As I mentioned Yesterday, I tasted 40 American Pinot Noirs earlier this month. The design was to taste through the wines blind, which means that I did not know which wine was ever in my glass (well, my four glasses, as I tasted that many at a time).

Tasting wines blind is always a good exercise as knowing what a wine is can always introduce bias when it comes to evaluation. Blind tasting also can produce a few surprises, as was certainly the case this time around. There is also a downside to blind tasting as the bigger, fruitier wines tend to stand out more.

Here is the second set of 12 wines, in the order we tasted them:

2022 Stoller Pinot Noir Reserve, Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley, OR: Retail $65. Another one that is more than a bit funky on the nose but that blows off quickly on the swirl to reveal some dark cherry and a hint of earth. Fruity with a nice touch of acidity initially with plenty of dark fruit. Again, not my preferred style, but this is very nice. Outstanding. 93 Points.

2023 Merriam Vineyards Pinot Noir Diana’s Vineyard, Russian River Valley, CA: Retail $56. Medium to dark with an earthy element to the nose that masks the bright red fruit underneath. Quite tart on the palate, but it works well with that earthy element. Also, plenty of acidity and a very lengthy finish. I feel this will be better with a bit more time in bottle, but it is really good right now. Outstanding. 94 Points.

2023 Decoy Pinot Noir Limited, Sonoma Coastt, CA: Retail $30. Medium color with a gorgeous black cherry pie nose. Yum. Nice fruit, good balance, kind of a classic American Pinot here. Lengthy finish yum. Yum. Outstanding. 95 Points.

2022 Elouan Pinot Noir, OR: Retail $25. Very dark, almost opaque with a dark fruit profile. That brooding nature persists onto the palate with darknes a go-go. Again, not my style, and there is a touch of tannin here, but well done and certainly has an audience. Excellent. 91 Points.

2023 Argyle Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, OR: Retail $28. Under screw cap. On the darker side in color and aromas with black cherry predominant with tomato leaf. Big and robust on the palate, plenty of weight and heft, at least for a Pinot. Well-balanced but fruity and big for sure. Outstanding. 93 Points.

2023 Domaine Carneros Pinot Noir Le Ciel Serein, Carneros, CA: Retail $62. On the first taste of this wine, I was not all that enthralled: Dark and quite stemmy in the glass, even really stemmy. But nice fruit on the palate, but that stemminess is there, too, and it comes off as almost a Nouveau style wine. Very Good. 89 Points. But I revisited this the next day and holy cow, what a difference. Gorgeous red fruit, no sign of that stemminess, a tart, balancing acidity, and incredible depth. This wine needs both more time in the bottle and a healthy decant. Outstanding. 94 Points.

2023 Domaine Carneros Pinot Noir The Famous Gate, Carneros, CA: Retail $95. As with Le Ciel Serein, which I (unknowingly tasted right before), I was not initially impressed with this wine and gave it 89 Points in the blind tasting. Like the other DC Pinot, though, I tasted it again the following day and Whoa. A completely different wine! Bursting with ripe red cherry fruit, a touch of red rose, and just a hint of spice. Yowza. All that translates onto the palate with a zingy tartness and just a hint of earth on the mid palate. One of the lengthier finishes I have experienced in a while. Outstanding. 95 Points.

One year, with over a hundred wines, I thought the table might give out….

2022 Chehalem Pinot Noir Reserve, Ribbon Ridge, Willamette Valley, OR: Retail $70. Fruity and rich with a cherry pie kinda vibe with some herbal element (mint?) as well. Dark, rich, full, but also tart. Big. Even maybe really big? I was surprised to learn that this was from Oregon. Again, not the style of Pinot that I prefer, but this is a nice quaff (and it’s big). Excellent. 91 Points.

2023 Tongue Dancer Pinot Noir Lakeview Vineyard, Green Valley of Russian River Valley, CA: Retail $65. Whoa. I would have to ask James MacPhail the winemaker if he agrees, but I think this is one of the bigger Tongue Dancer Wines he has produced. Really dark in color with intense and concentrated nose of red and black fruit: blackberry, black raspberry, maybe even some cassis in there along with an oaky herbal note and just a touch of earth. The palate is rich and concentrated with tons of fruit and plenty of weight. The acidity struggles at times to keep up, but it does and becomes more pronounced on the lengthy finish. Outstanding. 94 Points.

2022 Sangiacomo Family Wines Pinot Noir, El Novillero Vineyard, Carneros, CA: Retail $75. Plenty of dark fruit on the nose (black cherry and blackberry) with an ounce or two of verve, and a slight herbal, menthol note on the nose. Fruity and lovely on the palate. This is what most people have in mind when they think “California Pinot”. Outstanding. 93 Points. 

2023 Tongue Dancer Rambling Fox, Anderson Valley, CA: Retail $49. This followed a couple of bruisers and I found this one a bit shy with a soft, muted nose of nice red fruit and just a hint of earth. Subtle on the palate as well, more Pinot-esque than others in this flight. Good fruit, great tartness, plenty of verve. Yeah, this is good. Excellent. 92 Points.

2023 Kristof Pinot Noir, Yamhill-Carlton, Willamette Valley, OR: Retail $60. Another one that surprised me that it was from Oregon as it is dark, even really dark with dark (surprise!) fruit (more blackberry and plum than cherry), a bit of spice, and a touch of earth. Those elements carry onto the palate, which, you guessed it, is dark and on the verge of brooding, which seems to be the overall theme of the tasting (at least thus far). Excellent. 90 Points.