Fresh red berries and licorice dominate the nose – along with a greenhouse-like aura – as well as the grainy palate of Adelsheim’s 2011 Pinot Noir Calkins Lane Vineyard, a vintage-typical, tart edge lending invigoration but also accentuating the wine’s tannic grit, fine-grained though it may be. There is a vibratory sense of energy to the finish, though I would have welcomed even greater sheer, fresh fruit juiciness. Look for this to perform well through at least 2017. (Tasted alongside, the 2010 is displaying considerable tannin, too, but also the sort of floral nuance as well as mouthwatering salinity of which I wrote when reviewing it for issue 2010. The corresponding 2011 Syrah was a bit awkwardly astringent.)
Adelsheim winemaker David Paige maintains, “I instantly became a better winemaker when I finally let go of worrying about why it is that grapes from one site taste so different from those harvested elsewhere and focused instead on making the best wine out of them.” The occasion for his remark was a comparison of adjacent Quarter Mile Lane and Bryan Creek Vineyards, which were planted from the same Adelsheim mother block on soils and with exposures identical as nearly as their proprietor and his team let alone yours truly can tell. “Sure, we handle the fruit a bit differently now,” notes Paige, “but that’s in response to the differences we observe right off the vine.” Paige insists, though, that he is anything but a recipe winemaker even relative to a given vineyard or block. “I drive some of the people who work with me crazy I do so much tasting in the cellar, because what I suggest we do with this particular fermentor based on how it’s tasting today might be 180 degrees removed from what I thought we were going to want to do a day or two ago. But now I have more data.” (For a capsule history of this estate and details on its nowadays extensive vineyards, consult my issue 202 report.)
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