Wine of the Month July 2008
Eric Kent Wine Cellars
2006 Stiling Vineyard Pinot Noir
(Russian River Valley, Sonoma CA)
Yes, I realize the month of July is almost over, and I'm only now getting to the montly post. Hopefully, I'll have August up soon. It's been a while since we've featured a California Pinot as our wine of the month, but I think we have found a gem with the Eric Kent 2006 Stiling Vineyard Pinot from the Russian River Valley of Sonoma, California.
First, let me say that this week was the first time I have ever heard of Eric Kent Wine Cellars. I was enjoying a day off strolling down the main thoroughfare in olde Del Mar, and stumbled upon a wine shop in the small retail space formerly occupied by Fumar Cigar Shop. They've now moved the cigar humidor to the back of the shop, and feature a small but interesting assortment of small-scale West Coast wines in the front. I almost lauged when I saw the label for the Eric Kent Stiling Vineyard Pinot. It was rather artistic with a retro bumble bee painting and some Chinese letters, but could this be a serious wine, or just another fly-by night Aussie Shiraz from the Mollydooker/Marquis Phillips conglomerate? The wine label said "This Moment" on the front, whatever that meant. When I flipped the wine over, I found out the name of the wine was not "This Moment", but this was a 2006 Pinot Noir from Eric Kent Wine Cellars, using grapes harvested from the Stiling Vineyard. It turns out that the winery simply features artwork from up and coming artists for it's wine labels, and the label artwork really has nothing to do with the winery itself. For anyone interested in the label art, it was from a painting by California artist Tony Spiers.
I asked the guy working the counter if this was serious wine, or just a gimmick, and he assured me it was good wine. I have a soft-spot for Russian River Valley Pinot, so I purchased a bottle for $42, and came home and tried it. The wine was excellent, assuming you like modern styled Russian River Valley Pinot. The alcohol content was fairly high (15.1%), but was hidden well. If you have been yearning to get some of the Russian River Pinot from Kosta-Browne, Kutch, or some of the other"mailing list only wineries", here is your chance to get something very similar without having to jump through hoops.
Now I know people will throw stones at me for saying this, but a lot of the best quality Russian River Pinots are starting to taste very similar. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing. If climate and soils are similar, the grapes will be similar. Once one has figured out optimal winemaking techniques for these grapes, it makes sense to copy what works. I'm sure word travels fast in the winemaking world, and although each vineyard is a little different, and each winemaker puts his own twist on the final product, I find more similarities than differences when it comes to the top-flight Russian River Pinots (and the same argument can be made for the best Santa Lucia Highland Pinots for that matter, but that's a different story).
I love the Pinots from Kosta Browne, and feel fortunate to get an annual allocation of their wines. I have rarely mentioned them on this site because there is a waiting list to get onto their mailing list, and the wine is, in effect, unavailable to most consumers. I found the Eric Kent Stiling Vineyard Pinot to be very similar to KB's Russian River Pinot. The bouquet was a little more subdued, but enticing nonetheless with a fiery aroma of baked cherry, menthol, smoke, and even a little cinammon. The palate follows with wild cherry and strawberry, and the finish is nice.
All in all, this was a very nice wine. It was a full-bodied Pinot, and would go well with some dishes ordinarily a little too heavy for a lighter Pinot. You could drink this with salmon, ciopinno, lamb, or beef. The only thing holding me from a higher score was the wine tasted just a bit hot for my taste.
4 stars. Purchased for $41.95 at the Del Mar Village Wine Market in (olde) Del Mar at 1342 Camino Del Mar, just south of the 15th Street Plaza on the west side of the street. The Wine shop can be accessed online by visiting http://www.winedelmar.com. The wine can also be purchased at the winery's web site at http://www.EricKentWines.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
