Pinot Noir Tasting - February 2004

Moving on to Pinot Noir. Our first Pinot tasting featured a variety of wines spanning the globe - three Burgundies, a Canadian wine and an Oregonian wine. As you can see below, this was the most divided panel to date - three wines tied for first place.

Probably the biggest surprise of the evening was the strong showing for the Canadian Pinot Noir in a group of highly regarded wines. I put this in as a filler - I thought my Oregon wine would win...In summary, the contest concluded as follows:

Winners (three-way tie):

1999 Domaine Jacques Prieur, Beaune premier cru, “Clos de la Féguine”, C$69
Votes: Two First place (Cam, Ash), two Third place (Joe, Cosme)
2001 Quails’ Gate Family Reserve Pinot Noir C$35
Votes: Four second place votes (everyone's 'runner-up')
1999 Louis Jadot, Santenay “Clos de Malte” C$39.75
Votes: Two First place (Joe, Cosme), two Third place (Cam, Ash)

And the runners-up:

2000 Olivier Santenay C$33.25
Votes: mixed.
2001 Adelsheim Oregon Pinot Noir US$34
Votes: last place by all. I recall the bottle was corked.

Overall, my personal favourite was the Jadot "Clos de Malte", and the Leflaive Santenay was also very nice (and a better value), in my opinion, but obviously not as interesting for my peers.