PnP, but will benefit from a short decant as the wine opened up during our meal. Displays aromas of red fruit and cola, which follow on the palate along with a nice dose of spice, wrapped in more than balancing acidity. Should hold for a couple of years. Had alongside the Lester Family pinot, same vintage, and this wine seemed darker, earthier, and had more cola accents. See the Lester TN.
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First time to try this producer and I was impressed. Rich without being over the top. Nice notes of cherry and a long finish. In a good spot and complex enough that I would recommend.
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Garnet to dark garnet color in the glass, clear looking throughout. Nose of barnyard, black berries and black cherries. Flavors of red raspberries, berries and cherries. Medium to tart acidity, medium tannin, medium to full bodied. Drink or hold.
My guess was this is a California Pinot Noir. Unclear on vintage or producer.
This wine came in 5th place out of 14 wines with 10 tasters participating giving an average score of 90.80.
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750ml; decant unknown; Dawgs blind pinot tasting; Young light translucent red; Nose of light cherries and baking spice; flavors of slightly sour cherries, rasberries, baking spice; Silky wine with light tannins; Enjoyable and my WOTN of 14 pinots.
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Tasted blind in a lineup of 14 double blind pinots. Slow-oxed 3-4 hours prior to kickoff. Nice red fruit profile on the nose and palate with some spice mixed in. Very tannic at this stage with a medium to long length finish. Give this one some more time in the bottle. Was the group's #5 wine.
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Drank from a crappy hotel stem, yet it showed it's stripes as solid as if we had a nice Reidel for it. Also, drank at room temp and yet it hung right in there, a credit to the wine. Bit of funk, black cherry acidity, blackberry and some strawberry lingering. Some vanilla and cola nut linger in the finish, so it adds a little sexy quality to the wine and so it rounds out well. Lovely.
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One year between bottles. This one has been open about an hour, although have a poor stem I can still get a good sense of the wine, which I intend to take to dinner when ti will have about 3 hours of slow ox air and I'll have the right stem. This has opened up well, with the same exotic features I commented on last year. Some of that I sense is oak which is seasoning the wine well, along with some really nice fruit that shows off strawberry jam and some sour cherry. The finish shows of the same high toned, jammy-like flavors, good acidity and some asian 5 spice. Off to dinner....this drank terrific with a kale/jicama salad with citrus dressing and a tuna tartare. It exhibits a loamy, mushroom note and great expression of fruit and acid. I will say that the wine drinks best with a light chill, as when it warms the oak, ripe tones of the fruit do get more burly, as does the brown spice but when at the optimal temp, this is delicious pinot noir. Should drink well for another 4-5 years, too.
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Big Basin Tasting with Bradley (FMIII in the OC): Very dark color. Nice spice and dark fruit nose. Tannins are soft and rounded with tart berry flavors and good acidity. Medium plus finish. Perfectly balanced. Beautiful.
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Big Basin In The OC--Dinner With Bradley Brown (My House): The word that comes to mind is "exotic", both in the aromatic and the palate. and I mentioned this to Bradley across the table in that this same kind of quality is what I found last week in the Rhys Skyline, although that was a 2011. The aromatic is this exotic tone, floral, fragrant and just lovely. Dark raspberry, lots of acidity with refreshing dark cherry. Order in!
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Tasted non blind at home. PnP and followed over 3 hours. Nice nose of red fruit, floral and spice. Similar palate with plenty of spice and wet rocks. Tremendously long finish with spice, red fruit, a hint of rubber and plums. There is also the tiniest hint of barrel toast the doesn't become evident until a few minutes after tastingl. Nice acidity. Firm tannins at this stage but certainly approachable. Seems to have tons if potential for aging. Hold unless you have a lot of these.
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Bottled six weeks ago, listed alcohol 13.4%. Tasted with Bradley Brown over dinner in Santa Cruz, paired with a fava bean risotto and yukon potato gnocchi. The bottle here was opened mid-meal, poured to decanter. It evolved over the meal's time, showing crushed rocks, a mix of pomegranate and strawberry (lively and fruit driven versus lean in tone). Interestingly, the owner of the restaurant tried the wine and says it has a note of "orange rind", which is a similar note I found in the 2010 Big Basin Woodruff pinot we drank earlier in the day at the winery. Both of these wines show this feature, and the fruit here as well reminds me of the Rivers-Marie wines. There is some structure in the finish too, a light minerality. This is very good, and yet young. A wine to watch.
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1/5/2018 - VlgJeff wrote: 89 Points
PnP, but will benefit from a short decant as the wine opened up during our meal. Displays aromas of red fruit and cola, which follow on the palate along with a nice dose of spice, wrapped in more than balancing acidity. Should hold for a couple of years.
Had alongside the Lester Family pinot, same vintage, and this wine seemed darker, earthier, and had more cola accents. See the Lester TN.
