2002 Turjanis Pinot Noir
Steiner Vineyard
Sonoma Mountain
$35.95
www.turjanis.com

Any lover of Napa Valley cabernet can tell you: mountain-grown fruit is a very good thing. With its rich tannin and black currant concentration, cabernet sauvignon from the slopes of Diamond, Howell or Spring Mountains is indeed pretty special. Be it the better drainage and poor, thin soils, or the longer growing season provided by these cooler elevations, mountain-grown fruit can yield intense satisfaction, satisfaction that comes, oftentimes, at equally intense prices. It’s this sort of density and concentration that many pinot growers and winemakers now desire and why, increasingly, pinot noir is being planted in the more marginal climes found in the Santa Rita Hills, Edna Valley and the “true” Sonoma Coast. You see, pinot noir is fast moving to the hills and frequently with stunning results.

Turjanis Steiner Vineyard Pinot Noir was a deep and nearly opaque plum-red color in the glass. Brimming with black cherry, plum, currant and blackberry, this Sonoma Mountain pinot noir was densely stuffed with flavors of dark fruits. Thankfully, this rich fruit avoided being overripe in quality. It was spicy with black pepper, graphite and leather, and finished with slate-like minerality. The bold oak here used left an indelible impression on the senses, but contributed its signature vanilla and cedar-box scent to good effect. While I found its texture sappy and rich in fruit tannin, it lacked the acidity I think required to balance such a full frame. Turjanis Pinot Noir was a mouthful of wine!

While Steiner Vineyard was extraordinary in many respects, it wasn’t subtle pinot noir and not of the style I reach for on a regular basis (especially given its substantial price). Although I found its massive weight and alcohol to be fatiguing during dinner, I did enjoy it all the same, and just like those rich cabernets from misty Napa hillsides, I think it will benefit dramatically from additional bottle age. If you pick up a bottle or two and have the patience, waiting five to seven years just might do the trick. Sonoma Mountain has been the source of other richly flavored pinots I’ve enjoyed in the past and this bottle of Turjanis proved no exception. It’s crafted like a Jackson Pollock canvas: broad and heavy with oil, boldly painted by a commanding stroke. Recommended.

2004 Adelsheim Pinot Noir
Willamette Valley
$21.99
www.adelsheim.com

They say imitation is the ultimate form of flattery. I’m reminded of that old cliché every time a new-label of Oregon pinot noir is debuted. Yes, Willamette Valley’s pinot pioneers have indeed inspired many. Sometimes I do chance it and take home a bottle unknown and untested, and while this occasionally yields exciting results, more often than not I’m only poorer for the experience. So I must have been gun-shy a couple of weeks back when I bought this bottle of Adelsheim. You see, Adelsheim isn’t new or flashy or hip. It’s decidedly old school like a jazz standard that gets played again and again and again. Yet, somehow I never tire of listening to “Autumn Leaves” or “Love for Sale” regardless of how often they’re played. It seems that good wine, like good music, never loses its buoyancy.

Adelsheim’s 2004 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir showed a plum red in the glass with light to medium color concentration. Soft qualities of raspberry and cherry fruit were subtle beneath layers of light oak, forest-floor and truffle. While pure, bright fruit flavors were evident in both the wine’s nose and palate, this pinot will never be mistaken for a fruit-driven wine. It showcases wonderful earthy character with style (think morel and porcini mushrooms) and is far too nuanced to be defined by red and black fruit flavors alone. Yet, this Oregon pinot noir wasn’t “dirty” in any way. Far from it: it was pure and clean while remaining very interesting. Texturally, this pinot was silky, not plush nor full, but finely balanced with adequate weight, dusty tannins and a supple mouthfeel. Its drinker will be rewarded by a very long and satisfying finish.

Being elegant and deliciously subtle, Adelsheim Pinot Noir will appeal to the purist, and like an old Blue Note recording should provide pleasure for many years to come. Highly recommended!

2004 Ninth Island Pinot Noir
Tasmania
Kreglinger Wine Estates
$18.99
www.ninithisland.com.au

One of the interesting things about pinot noir, and all good wine for that matter, is the wide diversity of people and places that contribute to its variety. How many of us have ever looked longingly at a treasured bottle of pinot and wondered aloud about its shadowy origin? Certainly, countless villages, farms and fields the world over are host to the spectacle of harvest. Few are lucky enough to survey this expanse in the flesh, so most, like me, must resign themselves to colored pictures in oversized wine books and glossy magazines. But this too has its pleasure for here lives the intersection of ignorance and curiosity. I’ll explain. I’ve been to Napa Valley on a few occasions and prior to my first visit I excitedly turned the pages of more than a few guidebooks extolling the greatness of her many wineries, restaurants and wines; I was ignorant AND curious about her pleasures. Now, all the wiser for our introduction, I have little curiosity in her fineries. I don’t look at Napa Valley guidebooks much anymore.

I’ve never been to Tasmania, however, so for me there are so many possibilities. Tasmania seems isolated and extreme, a ruggedly beautiful place home to few people and even fewer good roads. Not isolated in the “you can’t get there from here” sense, but in a more dogmatic sort of way. The sort of place where islanders might have a “locals only” type of handshake known only to those native born. That way, store clerks would quickly realize when they’re confronted by some stupid foreigner of ill-breeding. Maybe in Tasmania outstretching your hand is even a dangerous thing to do, akin to saying something really insulting about an American city’s football team to some local fans in a bar. It just might get you a black eye and a cold, hard bunk back to mainland Australia aboard a dingy cargo ship. Basically, a strong dose of knowledge closes the door on certain possibilities, and when you’ve never been to a place almost anything seems likely.

In color, Ninth Island Pinot Noir was strawberry-red, brilliantly clear and showed medium concentration. This Australian pinot noir was decidedly red in fruit character, offering tart flavors of raspberries and cranberries, and was deepened aromatically by subtle scents of acacia, menthol and orange peel. Never lacking for acidity, this cool-climate pinot noir was chalky in texture, slightly tannic and somewhat astringent in its short finish. Happily absent, however, were big oak, high alcohol and flabby texture. Although this is not silky, dense or nuanced wine, Ninth Island is true and straightforward pinot noir perfectly suited to the dinner table.

Yet, for nearly $20.00 a bottle shouldn’t more complete and satisfying wine be expected? With so many good pinots crowding the shelves in this price range, from Oregon and Burgundy alike, it’s hard NOT to stumble upon more interesting and exciting wine. Plainly stated: simply being food-friendly isn’t good enough for pinot at this price-point! It’s the under $15 tier that poses a real challenge for pinotphiles seeking hard-to-find values, and it’s where this bottle of wine would be in more suitable digs. There, Ninth Island Pinot Noir would enjoy real star-status and be better positioned to hitch a ride home for a decent weeknight meal. As priced: not recommended.