WTN: 4 Pinots from 3 places

These were not tasted together but represents a mini-compendium over the last month or so.
From Burgundy:
Domaine Dublere, Beaune, 'Les Blanches Fleurs', 2009
I'm still trying to understand Blair Pethel's wines, liking what I've had so far but wondering what he is aiming for in a particular style or feeling? Upon opening, some lightly reductive, stewed notes, with pastille candy and light red fruits. Feels like a summer Burg. Put on a little weight the next day and the reductive notes cleared up. Pleasant enough, perhaps would have liked a little more going on in the bottle. 13%

Roland Thevenin, Beaune, 'Les Marconnets', 2010
Light and approachable and quite drinkable at present, with spicy cherry & strawberry and a sweet finish. An aspirated minerality shows through. The next day, it loses the sweet fruit and the minerality shows through much more pronounced, with the fruit becoming more cranberry and redcurrant. Not a bad wine for it's price tag (low $20's?), if I had another bottle I'd probably set it aside for awhile.

From South Africa:
Hamilton Russell, Pinot Noir, Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, 2010
Subdued pinot flavors. 'Correct' with cherry, plums and orange rind. Feels older in age than its years and heading toward maturity. Old World in style, good, but somewhat boring. With further airing (and chilling), more acidity comes out with redcurrants and blackish fruits, a little reminiscent of Rhys Family Farm but without the stems, and a lot cheaper at less than $30. 13.5%

From California:
Anthill Farms, Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, 'Tina Marie Vineyard', 2008
Toward the pinker end of pinot color. Candied fruit aromas of watermelon hard candies and Luden's cherry drops, along with a rose-like florality. Light in flavor and perception, but the alcohol clocks in at 14.3%, which you feel after a glass. Virtual nothing in the way of what I would call 'structure' in this wine, so not sure what it ages on. Interesting that this is grown in sandy soils, because this does share a certain textural quality with sand-grown grenache and nebbiolo (say from Roero).

[David M. Bueker]

That lack of structure is what drove me away from Anthill Farms Pinots.

That lack of structure is what drove me away from Anthill Farms Pinots.

I can see why, David. At least keeping them more in the "drink me now!" que...

These were not tasted together but represents a mini-compendium over the last month or so.
From Burgundy:
Domaine Dublere, Beaune, 'Les Blanches Fleurs', 2009
I'm still trying to understand Blair Pethel's wines, liking what I've had so far but wondering what he is aiming for in a particular style or feeling? Upon opening, some lightly reductive, stewed notes, with pastille candy and light red fruits. Feels like a summer Burg. Put on a little weight the next day and the reductive notes cleared up. Pleasant enough, perhaps would have liked a little more going on in the bottle. 13%

Hi Mark:

Thank you for the notes. I was going to post on this exact wine very soon, but since you already did, I'll add a few impressions. First of all, I thought that it was thin and lousy when I first opened it. Totally atypical for the 2009 vintage. Supposedly, I had read, this was about finesse, but all I got here was austerity. At least here weren't any green flavors.

Not being one to give up easily, however, I tried it again an hour later, and then, a couple hours after that. Over the course of the night, it picked up some much-needed weight and concentration. In the end, this was a light-bodied, subtle, elegant, Burgundy that I rather liked, with the truffle and earthy notes. My note says that whoever used the word 'fragile' to describe this wine was dead on. Still, I came to really like it - it just needed more patience from me.

I've never had any of Pethel's wines before, and my research suggests that this one wasn't necessarily typical of his style. He sounds like a classic non-interventionist. Blanches Fleurs is not a cru that I'd previously heard of, either - interestedly, not all of it is 1er cru.