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10/8/2017 - Levinsb wrote: 91 Points
Tart juicy dry unripe strawberries and raspberries, could use a little more ripeness for my tastes but overall very solid
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8/7/2015 - kenthargis wrote: 92 Points
First time to try this producer and I was impressed. Rich without being over the top. Nice notes of cherry and a long finish. In a good spot and complex enough that I would recommend.
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2/20/2015 - wineismylife wrote: 92 Points
WIML92
Tasted blind as part of Blind Pinot Tasting.
Garnet to dark garnet color in the glass, clear looking throughout. Nose of barnyard, black berries and black cherries. Flavors of red raspberries, berries and cherries. Medium to tart acidity, medium tannin, medium to full bodied. Drink or hold.
My guess was this is a California Pinot Noir. Unclear on vintage or producer.
This wine came in 5th place out of 14 wines with 10 tasters participating giving an average score of 90.80.
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2/15/2015 - BornToRhone wrote: 93 Points
750ml; decant unknown; Dawgs blind pinot tasting; Young light translucent red; Nose of light cherries and baking spice; flavors of slightly sour cherries, rasberries, baking spice; Silky wine with light tannins; Enjoyable and my WOTN of 14 pinots.
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2/14/2015 - floydtp wrote: 92 Points
Tasted blind in a lineup of 14 double blind pinots. Slow-oxed 3-4 hours prior to kickoff. Nice red fruit profile on the nose and palate with some spice mixed in. Very tannic at this stage with a medium to long length finish. Give this one some more time in the bottle. Was the group's #5 wine.
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9/24/2014 - Frank Murray III wrote:
Drank from a crappy hotel stem, yet it showed it's stripes as solid as if we had a nice Reidel for it. Also, drank at room temp and yet it hung right in there, a credit to the wine. Bit of funk, black cherry acidity, blackberry and some strawberry lingering. Some vanilla and cola nut linger in the finish, so it adds a little sexy quality to the wine and so it rounds out well. Lovely.
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5/11/2014 - Frank Murray III wrote:
One year between bottles. This one has been open about an hour, although have a poor stem I can still get a good sense of the wine, which I intend to take to dinner when ti will have about 3 hours of slow ox air and I'll have the right stem. This has opened up well, with the same exotic features I commented on last year. Some of that I sense is oak which is seasoning the wine well, along with some really nice fruit that shows off strawberry jam and some sour cherry. The finish shows of the same high toned, jammy-like flavors, good acidity and some asian 5 spice. Off to dinner....this drank terrific with a kale/jicama salad with citrus dressing and a tuna tartare. It exhibits a loamy, mushroom note and great expression of fruit and acid. I will say that the wine drinks best with a light chill, as when it warms the oak, ripe tones of the fruit do get more burly, as does the brown spice but when at the optimal temp, this is delicious pinot noir. Should drink well for another 4-5 years, too.
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2/11/2014 - Mtnmd1 Likes this wine: 91 Points
Delicious now PNP. Great nose. Couldn't state it any better than brigcampbell
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4/14/2013 - brigcampbell wrote: 91 Points
Big Basin Tasting with Bradley (FMIII in the OC): Very dark color. Nice spice and dark fruit nose. Tannins are soft and rounded with tart berry flavors and good acidity. Medium plus finish. Perfectly balanced. Beautiful.
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4/13/2013 - Frank Murray III wrote:
Big Basin In The OC--Dinner With Bradley Brown (My House): The word that comes to mind is "exotic", both in the aromatic and the palate. and I mentioned this to Bradley across the table in that this same kind of quality is what I found last week in the Rhys Skyline, although that was a 2011. The aromatic is this exotic tone, floral, fragrant and just lovely. Dark raspberry, lots of acidity with refreshing dark cherry. Order in!
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3/27/2013 - floydtp wrote: 92 Points
Tasted non blind at home. PnP and followed over 3 hours. Nice nose of red fruit, floral and spice. Similar palate with plenty of spice and wet rocks. Tremendously long finish with spice, red fruit, a hint of rubber and plums. There is also the tiniest hint of barrel toast the doesn't become evident until a few minutes after tastingl. Nice acidity. Firm tannins at this stage but certainly approachable. Seems to have tons if potential for aging. Hold unless you have a lot of these.
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2/21/2013 - Mike Dildine Likes this wine: 92 Points
Rich and delicious!
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4/4/2012 - Frank Murray III wrote:
Bottled six weeks ago, listed alcohol 13.4%. Tasted with Bradley Brown over dinner in Santa Cruz, paired with a fava bean risotto and yukon potato gnocchi. The bottle here was opened mid-meal, poured to decanter. It evolved over the meal's time, showing crushed rocks, a mix of pomegranate and strawberry (lively and fruit driven versus lean in tone). Interestingly, the owner of the restaurant tried the wine and says it has a note of "orange rind", which is a similar note I found in the 2010 Big Basin Woodruff pinot we drank earlier in the day at the winery. Both of these wines show this feature, and the fruit here as well reminds me of the Rivers-Marie wines. There is some structure in the finish too, a light minerality. This is very good, and yet young. A wine to watch.
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