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EP 992 Blind Tasting of Pinot Noirs from Around the World

Gary Vaynerchuk blind tastes 3 Pinot Noir wines from 3 different continents.

Wines tasted in this episode:

2008 L’arlot Petit Arlot Nuits St. GeorgesNuits Ste Georges
2008 Mt Difficulty Pinot Noir Central OtagoNew Zealand Pinot Noir
2008 Lachini Pinot Noir EstateWillamette Pinot Noir

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luca bercelli

91/100

Lines of the day – ‘Almost like a hot dog flavour mid-palate’ and ‘This wine is struggling to find itself much like the teenagers that Gaga sings for.’

Great show – amazing to watch just how accurate GV can be with these blind tastings. The guy is a genius.

Tags: Blind Tasting, Pinot Noir, red, review, Video, wine, wines

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  • Cubatobaco (Ray)

    QOTD: For me, its any white that I find amazing, when my circle (Steve R), says that all white wines are pretty much terrible. It’s closed minded in my opinion. But for me, I had a bottle of Sloan Cab that I thought was just awful and couldn’t imagine dropping dough on that bottle. Thank God it wasn’t mine.

    8 to go!

    PS – Mott, fix the email notification or something..thanks!

  • Cubatobaco (Ray)

    Loved the review!

  • Cubatobaco (Ray)

    As a fellow Virginian, I agree! Norton is not that good. Good call!

  • QOTD: I an keen about a particular Valpilicella that doesn’t get much love around these parts, La Caleselle; it might be a typical table wine, yet I still enjoy it.

  • Anonymous

    QOTD: Discrepancy wine for me is the Minassian Young Vineyards – Zinfandel… I see the stuff absolutely everywhere BTG in So Cal and I enjoy the label and the winemaker but disagree with the buyers. Seems to under deliver awkwardly and loaded with VA.

    Who the JETS drafting this year? When you play FF Baseball do you and your buds go AL only like the East Coast Honks or Both leagues… just curious

  • I, too, agree on the Norton and you and Brandon from VA? We should get together sometime and enjoy some vino. I live in Rockville, MD and work in DC. Maybe a cooking demo at L’Auberge Chez Francois? Tons of wine to enjoy with great food.

  • Leatherpalate

    That or it just stinks. I’ve blinded this up for peeps several times and it has been called out as borderline flawed. No biggie..

  • Fight, for the Right, to Party!

  • t4drman

    QOTD: After enjoying early on, revisited the 2000 Monbousquet and thought it fell right on its face this last Christmas (am I allowed to say Christmas?). Also a very similar situation with a 2002 Caymus. Should have been winners but to my palate, lost their magic.

  • Anonymous

    Good show, but you didn’t use the proper Riedel shape glass to taste these Pinot Noir’s.

    QOTD: I LOVED the 2001 Chateau Montelena Cabernet and WS gave it a 79!

  • t4drman

    I hear you on the St. Cosme. Excellent whites. Try their Condrieu.

  • I’m with you…have tried the Gascon a couple of times, and it just did not hit the mark…OK, but not delish. Maybe Parker tasted it on vacation in Argentina?

  • whoa! screwed by Disqus…totally showed up in the wrong place…and I’ve been so lucky, considering the many complaints…

  • Anonymous

    A good episode. I am not an expert nor a huge of Pinot Noir but have tried several different examples. Nothing has been outstanding but there are many more to try.

    QOTD – Still being relatively new to this I do not have a big letdown. I do have one wine that I thought was really good and was named as one of the top 100 for Best Value and that was Barco Negro from Portugal. Several folks were not impressed as I recall but I thought it was great.

  • QoTD: Marquis Phillips Shiraz. I love it, you said you don’t care for it.

    7 to go, my friend.

  • I’m with you…have tried the Gascon a couple of times, and it just did not hit the mark…OK, but not delish. Maybe Parker tasted it on vacation in Argentina?

  • Anonymous

    Have never tried any of these Pinots but will put on the list. I drank a 2005 Dominus about 2 weeks ago which was rated 95 points by Parker and just was not that good. I think its in that sleeping stage as I had it a couple of years ago and it was delicious. I think it just needs more time in the bottle.

