19th Varietal Seminar
"On the Other Hand: Discovering Other Reds"

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First Flight

El Molino

2006 Pinot Noir Rutherford
100% estate Pinot Noir
70% new French oak
903 cases; 14.5% alcohol

Talisman

2006 Pinot Noir Adastra Vineyard, Los Carneros
100% estate Pinot Noir
60% new French oak
321 cases; 14.1% alcohol

Pinot Noir is the most important “other red” at The French Laundry. It grows best on cooler, poorer, chalkier soils and is the most sitespecific of the wines tasted in the seminar. Dennis called it meat friendly, elegant and refined.The two Pinot Noirs were paired with a duck foie gras with crème fraiche and a sponge cake with Morello cherry.

Allen cautioned that we must rely on our own memory banks for associations. If we read words or hear them, they can influence what we taste. He looks for structure and balance, fruit and acidity. For this flight, he was alert to red fruit flavor, brightness, freshness, and alcohol that was not overpowering. Riper fruit creates darker color; black or plum colors can mean overripening.

Allen said the Pinot Noir grape is fragile, thinskinned, prone to sunburn and rot, and oxidation during fermentation, and that a little bit of new oak goes a long way. He found the Talisman to have more oak and a richer, rounder flavor with the sweetness of cherry. Dennis called it aNew World flavor of sweet core fruit. Pinot Noir goes well with duck, squab, veal, lamb, quail, and poularde (salt is a flavor intensifier; a sweet core of fruit will counterbalance saltiness). At the finish, the El Molino was more earthdriven. It had silky tannins and was soft, vibrant, cleansing—Ol dWorld. The Talisman finish was deeper, El Molino’s brighter. Both had balance and good acidity.