2003 Deerfield Ranch Pinot Noir Jemrose Vineyard

Type Red
Producer Deerfield Ranch
Variety Pinot Noir
Vineyard Jemrose Vineyard
Country USA
Region California
SubRegion Sonoma County
Appellation Bennett Valley
Price $34.99 at WineQ



It's THIIIIISSSSSS big!

Night One

The nose is rich and sweet, with sweet cherry, vanilla, toasted coconut and meringue.

The palate is equally big and sweet, with sweet cherries, blueberries, and loads of vanilla. There is chocolate on the mid-palate. This is very sweet, very woody.

The label says "Pinot Noir" and nothing else, but if I were tasting it blind, I would bet there was some Petite Syrah in the mix, thought that would be a rather unique blend.

Night Two

The nose showed more depth on Night Two, adding some balsa and sage to sweet cherries and vanilla, along with some meatiness, like the crisp outside of a sage-rolled pork roast.

The palate, too, shows more depth, as well as deeper, dark fruit. It opens, not with sweet cherries and blueberries, but dark cherries and prunes, plus smoked meat and sage. Dried cranberries and marjoram appear on the mid-palate, followed by vanilla and toasted almonds. The finish is sweet, but falls off quickly.

Acids are low, tannins mild, but the two are just a bit out of balance. The lack of acid does not bode well for a long cellar life.





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2001 Deerfield Ranch Syrah Ladi's Vineyard

Type: Red
Producer: Deerfield Ranch
Variety: Syrah
Vineyard: Ladi's Vineyard
Country: USA
Region: California
SubRegion: Sonoma County
Appellation: Sonoma County
Price: $39.99 from WineQ (full disclosure- this was a free sample from WineQ)



The Little Wooden Guy does a happy dance. This is good stuff.

Night One

Terrific funk. The nose opens with terrific funk, rich, dirty, earthy, barnyard funk. The deeper you dive into the glass, the more it rewards with layers of aromas. Black fruit and black pepper lie just under the funk, but that is not all. Deeper, below the fruit, are coffee, very dark chocolate, and tobacco. This is one of those wines you can sit and smell so long you forget to drink it. I won't let that happen. So go on to the next paragraph and drink along with me. Hang on a second, one more whiff.

Blackcurrant and blackberry, sprinkled with black pepper, open the palate. Smoky meat, a tiny drop of real licorice, and a wafting tendril of hickory smoke join the fruit on the mid-palate. Tannins are absolutely silky, mouth-feel is smooth and soft. The finish is long, not just lingering, but adding spice and fruit a full twenty to thirty seconds after the wine is gone.

Wow! Three hours later, and the nose is EXACTLY like oak burned by a very high rpm table saw.

Come back tomorrow for Night Two and the reaction from The Wooden Guys.

Night Two

On Night Two, the nose is far more mild. The funk is gone. The black fruits are far more sedate, spiced with an equally reduced pinch of black pepper.

Blackberry is more dominant that blackcurrant on Night Two, on the palate. Acids are bright and it sparkles with prickly pepper. the mid-palate is far smokier on Night Two, the licorice just barely an echo. The finish is even longer, and once again seems to grow and glow after the sip is gone.

Deerfield Merlot Cuvee 2004

The Wooden Guys take the gratuitous over-use of wood personally.

Deerfield Ranch Winery
2004 Merlot Cuvee
North Coast
75% Merlot
10% Cabernet Sauvignon
7% Sangiovese
5% Malbec
3% Cabernet Franc
Alcohol 14.2%

From the bottlenotes:

Winemaking is a combination of art and science, cooking and chemistry. Like a memorable meal, it's first about the quality of the ingredients and then about interplay of flavors, textures and techniques. Our merlot cuvee is all this in the glass. Six of our favorite vineyards supplied the grapes. Our winemaking focused the individuality of each varietal. Long barrel aging gave them texture. The blend, done by taste, married them into a harmonious, fruit flavored sensation, each element playing on the other, nothing out of place, every sip memorable. We produced 2,000 cases.

Sante'

Night One

Black fruit, red fruit, fruit fruit fruit. Lots of fruit up in your snoot. Not just fruit, there's lots of wood. Do you like wood? Some wood is good. Too much wood, though can be bad. Too much wood, it makes me sad. Fruit and wood and something more. What's that more down in the core? Tobacco from the cabernet franc, cabernet franc added to the tank. It's time to drink, to drink and think. Will it be great or will it stink?

I sipped and tripped on all the oak, so much oak it's like a joke. Sure theres's fruit, it's plenty sweet, so very sweet I beat retreat. Vanilla, brown sugar, cherries and wood, too much too much is just not good.

Am I being fair or just trying to rhyme? I can rhyme at any time. Just watch me go- "blow, Joe, though, fro." It's really the wine. I thought you should know.

Will this be better on Night Two? Stick with me, my faithful crew.

Night Two

Wood defeats fruit.

Sticky vanilla oak juice.

Too much is too little.