2002 Domaine Coteau Pinot Noir
Yamhill County
$24.99
www.domainecoteau.com

Have you ever noticed that while many pinot producers strive to maintain integrity from grape to glass other wineries too often bottle a wine that can’t possibly have much in common with the fruit from which it’s made? Heavy oak, big extract and alcohol frequently ruin an otherwise decent wine. It’s as if every wine made in this style was intended to be some sort of crowd-pleaser or garner high-praise from influential wine critics and publications. I’m so tired of that. Domaine Coteau, however, appears not to be, at least not entirely.

2002 Domaine Coteau Pinot Noir is a translucent and deep plum-purple in the glass. Sweet vanilla and black cherry fruit were very much evident in the nose as was high quality oak cooperage. I was disappointed that this pinot offered none of the forest-floor aromatics that I find so exciting in Oregon pinot noir. Although the quality of fruit extract and total absence of alcohol heat were very well executed, I found the black fruit character of this wine to be one-dimensional. However, Domaine Coteau did offer the rich and silky texture that so many enjoy in good domestic pinot.

I believe Domaine Coteau Pinot Noir is best assessed not by what it offers up-front but rather by what was absent from the outset. To me, the wine lacked acidity through its full finish and was aromatically straightforward without any nuance or real subtlety; this pinot had too much residual sugar. While the high quality oak, which was certainly used in making this wine, offered spice and vanilla I found its presence to be heavy-handed (although many others will disagree). Yet, this offering WAS an honest, albeit straightforward expression of Oregon pinot noir.

In the end, 2002 Domaine Coteau Pinot Noir IS very well made, and therein lie the rub: it seems crafted with a particular style of pinot serving as its model and produced by a rote approach executed in the winery. Based upon tasting this wine alone and with food I feel there are many other Oregon pinots worthy of the $25.00 this pinot demands. I can only recommend this wine to those preferring straightforward, fruit-driven pinot noir, however I do hope future vintages can showcase the leaner, more aromatically engaging style of pinot which fruit of this quality is certainly capable.

1999 Elke Pinot Noir
Donnelly Creek Vineyard
Anderson Valley
$23.00
www.elkevineyards.com

When I first visited Napa Valley in October 2003 I was awestruck by how many labels exist that few eyes ever get to see. I quickly discovered that innumerable great low-production wines never venture further than the ten to twenty miles it may take a winemaker to drive her wares from vineyard to wine shop. Ducking into Oakville Grocery, The Bounty Hunter or Dean & Deluca is like an Easter Egg Hunt for big people! Elke Vineyards, producer of the great pinot noir I enjoyed Friday night, is also one of those special small wineries. Truthfully, I’m amazed this wine ever leaves California. As wines like these don’t sell themselves, being a real labor of love for everyone involved, they are often inventoried only for the adoration of a wine-crazed store owner. Thankfully, someone at Locke, Stock & Barrel in Great Barrington, Massachusetts has real good taste.

1999 Elke Pinot Noir was translucent, medium-garnet in the glass with good concentration of color. The pinot fruit was fleshy with flavors of dried cherries, tart cranberries and the quenching tang of rhubarb. In fact, tasting this pinot was like having freshly crushed red fruits in the mouth! Elke Pinot Noir is aromatically interesting and very well-balanced with subtle use of oak and no alcohol sting. I especially enjoyed an aromatic quality very evident in the nose and on the palate: green tea. It was as if the pinot fruit itself had been infused with it! This Anderson Valley pinot noir tastes like a cool climate wine being bright with bracing acidity. It rewarded with a very long and smooth finish.

Elke Pinot Noir was beautifully balanced possessing enough fruit tannin, grip and acidity to serve it well through three to five years additional cellaring. I certainly will be getting more bottles ASAP to enjoy over the next few years. This IS NOT in-your-face trophy wine but rather an interesting and understated wine best appreciated with good food and bottled proof that great wine deserves (and demands) great retailers! Highly recommended!

2003 Moshin Vineyards Pinot Noir
Russian River Valley
Moshin Winery
$15.99
www.moshinvineyards.com

Moshin Vineyards is a family owned and operated winery located on Westside Road, the Healdsburg scenic byway famous to Sonoma County wine pilgrims the country-over. You see, Westside Road is dotted with wineries the likes of Rochioli, Davis Bynum and Gary Farrell. It’s a good thing! Moshin Vineyards has been selling fruit to Sonoma County producers for many years including Russian River Valley pinot pioneer Davis Bynum. Recently, Moshin has added wine production to his family’s estate and is now in the process of building a modern, quality-focused winemaking facility. I can’t wait to visit as I do expect great things to come. However…..

What a difference a year can make! Or should I say what a difference something in the winery can make? I was really impressed with the couple of bottles of 2002 Moshin RRV Pinot Noir I enjoyed in the past. It was lean, aromatically interesting, very well-suited to the dinner table AND a great value at $13.99! Yet, I found the 2003 vintage to be washed-out!

2003 Moshin Vineyards Pinot Noir presented a transparent reddish-orange hue appearing washed-out as if from another vintage…..and not from our current decade either! This pinot noir was clearly showing the strong brickish-tones associated with five or more years of bottle age. Although some cherry and raspberry, leaf and light oak were evident, and while this pinot is made in a lightly-extracted and honest-style, it was oxidized from start to finish. Normally I would have attributed this to having an off-bottle had I not had it before at a restaurant and thought the same thing. Moshin’s 2003 pinot had good acidity but lacked fresh fruit, was thin and watery on the palate and offered no fruit tannin whatsoever. Sadly, I found this bottle to be dull and disappointing.

Perhaps I’m wrong to dismiss 2003 Moshin Pinot Noir as lifeless but I believe this vintage fell victim to poor handling either in the winery or in it’s bottling, a fault that does not lie with the vineyard (the 2002 was REAL good) as oxidation isn’t typically caused by growing conditions. So, until next year: not recommended!