Something To Crow About

Last week, I was asked to emcee the monthly meeting of the San Luis Obispo’s American Wine Society’s lecture, which included blind tastings of Pinot Noir.

Feeling as “inadequate” as I usually am, I first reached out to my co-member and “wine wife” Nancy Rodgers and secondly, most importantly, our winemaker, Larry Brooks.

Larry agreed to summarize his thirty plus harvests in California, as well as guide us through three flights of three wines each(nine in all). 

Larry’s years have paralleled not only California’s own “identity” with Burgundy as such, but the difficulty encountered in the early years including rootstocks, potential planting sites and of course, winemaker’s objectives. 

All of this being especially timely since the recent brawl broke out at “WOPN” when California’s Pinot Noirs and most specifically their alcohol levels, were critiqued.  Which Larry explained to us, for most part, “missed the entire point”!

The real fun however, came during blind tastings. Candidates included: Edna Valley (3), Russian River(2), Oregon(2) and of course Burgundy(2). We ranked each using “Nobles” wine wheel and evaluated by: Appearance, Aroma, Taste, Aftertaste and Overall impression.  Votes were totaled for overall best and tallied “Chicago style” – in other words-vote early and vote often!

The winner-Tolosa’s 2007 Edna Ranch ($28) Pinot Noir!

John Shakley, Concierge