Alice White Pulls Off The Upset In Pinot Noir Tasting

There is a certain football analyst that I am fond of who likes to say “And that is why they play the games.” He says that because, just because one team is favored by a lot over another team it doesn’t mean they are always going to win. It happens almost every week in the NFL and this month it happened at the KensWineGuide.com tasting panel of Pinot Noir. The upset winner was the 2006 Alice White, Pinot Noir from South Eastern Australia. The winning score was an 89.25 which is at the top of our Very Good scale. So how did this underdog pull out the victory? Consistency!! Everyone on the panel except one taster thought the wine was Very Good or better. When you throw out the top score and the bottom score, this wine averaged out to be the best. It appealed to everyone. When the panel found out what it cost, they thought it was a steal. So like the old man golfer, who doesn’t hit the ball very far, but he is always down the middle. When the scores are all added up, he is usually the winner in the clubhouse because of that consistency. The big hitter, sometimes goes in the woods and as a result doesn’t always win. The tasting panel reviewed 15 Pinot Noirs and recommended 7 of them. You know our upset winner. However, for my money the 2 best Pinot Noirs where the 2^nd and 3^rd place wines. So why didn’t they win? If the panel was only built of tasters who liked big and structured Pinot Noir, then the Hartford Court “Lands Edge,” $45 from Sonoma, CA and the 2005 Staete Landt, $23 from New Zealand would have stolen the show and scored Very Good + or better. So why didn’t they achieve such scores? They are real big wines, which is not necessarily appealing to everyone. They were highly recommended by the panel, but some panel members felt they were a little too big. That can happen with Pinot. I have found over the years that it is less of a crowd pleasing and appealing wine. Tasters tend to have differing and definitive opinions when it comes to Pinot. There does not seem to be such a dichotomy with other red grapes. Perhaps it is because of the various flavor nuances that Pinot displays. In the law of averages, there will be some people that just won’t like some of them. This also presents another opportunity to remind readers that the actual number isn’t the most important factor in the KensWineGuide.com scoring system. We are building a consensus. Whether it is our panel’s score or the accumulation of other professional scores, we believe if 2 or more professionals rate a wine as Very Good or better you are most likely going to be satisfied with the wine. The more recommendations the better. Will it be Excellent or Very Good? That will come down to your individual palate. The rest of the results are as follows: The 2005 Hartford Court “Lands Edge,” $45 came in 2nd place with a solid 89 score. I found my review of this wine blind to be consistent with my notes from February when I rated the wine Excellent. I rated this wine a 94, but as you can see by the overall score, not everyone necessarily agreed. It’s a big Pinot that will appeal to Cabernet and Syrah drinkers. It is well balanced, layered, and distinctive.

The 2005 Staete Landts, $23 came in third place with a score of 88.88. Again, I thought the wine was a (92) or Very Good +, but the panel held back on this wine. It is juicy, acidic, and a bit spicy. I really liked this wine.

Our fourth place finisher was an old standby. La Crema has been making consistently good Pinot Noir for a long time. The 2005 La Crema, $34 from the Russian River was a little softer that previous vintages. Many panel members would place this food friendly wine on their Thanksgiving table.

Recommended wines 5-7 are all value priced Pinots that again have the broad based appeal of the Alice White. They are also quite affordable. The 2005 J & F Lurton “Les Salices” for $10 from Minervois, France was a very smooth and appealing wine. The 2005 Carmel Road Pinot for $16.50 from Monterey, CA would appeal to those that like lower end French Burgundy. Finally, the 2006 Robert Mondavi “Private Reserve” for $11 from California is a round and zesty Pinot that the panel thought would be a satisfying glass pour option at your local pub.

In conclusion, if you like more full bodied Pinot Noir, grab the Hartford Court and the Staete Landt. If you are looking for more of a food friendly and easy drinking Pinot Noir, you can’t go wrong with the Alice White, the Jacques Francis, and the La Crema. The bottom line is there is a Pinot for everyone. However, you may have to do a bit of experimenting to find the one that is best for you. Cheers – Ken