syrup, ripe berries, barn wood, vanilla and tea offered a mouth-watering introduction. Tasted neat in a Glencairn, inviting flavors of fine leather, oak, cherry compote, clove and herbs brought a very welcoming potpourri that really dance on the taste buds. The finish was impressively smooth and satisfying. There are some great whiskey and bourbons coming out of Oregon currently, and this one is no exception. For the finished whiskey fan, this is your wake up call. Check out Bull Run Distilling Company!
Whether or not you're familiar with Westward Whiskey, you need to pay attention to their history and their philosophies. This award-winning distillery has been around for 20 years, back when craft distilling wasn't "a thing" and they helped pave the way for the now more than 2200 craft brands in the US. Head distiller Miles Munroe approaches each offering with critical care, always conscious of the footprint that the northwest United States will leave on each bottle.
This single malt whiskey is finished in French Oak Pinot Noir barrels, after first starting off the aging process in American Oak. For finished whiskey enthusiasts, this one is hitting on all cylinders. You start with a cherry pie, sweet tobacco, leather and vanilla. We tasted this neat and allowed it some ample air time, rather than a pop-and-pour method. Suspecting we had something special here, we wanted to give this dark amber offering some time to show itself, and it did! Scorched earth, fig, stone fruits and vanilla were at the forefront with a more herb-like finish, combined with cocoa powder and sweet, savory vanilla pudding.
While we don't know the mash bill or the details of the finishing time in the Pinot barrels, we can tell you that this whiskey really put a smile on our faces. As someone who genuinely loves Pinot Noir from the Pacific Northwest and whiskey, this was a fanstastic marriage. A self-proclaimed "whiskey purist" might not appreciate a finish like this, but they would be remiss. If you aren't familiar with wine finished whiskey, we definitely recommend you try this one out. It may blow your mind!
Chehalem Mountains, OR
Production: 101 Cases
Suggested retail price: $28.00
Drink The Bottles score: 92/100
We are excited to be partnering with Jack Galante and his team at Galante Vineyards again and it was a lot of fun to taste this wine. This is the 2019 Galante Vineyards Almond Flat Pinot Noir which is from estate fruit and 100% Pinot. Bright aromas of crushed strawberries and orange zest initially with mushroom and dried herb following closely. Cranberry and strawberry dominate the palate, joined by pleasant but not overpowering earthy and slightly smoky flavors leading to a long finish with modest and welcome tannin. This wine is very young and you will have many years of enjoyment. We tend to crush on wines that are estate-fruit driven and these higher altitude grapes create a memorable tasting experience with this offering. The price is right and this wine would pair very well with a herbal, roasted chicken dinner with carrots. This is absolutely lovely!
Enkidu Wines of Sonoma, California is a new addition to the Drink The Bottles wine tribe. It is no secret that we taste and share a lot of Napa wines and when we partner up with a (new-to-us) producer from Sonoma, we're always excited to see the outcome. We had the privilege of tasting the 2018 Enkidu Wines Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley) and this was a great introduction for us to this producer. When we popped the cork and saw the wine imprint, we suspected that we were in for a treat with some high quality, dense fruit. Medium to dark scarlet color solid in the glass from center to edge. Aromas of fresh out-of-the-oven strawberry rhubarb pie, damp earth and spices carry over to similar flavors. This is a potpourri of sweet fragrance with intense, medium bodied raspberry jam and hints of vanilla. The acid in this wine is solid but in check, leading the taster to a path of a lingering finish that goes on for moments. We didn't decant this wine but rather gave it some extended time and swirling in the glass. It is drinking really lovely right now and we suspect for another 3-5 years.
Wow, weren't we the lucky ones? On Tuesday, August 11th, we had the distinct pleasure of taking part in a virtual wine tasting with some great media folks, Sam Folsom of Folsom + Associates and the lovely Theresa Heredia, winemaker at Gary Farrell Winery. We had a fantastic line up for 7 single vineyard Pinot Noir and want to share our thoughts on some of our favorites....
This is quite possibly the best Brut Rosé we have tasted in a number of years! It is, without a doubt, outstanding. If you're lookin...