Pinot Noir battle!!.. amongst friends of course

[TheEngineer]

I went to visit a friend over the weekend in SF and he was hosting his annual Every man has a drink event. In this event, each person brings a bottle and a $20 entry fee. The top wine of the night wines all of the entry fee except for the price of the best QPR bottle, which gets the price of the wine returned.

It is a fun event and I love going there every year. Wines are tasted double blind and tasted twice. Scores are given between 0-20 and all the scores from the contestants are totaled. Highest and lowest scores are dropped to ensure that no cheating occurs from the buyer of the wine. Each year a different theme is selected and this year it was Pinot Noir. I brought two bottles that day (very worried about bottle shock).

I've included his notes in this email.. yours truly won with a bottle picked up from KC's store!


"There was a good mix of regions: 5 Burgundies, 4 Oregon USA, 3 California USA, 1 New Zealand

The Winner is Mike and the wine is 2005 Mongeard-Mugneret, Echezeaux. Bag G. Just before we poured G, I said in the previous n tournaments, Bag G always turned out to be a great, memorable wine. I was right.

The Most Valuable wine winner: Dad. Dad instructed me to buy an inexpensive New Zealand Pinot Noir. He predicted he would win the most valuable wine award. He's right. The wine is 2007 Aurum Pinot Noir, Central Otago, NZ. $14.99. (I thought it was $13. Recalculated yesterday with correct pricing $15 and still won by two horse positions... amazingly I didn't have change so I took $15 from Mike which turns out to be accurate).

Here are the wines and my brief notes with my own score (max 20) in the order of tasting (complete scoresheet here)

Bag A. Aroma very light, cloudy, raspberry, acidic, grassy, short finish, burning alcohol. Score 9.
This is 2004 Domaine Meo Camuzet, Clos de Vougeot. $120. Owner: Mike Kwok. A very expensive disappointment. I think there has been some travel shock (cloudiness). Rank #10

Bag B. Smoky, mild earth, raspberry, strawberry, full body, long finish. Score 18.
This is 2006 Twomey Pinot Noir, Russian River, Sonoma. $48. Owner: Vincent. Twomey is owned by Silver Oak and very famous for Merlot. Turns out the pinot is amazingly good, a nice combination of old and new world style. Rank #2.

Bag C. Fruit punch, tropical, very flavorful, jammy, hint of flower, new world. Score 13.
This is 2007 Aurum Pinot Noir, Central Otago, NZ. $15. This is Dad's Most Valuable Wine. It is fruity yet has depth. The tropical flavor is unusual in pinot noir but obviously popular among tasters. Rank #5.

Bag D. jammy, plum, raisny, not elegant, tannic, unbalanced. Score 7.
This is 2005 Domaine Confuron-Cotetidot, Bourgogne. Owner: MMC. $20. This is probably an off bottle. Not typical Bourgogne profile. Rank #12

Bag E. New world, mild herb in nose, strawberry, vanilla, jammy, simple. Score 13.
This is 2006 Domaine Drouhin Pinot, Willamette Valley, Oregon. Owner: Lawrence. $41. Rank #3. This is quite popular among tasters.

Bag F. Strawberry, tropical, floral, slightly jammy, restrained aroma. Score 9.
This is 2007 H. Wines Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon. Owner: Fred. $24. Rank #9.

Bag G. elegant, mild earth, flavorful, full body. Score 16.
This is the Champion 2005 Mongeard-Mugneret, Echezeaux, $80. Owner: Mike. For me a bit towards the powerful side for Burgundy. But it is objectively a very good wine. Great choice.

Bag H. elegant, tight, tannic, strawberry, rose, almost as good as G unfortunately no aroma. Score 14.
This is 2006 Joseph Drouhin, Cotes de Nuits-Villages. Owner: Teju. Price: $30 (educated guess, owner left early). Rank #7

Bag I. Syrupy, blackberry, vanilla, lavender, kind of like a Yellow Tail, suspect it's Pinotage. Score 12.
This is 2006 Acacia Horseshe Bend Vineyard Pinot, Russian River, Sonoma. Owner: Jag. $70. Bought direct from winery. Rag said winery was supposed to give him 2007 but he ended up with a 2006 instead. I suspect 2007 will do better. Rank #8

Bag J. cranberry, herb, muscular with oak. Score 9.
This is 2005 Nuthouse Pinot, Argyle, Willamette Valley, Oregon. Owner: Kevin. $44. Rank #11

Bag K. horse shit, gamy, forest, interesting, berry, pepper, licorice, hint of dried orange peel. Score 17.
This is 2007 Amity Vineyard Pinot, Willamette Valley. Owner: Jonson. $20. This is a barnyardy wine but not unacceptable. In fact I found it complex and intriguing. Rank #4

Bag L. Oxydized. Score 0.
This is 2001 Martinelli Bondi Home Range "Water Trough Vineyard" Pinot, Sonoma. Owner: thomas. $50. This wine is damaged and undrinkable. It's wise for contestants to open their wine for a taste test before entering.

Bag M. Round silky blackberry, orange spice, perfect balanced, sandalwood, faint hint of earth. Score 18.
This is my own 2005 Arnoux Pere et Fils, Chorey-les-Beaune "Les Beaumonts". $20.