Nine o’clock in the morning seems a bit early to start tasting wine, but when World of Pinot Noir offered a vertical tasting of two Grand Crus from Domaine Louis Latour, I was there bright and early.
For wine lovers, is there any better breakfast than vertical flights from of Burgundy? For our vertical flights, we enjoyed the 2014, 2012, 2010, 2005, 2002 and 1999 vintages from both Château Corton-Grancey Grand Cru Domaine Latour and from Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru Les Quatre Journaux.
One of the events that I look forward to each year is World of Pinot Noir which takes place at the beginning of March at the Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara. Wineries from throughout California, as well as other domestic locations, such as Oregon, and international regions, come together for a weekend of seminars, tastings and dinners focused on pinot noir. The 17th Annual World of Pinot Noir took place this weekend (March 3-4) and I flew back from the east coast and drove straight up to Santa Barbara in order to arrive in time.
Each year I attend different seminars and this year was no different. This year, I attended the seminar and lunch series which included two vertical tastings of Grand Cru Vineyards from Louis Latour in Burgundy. We tasted 1999, 2002, 2005, 2010, 2012 and 2014 vintages of Romanée St Vivant les Quatre Journaux Domaine Latour AND Château Corton Grancey. After this flight, we shifted to the Sonoma Coast and did a vertical of the Hirsch San Andreas Fault Estate Pinot Noir 2011-2014, as well as a horizontal of 2014 Estate Pinot Noirs [Hirsch West Ridge Estate Pinot Noir 2014; Hirsch East Ridge Estate Pinot Noir 2014; Hirsch Raschen Estate Pinot Noir 2014; Hirsch Block 8 Estate Pinot Noir 2014].
Both flights had delicious wines in them because, after all, they were all pinot noirs from Burgundy and the Sonoma Coast. I loved many of the Latour wines, especially the 1999 Château Corton Grancey and the 2005 Romanée St Vivant les Quatre Journaux Domaine Latour and recognize what a unique opportunity it was to taste those wines. But, the one wine that stood out above them all and is the Please The Palate Pick of the Week, is the Hirsch San Andreas Fault Estate Pinot Noir 2011 (average price $64.00).
While cheese may seem to be a more natural pairing with pinot noir, many people might think that chocolate pairs with pinot noir as well. We find many winery tasting...
