Pinot time baby! 2006 Lost Canyon Las Brisas Vineyard Los Carneros

Hey! Well it's been way less than a week since my last review but I picked up something so tasty I really wanted to share it. Now you may be asking "Umm Beau, why don't you review every wine you drink?" and that's legit. My answer though is: Because sometimes I don't want to. There, the unvarnished truth of the matter. That being said, I actually enjoy writing these reviews. They're fun for me and hopefully somewhat entertaining for you. I may not be a Gary Vaynerchuck or James Molesworth but I can certainly try to communicate to you how a wine makes me feel. BTW if you're at all into wine, google those two. Seriously. Anyways on to some backstory about this wine, I bought it from my old pals at San Diego Wine Company because they got a steal of a deal on it from their distributor. Presumably the winery wanted to vacate the old vintage and move towards the 2007. I paid 12$ for it, popped into my wine fridge for a while, and "found" it a few days ago.


Onwards to the review!

2006 Lost Canyon Las Brisas Vineyard Los Carneros Pinot Noir
You read the backstory, where I bought this and when. I admit it wasn't my Thanksgiving wine, instead I had something else that if I remember enough of, I'll blog about. This little gem is a different animal. I opened it and poured a small taste, noting color and opacity. It really looks as a Pinot should, light, almost delicate. That was my first clue that it might be something I really liked. I read the little blurb on the back of the bottle but didn't do much research beyond that, so I think this stuff is made from sourced fruit, not a winery-owned vineyard. I may be wrong though.

On the nose, immediate red cherry, spicebox, hints of oak and strawberry. Woohoo! That's cool! Just the barest touch of heat from the 14.5% alcohol but it's ok, if things are in balance, heat doesn't matter too much (to me at least). Great feeling of acidity, finally something that tastes like it doesn't have Syrah added. So now we taste it. BOOM! Acidity!!! Very nice, hints of toasty vanilla..so it's aged in American Oak right? Geez that acid is staying with me. I'm also picking up some dried cherry/cranberry aromas. Maybe even a touch of bittersweet chocolate. That kind that fancy people use for baking, but when us normal folks try it we make all scrunched up faces like it's not good at all and we've been fooled. You know what I mean? This is certainly interesting wine but as of now I'm feeling like it's a bit unbalanced, there's way too much emphasis on the acid and maybe even heat! My palate is feeling a bit awkward. Okay there's a hint of strawberry, maybe raspberry too but I really doubt it. I kinda like this stuff though, if for nothing else that it's so atypical of the California Pinots I've been trying lately. If anyone out there's reading right now, you may be confused. That's ok, I am too. Should I like this wine or not? It's tasty in some ways, refreshingly different, but how honest is it as a Pinot? Don't get me wrong, there's some lush, luxurious velvely textural qualities across the mid-palate which I really enjoy. Those are the strawb/raspberry notes I think I tasted earlier. Right, ok I can be somewhat decisive and say I do like this wine. Really, it's pretty cool and I'd actually recommend it for 12$.

Ok we get to the part where I score the wine. Overall, because it's priced so well I'm going with A-, that's A minus to you folks. It's a well done expression of Carneros Pinot, but it's got flaws. Noticeably it's got way too much heat and some unbalanced acid to deal with. Keep in mind though, I'm tasting this without accompanying food. Yea, I'm that hardcore, just the bottle, glass, and me. Would I recommend this? Yes I would, easily and happily. Would I buy a case? No, definitely not. A few more bottles to have with the fish, like Salmon or something. If you see this wine for 12$, buy a couple of bottles. You may enjoy it. That's about all I can say at this point, please feel free (as always) to email me with concerns or whatever. And as a small reminder, yes I do accept winery samples and yes they get a fair shot here. All wines do. Take care, talk to you pretty soon as I've got more wines to try!

Beau Carufel