Country: | United States |
Regions: | California California (Sonoma County) |
Winery: | Marimar Estate |
Grape Type: | Pinot Noir |
Vintage: | 2010 |
Bottle Size: | 750 ml |
La Crema Fog Veil Pinot Noir is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
A lush, earthy, and balanced Pinot Noir from select estate vineyards in California's famous Russian River Valley. This red wine opens with aromas of wild strawberry, blackberry, and cardamom. Flavors of boysenberry, raspberry, and sassafras with hints of baking spice. Soft tannins are balanced by vibrant acidity. This Red Wine has a Cork closure. Alcohol Content: 14.8% Pair with grilled filet mignon, bacon wrapped pork tenderloin and camembert. Aromas of wild strawberry, blackberry, and cardamom. Flavors of boysenberry, raspberry, and sassafras with hints of baking spice. Soft tannins are balanced by vibrant acidity.
Review:
Tremendous energy is conveyed through a guiding light of spiced cher- rywood and notes of tea leaves and flint. Rich and concentrated, with a hint of smoked cedar on the finish. The grapes come from neighboring estate vineyards in the Santa Rosa Plains region of the Russian River Valley.
-Tasting Panel 94 Points
Lady Hill Pinot Noir Willamette Valley is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
A combo of garnet to cardinal highlights the hues of this fruit forward Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. Subtle floral hints of tea leaf and rose petal give way to a complexity of viney, brambled red and black fruit, wet moss and baking spices. A hint of savory jerky barrel nuance and turned earth contrast the freshness and vibrancy of boysenberry fruit. The finish is refined and juicy, as the elegant tannin structure builds into a crescendo of salivating acids built for food.
Pair with herb crusted pork loin, mushroom risotto drizzled with truffle oil, or a creamy textured Roucoulons cheese.
Laird Pinot Noir Ghost Ranch is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir
9 months in French Oak (60% new)
Vineyard workers have long reported seeing people between the rows and down by the creek, people who simply disappear when approached. Hence the name “Ghost Ranch”. This is our family’s seventh vintage of Pinot Noir.
Tasting Notes: With enticing garnet hues, that leads way to aromas of fresh raspberries, toasty oak, Bing cherries and baking spice. With a medium body and a balanced smooth palate that opens to distinct layers of wild strawberry, vanilla & sweet cherry compote.
Easily paired with a variety of cuisine including Pasta Puttanesca, cedar plank salmon or Paella.
Laird Pinot Noir Ghost Ranch is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir
9 months in French Oak (60% new)
Vineyard workers have long reported seeing people between the rows and down by the creek, people who simply disappear when approached. Hence the name “Ghost Ranch”. This is our family’s seventh vintage of Pinot Noir.
Tasting Notes: With enticing garnet hues, that leads way to aromas of fresh raspberries, toasty oak, Bing cherries and baking spice. With a medium body and a balanced smooth palate that opens to distinct layers of wild strawberry, vanilla & sweet cherry compote.
Easily paired with a variety of cuisine including Pasta Puttanesca, cedar plank salmon or Paella.
Laird Pinot Noir Ghost Ranch is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir
9 months in French Oak (60% new)
Vineyard workers have long reported seeing people between the rows and down by the creek, people who simply disappear when approached. Hence the name “Ghost Ranch”. This is our family’s seventh vintage of Pinot Noir.
Tasting Notes: With enticing garnet hues, that leads way to aromas of fresh raspberries, toasty oak, Bing cherries and baking spice. With a medium body and a balanced smooth palate that opens to distinct layers of wild strawberry, vanilla & sweet cherry compote.
Easily paired with a variety of cuisine including Pasta Puttanesca, cedar plank salmon or Paella.
Laird Pinot Noir Ghost Ranch is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir
9 months in French Oak (60% new)
Vineyard workers have long reported seeing people between the rows and down by the creek, people who simply disappear when approached. Hence the name “Ghost Ranch”. This is our family’s seventh vintage of Pinot Noir.
Tasting Notes: With enticing garnet hues, that leads way to aromas of fresh raspberries, toasty oak, Bing cherries and baking spice. With a medium body and a balanced smooth palate that opens to distinct layers of wild strawberry, vanilla & sweet cherry compote.
Easily paired with a variety of cuisine including Pasta Puttanesca, cedar plank salmon or Paella.
Marimar Estate La Masia Pinot Noir 2010 is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
Don Miguel Vineyard
Russian River Valley AVA
The Vinification
The grapes were harvested August 30 - September 13. After minimal crushing, they fermented in stainless steel, with no whole clusters. The wine was aged in premium French oak barrels, 33% new, coopered by Remond, Rousseau, Marsannay, Mercurey and Marchive from the forest of Bertranges. It was bottled, unfined and unfiltered, in August 2010.
The Clones
The six clones planted in the vineyard’s 30 acres of Pinot Noir yield wines with complex layers of flavors. The blend of clones in this vintage is 22% Swan, 21% Pommard, 21% Cristina 88, 19% Dijon 115, 10% Dijon 667, and 7% Lee.
Tasting Notes
The aromas reflect the classic Russian River/Green Valley fruit: dark berries, sassafras, and a hint of orange peel. On the palate the wine has great concentration of flavors but it is supple and silky, with notes of clove and cinnamon plus a trace of peat and forest floor. Perfect balance and roundness that augur a long aging potential.
"Although this is tight, acidic and tannic, the core is so rich, it should easily negotiate the next 5–6 years in a good cellar. The texture is of pure silk, and the flavors are rich in cherry, pomegranate and spice. — S.H."
