Randy Coleman and I tasted through my Pinot noir yesterday.

In short – it’s delicious! OK, I admit that I might be a bit biased.

Here’s the rundown:

I have 5 barrels of Pinot noir, and each one is noticeably different.

First, a brief recap: all of my 2005 fruit came from Coleman Vineyard – half from mature Pommard vines and the other half from younger Dijon clones. I processed these batches separately, and slightly differently. The Dijon batch got a scaled-back version of “Gary’s recipe” while the Pommard saw more traditional treatment.

The Dijon batch is aging in a new Francois Freres ½ barrel from the Allier forest (barrel #1) and a once-used Remond barrel from the Trancois forest (#2). Both are medium toast.

The Pommard is aging in a new Francois Freres ½ barrel from the Allier forest (#3) and a once-used Heavy toast + toasted head Rousseau barrel (#4). The last barrel (neutral) is a combination of both batches (#5).

#1: Bright acidity up front, fruit and oak tannins starting to translate into long finish. Randy: “this barrel would be ready to bottle in 6 months.”
#2: Strong mid-palate. Excellent color (as in all barrels).
#3: Fruit flavors are coming through, can pick up the new oak.
#4: The heavy toast barrel is showing through on this one, resulting in nice “Burgundian” flavors.
#5: Randy: “Great stuff – I could drink this right now.”

The subtle differences are difficult to convey through words, but the diversity is obvious and surprising. When these barrels are blended back together, they will yield a wonderfully intense, complex, yet balanced Pinot noir. I can’t wait.

Want to judge them for yourself? Send me an email to arrange a tasting.