Sunday, July 27, 2003
A nice size group of WinePals joined Pinot Noir producer Brian Loring of the Loring Wine Company for an evening of wine and conversation at Restaurant 808 last evening. Loring, who made his first batch of wine in 1999 has consistently made some of the Central Coast's better small lot (read hard to find, great to have in your collection) Pinot Noir. Sourcing great fruit from the Santa Lucia Highlands in Monterey, Western Santa Barbara's Santa Rita Hills and Santa Maria, Loring's five different releases are as different as different can be. Brian was also kind and generous enough to bring verticals of his highly sought after Clos Pepe and Gary's Vineyards' 2002, 2001 and 2000 wines, plus the Brousseau, Roselle and Ontavaros vineyards. Brian makes about 150 cases of each wine and looks forward to the day when he can make up to 5000 cases of wine. Then he can quit his day job.
Of the three newer vineyards he's working with the '02 Brousseau stood out early as my favorite, offering a delightful pie crust, black raspberry and slight eucalyptus aroma, and a saturated fruit finish. The Ontavaros (Santa Maria Valley) though was no slouch either. Offering a slight pepper touch on the attack, the wine developed very well as the night wore on, wowing some of the crowd when tasted with food. Of the three new wines, this is the most typical of what one thinks of when tasting Central Coast Pinot Noir.
The real treats of the night though were the Pepe (Santa Rita Hills) and Gary's (Santa Lucia Highlands) releases. The 2000's were just amazing, and showed how much an extra year in the bottle can mean to both of them. While the Gary's was silky and sensual, the Pepe was a massive, smoky, hedonistic wine that makes you wonder at first if it's Pinot Noir. The 2001's are the most backwards, both the Gary's and Clos Pepe took a while to open. When they did, each revealed amazing levels of fruit concentration, and scintillating flavors.
But it was the 2002's that gave a glimpse into the future. The wines which Brian had decanted twice before bringing them in sterilized Perrier bottles direct from the winery, were very aromatic, and while the Pepe showed a little bit of oak still in the wine, the Gary's was already drinking in the same style as the sublime 2000 edition. This unParkerized wines are worth seeking out or ordering direct from Brian's website www.loringwinecompany.com
Cheers,
Andy Abramson
Of the three newer vineyards he's working with the '02 Brousseau stood out early as my favorite, offering a delightful pie crust, black raspberry and slight eucalyptus aroma, and a saturated fruit finish. The Ontavaros (Santa Maria Valley) though was no slouch either. Offering a slight pepper touch on the attack, the wine developed very well as the night wore on, wowing some of the crowd when tasted with food. Of the three new wines, this is the most typical of what one thinks of when tasting Central Coast Pinot Noir.
The real treats of the night though were the Pepe (Santa Rita Hills) and Gary's (Santa Lucia Highlands) releases. The 2000's were just amazing, and showed how much an extra year in the bottle can mean to both of them. While the Gary's was silky and sensual, the Pepe was a massive, smoky, hedonistic wine that makes you wonder at first if it's Pinot Noir. The 2001's are the most backwards, both the Gary's and Clos Pepe took a while to open. When they did, each revealed amazing levels of fruit concentration, and scintillating flavors.
But it was the 2002's that gave a glimpse into the future. The wines which Brian had decanted twice before bringing them in sterilized Perrier bottles direct from the winery, were very aromatic, and while the Pepe showed a little bit of oak still in the wine, the Gary's was already drinking in the same style as the sublime 2000 edition. This unParkerized wines are worth seeking out or ordering direct from Brian's website www.loringwinecompany.com
Cheers,
Andy Abramson
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