J Christopher, Willamette Valley, 'Floyd's Cuvee', Pinot Noir, 2007
I often troll the stores for Pinots I haven't tried, or perhaps vintages that I haven't sampled. One here, one there. And more often than not, I open a bottle months, sometimes years later, and find a gem here and there. "Darn!" I think, "why didn't I pick up a case of that back then?". Not this time. I cracked this one open early -- early enough to find a little more.
The thing about this was the body. There are a lot of really nice Pinots out now that are very reasonably priced. The recession is hitting everyone. But most of those Pinots are fairly light. Now, I like that, but it's not for everybody. I know lots of people that yearn for that big jammy bold Oregon Pinot -- the Ken Wright, the Penner Ash ... you know who you are. Which isn't to say that this bottle is that, exactly. No. But it's not a light one either. Most pronounced is the medium body, and the toasty and spicy taste.
The nose was sweet fruit and sweet wood. Cinnamon. It just smelled like it was rich and creamy. Maybe a little red cherry. No singed nose hairs; this was going to be good. The taste was a little toast and earth. Then fruit. lovely. It wasn't raspy at all. The finish was a really nice, clean red cherry.
It was that earth at the mid-palette that was really nice, and intriguing. It has a sort of hint of some old Burgundy. Really nice. And it was just incredibly rich for the cost. I asked Denise without telling her the cost: "so how much do you think this bottle cost". Her response: "it tastes like a $30 bottle of wine". Nope: I bought 6 at $13.50 per bottle at Fred's (10% off if you buy 6).
Run ... maybe there's some left (Hollywood Fred's).
Cost:
($15)Rating:
8.5