On Saturday night Snooth, an online wine magazine, held their people’s voice awards grand tasting. The event was held at the Altman Building where I’ve attended wine events before.
This tasting was strictly a consumer event so it was more of a party than a business event; not that that’s a bad thing. The event had a good crowd with a good vibe and I managed to find enough interesting juice to keep me occupied.
I started the evening with some Pinot Noir. I had visited Cambria’s tasting room up in the hills when I did my Santa Barbara wine tour so I sampled the 2011 Pinot Noir “Julia’s Vineyard”. It was young and purple, juicy with bright cola fruit and nice balance. From Matanzas Creek, the 2011 Sauvignon Blanc was a mouthful of grapefruit. I stopped at Willamette Valley Vineyards and had the 2009 “Bernau Block” Pinot Noir which was light red with a nose of smokey black cherry, velvety with citrus notes on the finish. From Ferrari-Carano I had the 2010 “Siena” which was medium dark with a nose of dried herbs and red leather fruit on the balanced finish. I continued with Cali and had the Twomey Cellars 2008 Merlot. Dark red with black licorice on the chewy fruit. Silver Oak poured a couple of vintages on their Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2006 was black, tight with dark plum on the nose with some camphor on the tight finish. I thought the 2008 was hard and unbalanced. Chappellet Winery poured some interesting juice. The 2010 Signature Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon was black with a nose of dried herbs, it was big and chewy with a dusty finish. Their 2009 “Pritchard Hill” Cabernet Sauvignon was inky black with a closed nose, very concentrated with firm, dusty fruit on the finish. Jordan Vineyard’s 2010 Russian River Valley Chardonnay was the toasty and buttery style. They poured a library wine from a magnum, the 2003 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon was medium dark, concentrated with a nose of camphor, finished firm with crisp acids.
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