  • right on…GV knocking it out of the park again on the educated guessing…no price guesses this time though. Was kind of hoping KMurph was going to throw a low-end into the mix.
    Do I sense a deep discount on the Mt. Difficulty coming up?

    QOTD: I guess there’s been something in either direction as of late vs. Wine Spectator…
    got a preview of a Chilean Pinot from Casablanca the week before last ( and I was rooting for it) Lomas del Valle…it was acceptable, OK, but just had too much heat at 14.5%, and it threw the balance…this month WS has it for 89pts.
    In the other direction, I’ve enjoyed tasting the Frangiacorta bubblies from Barone Pizzini, and thought they were pretty spiffy…WS had them in the way low 80’s.
    OH well…

  • Anonymous

    Interesting show. Don’t be afraid to call them out!

    QOTD: Paolo Bea Sagrantino 2003… 86 points WS, a home effing run for me. GV showed it some love too with a 96 point rating if I recall correctly!

    On the highball, can’t remember the name of it, but 94+ RP, $65 Chateauneuf du Pape I bought for a special occasion on a recommendation. It was TERRIBLE and BORING and had nothing to it that was even remotely interesting. What a terrible waste.

  • Anonymous

    Gotta agree with you. I didn’t spit it out – but it goes down as the weirdest wine I’ve tasted in a long time. Tasted like meat. I don’t mean ‘meaty’ as in full, I mean raw meat, rubbed in dirt served with sauce of under ripe berries. I think it also had a whack of VA. I re-watched the show at the time – and still couldn’t get it. I think the wild yeast got the best of it – before he hit it with real yeast to make sure it completed the fermentation. Kind of reminded me of a belgian lambic beer – when you were expecting a clean hoppy lager. Just wrong.

  • Joe Roberts over at http://www.1winedude.com, had a funny rundown of his take-aways from the 2011 Professional Wine Writer’s Symposium…in particular, his response to the Napa Pinot tasting was:
    6) Napa Valley Pinot Noir stole my girl, kicked me in the jimmy, and then took my lunch money.
    his review of that beating is there as well…

  • Anonymous

    To me the show with Dominus happens at age 15-20 years. Everything integratrates and you get the fruit of California and the complexity and nuance of Bordeaux. I love it. But like you, I’m not usually that impressed when the wine is young.

  • Anonymous

    EDIT – GV went 97+ on the Paolo Bea! Agreed, man, ….agreed. Its that good.

  • Anonymous

    QOTD: Molly Dooker – The Boxer. 2007. “93 points by Jay Miller at The Wine Advocate and 90 points by Harvey Steiman at the Wine Spectator ” For me this was waaay over the top – so much alcohol heat I couldn’t taste anything else.

  • Anonymous

    QOTD: Molly Dooker – The Boxer. 2007. “93 points by Jay Miller at The Wine Advocate and 90 points by Harvey Steiman at the Wine Spectator ” For me this was waaay over the top – so much alcohol heat I couldn’t taste anything else.

  • John__J

    yeah I dont get how that wine couldve gotten those scores either

  • Anonymous

    Agree. The one Marcassin Chd that I had absolutely delivered the goods.

  • Jared Levy

    QOTD: 2007 Orin Swift “The Prisoner” Zin. I just don’t understand all the hype over this wine, it’s mediocre gloppy zinfandel at best. Did not enjoy it, AT ALL!

    Also, this goes for every Caymus wine ever made. I can’t drink the stuff.

  • Ditto! Loved it too.

  • Do you think it’s because Parker doesn’t like Pinots? That’s what I’ve heard.. I don’t pay attention to his Pinot reviews.. I think he likes big, bold reds.

  • Agree.. Heitz was good in the 90s.. (like Silver Oak)

  • First off I love seeing Pinot on the show and I love how well the WV Pinot showed.

