Winery - Donum Estate
* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
This is a restaurant wine. It’s really fancy, really good and really food-friendly. Although it’s rich in fruit and oak, it possesses an underlying tension, with acidity and tannins all vying for center stage. You’re always looking for the center of gravity. In other words, a wine of great complexity and interest. Now–2013.
0 out of 0 people thought this note was helpful.
* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
This is quite a good Pinot Noir, although despite the tannin-acid tightness it’s not likely to improve beyond 2011. It’s dry and silky and delicious in cherry, cola, spice and sandalwood flavors, and there’s even a touch of chocolate.
0 out of 0 people thought this note was helpful.
* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Despite a burst of tannins and acidity that make this wine somewhat aggressive, it’s absolutely delicious, and should reward 3–5 years in the cellar. The flavors are massive, suggesting rich black cherry pie filling, cola and cedar, with a tantalizing edge of chocolate and roasted almonds. It’s quite a good wine. Decant if you drink now.
0 out of 0 people thought this note was helpful.
* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Made in an exaggeratedly ripe style, this Pinot, grown on the Sonoma side of the appellation, tastes like the blackberry and cherry pie filling that burbles over the edge of the crust and gets a little burnt. Totally dry, it’s probably at its best now.
0 out of 0 people thought this note was helpful.
* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Harsh and disjointed, this Pinot has a hot, prickly feeling. It tastes unevenly ripened, with minty flavors side by side with Lifesaver candy, raspberries and red currants.
0 out of 0 people thought this note was helpful.
* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
An elaborate Chardonnay whose high acidity and minerality are reflections of both the vintage and Carneros terroir. Shows bright, zesty flavors of pineapples, tangerines and green apples, while lots of opulent new French oak brings vanilla and toast richness, as well as supportive wood tannins.
0 out of 0 people thought this note was helpful.
* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Lovely and lilting, like a cloud in a glass. Shows true Pinot essence in the silky texture and rich flavors of cherries, black raspberries, cola, mocha and pepper spice, firmed and toned with crisp Carneros acidity.
0 out of 0 people thought this note was helpful.
* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
A lovely Pinot Noir, showing flamboyantly ripe cherry, raspberry and chocolate-cola fruit, spiced with cinnamon and anise and enhanced with smoky oak. Fortunately, all this richness is framed in a fine structure of acidity and tannins. Drink now through 2012.
0 out of 0 people thought this note was helpful.
* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Tasting this wine brings visions of the foggy, wind-swept, rolling hills of the appellation. The coolness has yielded an intensely herbal wine, with flavors of dried herbs such as sage and oregano. The acidity is vibrant, the tannins dusty. It’s a well-tailored wine, but I wish there was more fruit.
0 out of 0 people thought this note was helpful.
* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Lots of new oak here, so much that the wine is dominated by it. Beyond the vanilla and char are slightly sweetened cherry pie filling flavors, with soft acids and a peppery finish. Good, but needs work.
0 out of 0 people thought this note was helpful.
