Pick My Next Bottle – Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir

The June Installment of Pick My Next Bottle focuses on Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. As I mentioned in the first installment, the purpose of this series is to provide insight into specific wines or producers you may currently have in your cellar. The winning bottle will be opened this Saturday and a Bottle Note will be published shortly thereafter.

The Sonoma Coast American Viticulture Area includes about 2,000 vineyard acres, and fewer than 10 wineries (not counting wineries that belong to overlapping appellations such as the Russian River Valley). Many of California’s most celebrated Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are grown here. The producers I selected make some of the best wines in the AVA, if not the state.

The Contenders:

2007 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Kanzler Vineyard – Ruby-red. Energetic aromas of black raspberry, blood orange, candied rose and minerals. Vivid, impressively focused red and dark berry flavors are complicated by an exotic floral pastille quality. The silky tannins add support and gentle grip to the long, subtly sweet finish. 93 points from Stephen Tanzer.

2004 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Peay Vineyard –  Good deep ruby-red. Knockout, high-toned nose of black raspberry and minerals. Fully ripe but quite dry, pure and penetrating, with a youthfully aggressive character. The dense flavors of wild brambly berries and bitter chocolate reminded me of a wine on the Nuits-Saint-Georges/Vosne-Romanee border. Finishes with serious tannic spine. Very impressive but in need of some cellaring. May ultimately merit an even higher score. 92 points from Stephen Tanzer.

2006 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Old Vines Summa Vineyard – Outstanding. A wonderfully complex nose is highly expressive, offering notes of black cherry and spiced raspberry that lead to equally complex middle weight flavors that possess good detail and a lovely layering effect on the solidly persistent finish. This is not especially dense in the manner of the 2004 and 2005 versions though the extract confers the sense of concentration on the delicious backend. A study in balance and grace. 92 points from Stephen Tanzer.

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Thanks for voting! I’d love to see a comment below on why you picked one bottle over another. Also, please do let me know if you have any suggestions for the July installment of Pick My Next Bottle.

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