2001 Nicolaysen Bien Nacido Vineyard Pinot Noir

[dananne]

Santa Maria Valley.

This was one of the wines Anne brought back from San Diego last fall when she visited Vintage Wines.

Bright garnet in color -- decanted throughout evening. Nose of plum, entry too, but it turns over to tart cherry in the midpalate. The finish was very spicy -- initially almost Shiraz-like. I wasn't impressed at first glance. Later in the evening, it seemed to calm down, and Anne thought by the end of the night it was almost delicate. I thought it was OK, but not my cup of tea in a Pinot. The body wasn't light enough for my taste, and I think the 15.9 (!) % alc. was high, and perhaps made it feel heavier. Ran $45.

[winoweenie]

Haven't had this bottling fron the Bien Nacido. Not too many from this supewr site I've had I didn't like. Will check with john. WW

[dananne]

Agree about Vintage -- super shop that had Anne wanting to bring home far more than she could physically transport. I had to "bring the truck" when I picked her up from the airport [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img]

Anne thinks I'm being a touch hard on this wine, and she liked it better than I did. It's also possible that it needed to slumber a bit more and showed a touch of "youthful exuberance." Still, I did find it a bit heavier than I like in the varietal. Doesn't mean the wine wasn't a good one, however.