January 2007 Wine Tasting Notes:
2005 Carmel Road Pinot Noir, Monterey.
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This Pinot Noir is a dark, smoky garnet color with very good clarity. The nose shows medium intensity cherry and strawberry with hints of caraway and game. The palate continues the medium strawberry and cherry. The smooth mouthfeel comes from proportioned and alcohol and tannins with bright acids in a light bodied wine. The medium length finish is an interplay of prominent cherry with a floral, rosy note which end with a slightly green hint. |
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RWB Score: 88 breakdown 14.5% Alcohol $16.00 Retail (from winery); Large production. |
Value, value, value! Sleek and composed with nicely accented fruit, this 2005 Monterey Pinot Noir is a lot of cool climate wine for the price. It is a bit tight, and decanting is advised. This wine should pair well with traditional, earthy and light meaty dishes for about 5 more years. |
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Repeat tasting:
9/20/07 This wine is revealing itself to be an even better value than initially thought. It is maturing, evening out and really opening up. Medium intensity cherry and cola dominate the nose, making the spice notes take a back-row seat. A rose petal note makes its appearance here and on the finish The fruit is more generous in the mouth with good acidity. The green character is much more subtle and adds to structure and complexity. While it is much more immediately approachable, decanting brings out more of its charm. BOTTOM LINE: Very good. Highly recommended. |
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More Carmel Road reviews. More on the Monterey AVA |
Sourced from the Franscioni, Porter and Mission Peak vineyards in Monterey County and Clark Ranch in Arroyo Seco, this wine is aged for 7 months in French oak (21% new).
For those that have not seen “Sideways”, Pinot Noir, the noble Burgundian grape, is often described as "difficult" to grow but the wine is beautiful and complex when circumstances are favorable. It is one of the oldest grape varieties to be vinified. Pinot Noir is, in fact, genetically unstable and its spontaneous mutations have given 46 identified clones in France alone. Worldwide estimates range from 200 to 1000 clones. Additionally, Pinot Noir is very susceptible to frost at budbreak, pests, fungal and viral infections. The berries of this cool climate-preferring variety are thin skinned and can dehydrate quickly and the wine may not retain its color for long periods or loose its aromas on bottling. Even fermentation is tricky as Pinot Noir has a tendency to very tumultuous fermentation which may cause it to violently bubble or “boil” up out of the container. The list is a litany of things that can turn a winemaker’s hair gray. The tiny (~60 square miles) Côte d'Or in Burgundy, France has been the benchmark for Pinot Noir for centuries. It is believed that the east-facing slopes of Burgundy make for optimal sun exposure without excessive heat and the chalky, well draining soils retain heat – all of which assist in ripening. Nonetheless, it is planted worldwide. (Perhaps Pinot Noir is like Golf: an endless and frustrating pursuit of something great and nearly elusive). It does well in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, In British Columbia and New Zealand. In California, it does well in Carneros and the Russian River Valley regions of the Sonoma AVA in the north. In the Central Coast, Monterey County (the Pinnacles and the Santa Lucia Highlands) and the Santa Maria Valley and Sta. Rita Hills produce outstanding Pinot Noir. It is often described as delicate and light bodied and having a soft texture. The aromas and flavors are the most distinct and identifiable and most complex of all varieties. Common fruit aromas are: cherry, raspberry, ripe tomato and strawberry. It can express floral notes or rose or violet. Spice is a big element of Pinot Noir: cardamom, caraway, cinnamon, cola, clove, nutmeg, pepper, rosemary and sassafras. Some also describe a peppermint quality. It can also show aromas and flavors that some sources place in the herbal category: beet, black olive, green tomato, green tea, oregano and rhubarb. More earthy elements found in Pinot Noir are earth (moist earth), barnyard, mushroom and truffle. In addition leather, meat (raw or grilled) can also be seen. Pinot Noirs rarely have the make up to last past a decade but with age they can show oak characteristics as well as tobacco and smoke.
The fruit for the Monterey tier of Carmel Road wines are sourced form vineyards in the Monterey and Arroyo Seco AVAs: Hacienda, Porter, Rancho Tierra, Valley View, and Clark Ranch (in the Arroyo Seco AVA). These vineyards, on well-draining alluvial soils with elements of decomposing granite, are meticulously farmed in a sustainable manner. The majority of the vineyards are in Monterey's Salinas Valley whose mouth opens onto Monterey Bay. This allows cooling fog to roll in between the Santa Lucia and Gabilan mountain ranges. Cool winds sweep through in the middle of the day. As a result, temperatures rarely exceed 75 F. Only the southernmost microclimates, in the hillsides, get warmer. There is minimal annual rainfall in this region and the Salinas River provides ample irrigation. The region has one of the world’s longest growing seasons, which allows for wines from grapes grown in the Monterey AVA to have great balance through slow ripening. The Clark Ranch vineyard is in the western edge of the Arroyo Seco AVA, at the mouth of the Arroyo Seco Canyon. This area is warmer than the rest of the Salinas Valley. The Arroyo Seco AVA is distinguished by much lower salinity soils than the rest of Salinas Valley. There is a gradient of salt and mineral content in the soils from east to west. This is attributable to the water of the Arroyo Seco River which drains the Santa Lucia Highlands, and flows into the Arroyo Seco AVA. The underlying water table dilutes the salinity of the high mineral soils of the Salinas Valley. The Clark Ranch vineyard sits on soils at the lowest salinity end of that spectrum. The Porter is to the north, east of Highway 101. Closer to the bay, this vineyard experiences somewhat cooler temperatures.
Part of the upper-tier Artisans & Estates portfolio of wines offered by the Jackson family (headed by Jess Jackson of Kendall-Jackson), the Carmel Road wines are produced from the Monterey and Arroyo Seco AVAs. The winery is dedicated to showcasing the terroir of Monterey County by producing quality Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Bill Hammond is the vineyard manager for Carmel Road. Careful attention to appropriate canopy management and crop thinning is part of his contribution to the pursuit of "luxury, world-class wines". Winemaker Ivan Giotenov believes in minimal handling of the fruit: Night-harvested Chardonnay is whole-cluster, small lot fermented in barrel.
The two tiers are subjected to slightly different regimens. The Monterey tier Chardonnays are barrel aged for 7 months and the Monterey tier Pinot Noir is barrel aged for about 10 months. The Arroyo Seco tier Chardonnay is 100% barrel fermented, allowed to go through complete malolactic fermentation and barrel aged for up to 15 months before being bottle aged another 6 months. The Arroyo Seco tier Pinot Noir is unfined and aged 12 - 16 months in French oak and bottle aged for at least 6 more.
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5 points |
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Nose |
3 points |
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Palate |
3 points |
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Finish |
3 points |
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Tannins |
5 points |
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Acidity |
5 points |
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Alcohol |
5 points |
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Aging potential |
2 points |
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Overall quality |
8 points |
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