- Wine Enthusiast (December 31st 2012), 93 pts
The Marimar Estate
Exporting a Legacy To California
Nestled in the rolling hills of western Sonoma County, the Russian River/Green Valley appellation is a perfect microclimate for growing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Only 10 miles from the Pacific Ocean and 50 miles north of San Francisco, the site is influenced by the sea's cooling breezes and drifting fog. That is why Marimar Torres selected this privileged location to "export" the Torres family legacy of fine wines to California.
A Catalan Farmhouse-Winery
Built in 1992 with a capacity of 15,000 cases, the winery sits on a hill surrounded by vines. The production wing is outfitted with carefully selected equipment, to allow the control essential to producing a wine based on minimal handling. Its three barrel rooms with independent temperature and humidity controls provide flexibility to experiment with various vinification techniques, in order to best express the fruit's character.
The Marimar Vineyard
The Don Miguel Vineyard: A Unique Site
Marimar came to live in California in 1975. After two years of searching, she acquired the land and began planting the vineyard in 1986. Today there are 30 acres planted with Chardonnay and 30 with Pinot Noir. The wines are made entirely from estate-grown grapes. Named in honor of the late patriarch of the family, the vineyard is unique in California because it is totally European in style. The vines are trained very close to the ground on an open vertical trellis, following the slope of an east-facing hillside; the rootstocks are phylloxera resistant; and the planting density is 2000 vines per acre, four times more than is traditional in California. Such high density promotes root competition and diminishes vigor, naturally reducing the output per vine.
Yields are low and labor is intensive, but the vines live longer and produce grapes with greater concentration of flavors, more refined and elegant aromas, and better balance. To contribute complexity, Marimar did extensive research to select several clones of each varietal: See, Rued and Spring Mountain for Chardonnay; and Cristina 88, Swan, Pommard, Lee, Dijon 115 and Dijon 667 for Pinot Noir. Each clone brings different attributes to the final blend, resulting in wines with deep layers of flavor
Opus One is made from 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc, 1% Malbec, 1% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot
Opus One 2021 is made from 93%, Cabernet Franc 4%, Petit Verdot 2%, Merlot 0.5%, and Malbec 0.5%.
The Opus One 2021 effuses seductive, dark-fruit aromas of crushed cassis, blackberry, and black cherry with subtle hints of violet, vanilla, and baking spices. Bright and fresh on the attack, concentrated flavors mirror the aromas and are coupled with an exceptionally plush, creamy texture in the mid-palate from the fine-grained tannins. Poignant notes of black tea, licorice, and dark chocolate lead to
Of the great European wine families, the Rothschilds are perhaps the best known. And Baron Philippe de Rothschild is perhaps the best known of this great family. At the age of 20, Baron Philippe took on the management of Château Mouton Rothschild from his father Baron Henri. Philippe’s vision changed the world of wine: he invented Château bottling, commissioned great artists to illustrate his wine labels – and, in partnership with Robert Mondavi in 1979, created Opus One.In the 1980s, after her father’s death, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild left a stage career that included the Comédie Française and the Renault-Barrault Theatre Company, bringing her own exquisite style and creativity to the design, construction, and operation of Opus One.Among great New World wine pioneers, Robert Mondavi is an international icon. Bringing a passion for excellence to everything he did, Robert Mondavi led a renaissance in California fine wine for over six decades. Among other accomplishments, he introduced temperature-controlled fermentation, French oak barrel aging, and high-density viticulture to a fledgling American wine industry. But life was not only wine for Robert Mondavi: he broadened the American cultural palate by marrying fine wine to food, music, and the arts. One of few Americans to have received the French medal of the Legion of Honor, Robert Mondavi showed extraordinary vision as co-founder of Opus One.
Review:
An enticing aroma of violets, cherry blossoms, fresh blue and black fruit and great structure define this beautiful, age-worthy wine. Subtle layering of fruit and oak spices between firm, fine-grained and supportive tannins gives it a calm intensity. So elegant and polished. Hints of cinnamon and graphite accent blackcurrant and blueberry flavors that linger and grow in a long finish. Already attractive to drink, but best after 2029.
-James Suckling 99 Points
Dominus Napa Valley Red Blend is made from 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot.
The historic Napanook Vineyard, a 124-acre site west of Yountville, was planted in 1838. This vineyard was the source of fruit for some of the finest Napa Valley wines. Estate-bottled in the spirit of the Bordeaux châteaux, Dominus Estate is dry-farmed to allow natural stress and good concentration of fruit. Grape clusters are crop-thinned to allow sun and air to pass in between, helping to achieve full maturation and soften the tannins. Only 20% to 40% new French oak barrels are used in order to limit the extraction of oak notes. To express the unique terroir, the classic Bordeaux grape varietals of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot are planted with different root stocks best suited for the varying soil composition of gravel, heavy clay and loam.
Reviews:
One of the legendary Dominus, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is unquestionably in the same league as the 2018, 2016, 2015, 2013, 2010, and 1991, and to my mind, wine simply doesn't get any better. Sporting a dense purple hue as well as an incredible perfume of blackcurrants, crushed stone, cedar pencil, smoke tobacco, and baking spices, it s rich, full-bodied, and voluptuously textured, with ripe yet building tannins. It reminds me slightly of the 2010 (maybe the 2013), and I suspect it will have a similar evolution. Hide bottles for 7-8 years, and it will evolve gracefully for 30+ years. Hats off to the team of Christian Moueix and director Tod Mostero.
Jeb Dunnuck 100 Points