    QOTD: Had a bottle of 2004 Cayuse Syrah. 98 points RP and a $200 pricetag. Hated it. Thought it was way to funky/barnyardy and unbalanced. Quite disappointing. Just glad that I was not the one who had thrown down the bills for it

  • Anonymous

    QOTD – Not that I’ve ever seen a score on this wine, but David Fulton makes the best Petite Sirah in America in my opinion (not that I’ve had them all). The ’05 and ’06 were ridiculously good. My local wine shop put the ’07 in their top five wines of 2011. I just don’t see it. It has to be on rep alone as they’re the one’s who “discovered” Fulton, at least here in Central Cali. Good wine, not that good.

    I think this would have to be a tough show to do. What else can be said about Pinot. But you made it great. Really good job. Although a tiny bit, even 45 seconds, of info about Pinot for the noobs might have been nice.

    Thanks again my dude!

    Yours,

    B.S.

  • Good show.. appreciated your honesty about the Mt Difficulty, Gary.

    QOTD: 1. Bodegas LAN Rioja Culmen Reserva 2004 – 96- WS Very disappointing. Loved other vintages though… not sure what happened here.
    2. Tamarack Cellars Firehouse Red – #49 on WS top 100 wines of 2010 – what were they thinking?

  • Anonymous

    Love the brown bags. Nice tasting notes Gary, great choices KM.
    QOTD; Nine Points

  • Anonymous

    QOTD: 2007 Pahlmeyer Jayson Pinot Noir rated by WS 88pts. I felt it should have been 91ish range. I know its not a huge difference but I feel that the gap between an 89 point wine and 90 is larger than any other. (In professional critic minds).

  • Pinot “around the world”? And again one from NZ, one from the US and one from France. Come on kmurph, where is a Alto Adige, German or Chilien Pinot? There is so much out there to discover!

    @QOTD
    It was a 1990 Figeac at a tasting of our wine drunkenmonday wine group. Nearly all guys at the table loved it (up to 97 points), I felt it was minimal cork effekted an scored it a 84.

  • Anonymous

    qotd: I don’t really care about scores.

    Your comment about the first pinot as having gamay-like characteristics made me realize that I’ve got to request a show on pinot-gamay blends like you can find from cheverny or passetoutgrains. I don’t think you’ve ever mentioned them, right?

  • Anonymous

    It’s Wine Spectator, and THEY don’t even know what they’re thinking!

  • Anonymous

    Nice show again! Thank you. I love it when you taste wines you hate (and you don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings – is that really so?).
    QOTD: Penfolds Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon, some older vintage (haven’t tried it since). I hated it and felt very irritated by its price of some 35 ?.

  • Nick

    I agree w Nico. One or two more bottle could have been added to make the show a bit longer. If not a different selection could have given a nice twist to the show. This show was way to ‘standard’

  • Anonymous

    He does like big wines, but don’t know if I’d go so far as to say he doesn’t like Pinot; after all, he’s co-owner of one of the best (IMO) – Beau Freres. Recent recipients of mid-ninties-and-up have included: Brewer-Clifton, Calera (97 for Jensen Vyd), Lucia, Melville, Pisoni (98 pts!), and one of my personal favorites, Roar. I believe Beau Freres ‘Upper Terrace’ and ‘Estate’ bottlings are some of the most Burgundian Pinot produced, but patience is required as they need at least 5-6 years to blossom. Again, just my impression!

  • Anonymous

    It felt a little rushed to me.

  • Anonymous

    I think they were pretty big wines, Kosta Brown and kite something. Fairly high priced but tasty for the pinotphobe in me.

  • Anonymous

    up

  • Anonymous

    Don’t look at the wines till they are revealed! Ruins the surprise

  • Anonymous

    The above was in reply to Lisa on page two. Of course.

  • 2006 is a very traditional vintage, 2007 is a exploding fruit tasting vintage. I visited CdP last septmeber and asked a couple of vintners what they tought of the future for these, most replied 07 will have this exploding fruit for a while and probably outlast the 06, but the 06 is more the classical CdP.
    Fun for you to find something new, these wines are sometimes the best tasting wines you can find

  • shall we ask Mott?

  • BTW were is the thank you from Virginia tech to Gary, since he on mondays episode announced that he will go there?

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