Pinot Noir Archives -

Hamilton Russel Walker Bay Pinot Noir 2019 Review – Outlier Year

We love Hamitlon Russel in South Africa for their fine Chardonnays, and have always wanted to give one of their Pinot Noirs a try as we had always heard great things.

We stumbled upon a bottle of theirs from Walker Bay, produced in 2019, which had a rather interesting backstory. As it turns out, it was a bad year for smoke taint in Hemel-in-Aarde so Hamilton Russell seemingly made Pinot Noir from grapes procured from Walker Bay instead, making for an interesting outlier in the portfolio.

Naturally, we picked it up, and it was quite enjoyable even with this caveat!

The Champagne region is full of many famous producers whose names we easily recognize, but never have tried before.

After staring at Moet & Chandon's Imperial Brut at the store for many years, we decided that it was time to finally try this famous wine. After trying this, we do have to admit, we can see why it is popular- although we wish the flavors were as intense as the aromas!

We've read about Pol Roger Reserve Champagne for many years, and it is always one of those bottles we put off buying due to a slightly higher price point than we'd normally prefer.

When we finally decided to grab one of these, we wondered why it took us so long. Yes, the price can be fairly high, but it is also a rather delicious bottle of sparkling wine!

Arista is one of our favorite wineries in Sonoma, and makes some of the best Pinot Noir we've had in the USA.

Naturally, we became club members and regularly add bottles to our cellar to age.

Arista's Perli Vineyard Pinot Noir is one that we have the most of in our collection. Now that our first bottles, from the 2017 vintage, are now entering their drinking window, we thought we'd pull one out and see how they're stacking up!

El Pino Club's Sea Floored is a nod to the ancient sea floor where Sta. Rita Hills are now found, which enjoy a breeze from the Pacific to help keep these light reds refreshing and crisp.

For those who like a lighter style Pinot Noir from California, this is a bottle to consider!

We've been fortunate enough to try most of Champagne Dumenil's bottles due to them being available by a local distributor, and have tried many gems (including their Prestige Vieilles Vignes which has been one of our favorites we have tried to date).

Their Amour de Cuvee is a Blanc de Noir style made with Meunier and Pinot Noir which hit us with classic Champagne notes as well as modest lees and a bit of age to go along with it!

When we normally think about rose wine, we often think of young, fresh bottles meant to be enjoyed shortly after bottling.

But Cavaliere Nero Rose Reserva is not your typical rose, and this sparkling bottle from Trentodoc is meant to have a bit of age. We were fortunate enough to try a sample bottle of the 2015 for this review, and at nine years old this rose still has a lot of life left in it!

I have to admit, my experience with Trentodoc sparkling wines has been fairly limited. My first time I think I ever had one was on my WSET Diploma D4 exam, and since then, well, that was it. Truly, it was a region of sparkling wines that I knew very little about!

So when I had the opportunity to try some sample bottles provided courtesy of Trentodoc, I was quite excited to learn more about their traditional method wines from the region.

Up first? Monfort's Le General Dallemagne Extra Brut from 2015. With 60 months of lees and a few more years of time in bottle on top, this was one stellar bottle!

It should be no surprise that Arista was one of our favorite wineries in Sonoma from our last visit, and since then we have been building a cellar of their stellar Pinot Noirs as club members.

One of our favorite vineyard plots, Perli Vineyards, was one of our favorites and we have a modest collection that is sleeping for some age.

We decided to pull a bottle of this gem from our cellar from the 2019 vintage to check how it was doing at approximately four years old, and this one, naturally, still had a lot of youth in it while just starting to show signs of age!

We always love taking reader suggestions when it comes to delicious wine, and Champagne Vilmart & Cie Grand Cellar was one such bottle.

This beautiful Champagne was nicely balanced and had a decent hit of lees character while starting to show some tertiary development. Although the price for this one was a bit higher than what we'd prefer (particularly in the USA), it was a great one to try all the same.

Hamilton Russel Walker Bay Pinot Noir 2019 Review – Outlier Year

Moet & Chandon Imperial Brut Review – A Delicious Champagne

Pol Roger Reserve Brut NV Review – A Lot Going On

Arista Perli Vineyard 2017 Review – Even Better With Age

El Pino Club Sea Floored Pinot Noir 2021 Review – Lighter California

Champagne Dumenil Amour de Cuvee Review – Classic Champagne

Revi Cavaliere Nero Rose Reserva 2015 Review – Aged Rose

Monfort Le General Dallemagne Extra Brut 2015 Review

Arista Winery Perli Vineyard Pinot Noir 2019 Review – A Gem

Champagne Vilmart & Cie Grand Cellar Review – Nicely Balanced