Mr. Ross

This weekend we opened a bottle of 2004 Fort Ross Pinot Reserve and were pleasantly surprised. Usually we open a Patassy of a Domaine Serene, but we decided to treat ourselves to the wondrous delight of opening a bottle labeled as "reserve." That little word however is very subjective, for what is reserve quality for one may be quite less or quite more for another. However, this bottle was a reserve in the word's very essence. Straight from the bottle it held its flavor and color - very little time was needed for aeration or for opening. Cherry and Vanilla. All the way through this beauty held intense notes of cherry and vanilla. A wonderful balance between acidity and tannins. Beautiful and elegant. And quite inhibiting when one is attempting to write a paper for a history professor. Quite so.

As a side note, I have been spending more time with my uncle and aunt since they live close to Davis, and two of the more memorable bottles that we have recently opened were the 2007 Broken Stones Saxum, and the 2000 One Acre Littorai Anderson Valley Pinot. Both were absolutely stunning, leading me to abandon (or more like pour out) the Hess cabernet I was currently working on. Saxum never fails in seducing me.

We worked in the vineyard this past weekend, feeding the smaller shoots through the second vineyard. The front vines are healthy and tall, but the grenache in the back vineyard is insane, like always. We have already added a subsequent top wire. And the berries are much more advanced in the back as well. Can't wait for harvest, although this odd spring whether and the cool temperatures and rain mean that verasion and harvest will be much later than usual. We'll probably be picking close to November.