July 2020 – Pinot Noir – or, your choice!
Our first tasting by Zoom was a very informal social event, with Pinot Noir as the optional feature, for us to drink and chat about what we were enjoying drinking during lockdown.
Alan led our discussion, while we drank at our own pace!
He had brought along four bottles that he had bought at the cellar door from two small family-owned producers:
J M Pillot, in the village of Mellecy, Chalonaise. The wines are made traditionally, from old vines.
- Mercurey Rouge AOC, 2015 – strawberries taste, with soft tannins
- Mercurey Premier Cru, En Sazenay, 2014. The premier cru wines are aged in 50% new oak. This had a stronger bouquet and taste, also strawberry flavours.
Lucien Jacob, in the village of Echevronne, Hautes Côtes de Beaune.
- Beaune Premier Cru, Les Avaux, 2014. This was closed and not ready yet. The tannins were still harsh.
- Gevrey Chambertin, En Songe, 2012. It was nicer and more full bodied than the Beaune and the Mercurey wines. The 2010 that Alan had recently tried was ready.
By contrast, a bottle of:
- 2007 Côte de Beaune by Pierre André, was drinking very well.
Three Pinot Noirs were brought along from the New World, all enjoyable to drink, without the same complexities as the Burgundies, and made to be drunk early.
One was from California:
- Edna Valley Pinot Noir 2017, £13.99 from Majestic. The vineyard has the coolest and longest growing season in California, with sea breezes and Pacific mists, making a long ripening season which is good for Pinot Noir development.
Two from New Zealand:
- Roaring Meg Pinot Noir 2018 Mount Difficulty, from Central Otago. This had been sold out by Majestic, at nearly half the price on sale at one other UK merchant, at about £16.
- Kahurangi Estate Heaphy Series Pinot Noir 2017, from Nelson.
One of us had brought along his preferred drink for this time of day and weather, of
- Muga Rioja Rosado, a rosé made mainly from Grenache, that he highly recommended. The current bottle on sale at Majestic is the 2019 vintage, £10.99 Mix Six/£12.99. Several of us invested!
We all enjoyed chatting on Zoom about these wines. We shall be arranging further such events, for members to keep in touch, for an hour in the early evening – because it looks as if our face-to-face tasting events in central London will be curtailed for some time to come.
There is no charge, but booking is required via our website. Hope to see you at another!
Rachel Burnett