Over the course of a week, I taste a bunch of wine, usually with friends, and almost always with my wife. Here are some of the wines we tasted this last week that stood out:

2006 Abiouness Pinot Noir Stanly Ranch: Retail ~$30. On the nose, a deep black raspberry nose with a bit of eucalyptus and heat (14.2%). After a swirl or two, the raspberry evolves into more of a sour cherry on the palate but overall, there is not a ton of fruit here, mostly acid and a hint of tannin. Certainly not an overblown fruit bomb, but rather a food friendly, nice pinot. Good to Very Good 86-88 Points.

2001 Au Bon Climat Pinot Noir Estate Grown: Retail ~$45. Popped and poured. Clearly bret on the nose here, very different than the previous two. Still that stewed cherry and acidity, but the bret was a bit tough. After a bit of time, the bret started to blow off a bit. When it did, it became much more enjoyable, even excellent. So what do you do? Rate the wine out of the bottle, the one at the end of the bottle, or the midpoint between the two? I will go with the better showing. Excellent to Outstanding. 90-92 points.

2006 Calstar Cellars Pinot Noir Londer Estate Anderson Valley: Retail ~$30. Popped and poured. I was rather impressed with this bottle—bright berry fruit with a hint of earth on the nose. Nicely balanced fruit, alcohol, and acidity. Medium finish. Very nice will get more, rick Davis is really doing a nice job…. Very Good to Excellent. 89-91 Points.

2007 Cosentino Winery Chardonnay The Chard: Retail $18. This wine seems to have reached the end of the line. We bought a case of this a little while ago for next to nothing and the first few bottles were quite good. With this bottle, the balance seems to be fading a bit and a tartness has appeared. While certainly not bad, I will be getting to the last bottle very soon. Average to Good 83-85 Points.

2002 Joseph Drouhin Chiroubles: Retail ~$20. There was a bit of bricking noticeable, but overall, it was not showing its age. On the nose, I picked up some Raspberry and Red Currant along with hints of raisin and even smokey bacon. On the palate, the red currant persists along with some stewed cherry and plum, and a meaty sherry aspect. Quite linear with light body and a short finish. Overall, it was not the most profound Beaujolais, but it fit in well with turkey leftovers. Good. 85-87 Points.

2010 Melini Chianti Borghi d’Elsa: Retail $12. I bought a case of this several months ago to have with pizza or pasta or when I did not feel like thinking too much about what I was drinking. This was one of those nights–I was watching a recording of the Tour and I had been on Total Media Blackout (TMB) so that the result would not be spoiled. The problem: The recording is 5 and a half hours long and I am still on European time and waking up at 4 a.m. The wine seems to have improved since the last go around, with a nice classic Chianti nose of black cherry and a bit of earthiness. There is also a bit of heat (an indicator of the alcohol being out of balance a bit). On the palate, certainly thin and the alcohol does indeed stand out. Short finish. Not horrible, by any means, especially given the price. Good. 84-86 Points.

2007 Siduri Pinot Noir Amber Ridge: Retail $45. Popped and poured. We picked these up from the winery a few years ago. A really great nose of cherry and spice, on the palate, the fruit was incredible, but not overblown by any means. Once again, Adam Lee does a superb job of balance–the fruit is there, but so is the right amount of acid and tannin. Really spectacular. Excellent to Outstanding. 92-94 points.

2009 Tallulah Chardonnay Farina Vineyard: Retail $30. Last week, in one of my articles, I railed a bit against those reviewers who only review ‘good’ wines. I stated with some bravado that I would review all the wines I receive as samples (I actually bought this one, though), regardless of the perceived quality. Little did I know it would happen so soon. Hmmmpf, where to start? There are not a ton of tasting notes for this wine on Cellar Tracker, but they all seem positive. I also have great respect for Mike Drash, the owner/winemaker. Although this wine did not seem flawed in any traditional way (e.g., cork, oxidized), it was not good. Very disjointed and odd. It seems to have gone through a full malolactic fermentation, but there is not much oak to support it–after a big opening on the palate, it disappeared. I am not sure what is going on here, but I have another three bottles and I will try and contact Mike. Unrated for now.
Note: I have since had two more bottles of this wine and both have been fantastic. Clearly, this was an off bottle.

NV Vilmart & Cie Champagne Cuvée Rubis: Retail ~$50. I have had this bottle for a while and decided it was time. Looks as though I might have waited a bit too long. One of the darkest rosé Champagnes I have ever had, the nose was a bit musty and muted. On the palate, the effervescence was a bit weak, but there were some nice notes of strawberry and raspberry. Good, but Disappointing. 84-86 Points.

WINE OF THE WEEK: I was almost tempted to go for one of the disappointing wines for wine of the week since they were certainly memorable (we had a bunch of people over for dinner and had the Vilmart and the Tallulah back-to-back which did not make the ‘Wine Guy’ look good), but this ‘award’ is really for the wines that excite not make me want to cry. I thought about going with the Calstar since it really was a nice bottle and the Chiroubles was a pleasant surprise (a friend of mine also had a bottle a while ago it and found it to be undrinkable). It all changed on Sunday night when we popped the Amber Ridge from Siduri. As I mentioned above, i am continually amazed by the wines that Adam churns out. Siduri does an unheard of number of different Pinots (19!) and a bunch of other wine under the Novy label, but I can honestly say that all the Pinots that I have tried (and it has been quite a few) have been top notch.  Bravo.