Cuvaison 2003 Napa Pinot Noir

About a month ago I posted a profile of the Cuvaison Chardonnay. Nice stuff. I also got a 2003 Pinot Noir.

Sometimes it’s surprises me how my own notes match up with the wine maker’s (click image). I guess that’s a good thing, but in my case I’m transcribing my notes from the back of a Fidelity statement envelope – it was handy. But then I don’t suppose you care how I write them down. Eventually I put them here. Perhaps some day I should scan an image of the envelopes and other scraps of paper as proof that I actually wrote down some notes, but then I guess it’s not that big a deal.

In this case I really enjoyed this wine. I have no idea if it can be found in the stores here in Austin as this one was shipped to me, but hope I can find it again. At retail mid $20’s it’s on the pricey end but a good, cheap Pinot Noir from Napa is probably hard to come by, so pony up people.

I noted a smoky aroma and a taste of black cherries. I also found it to be nicely balanced, med body with a med to long finish. It stacks up pretty good in comparison to my recent WBW #14 posting. While the wines are similar, there’s definitely a bit of earthiness to that Central Otago wine that I think sets it apart. I’m not sure it’s necessarily better, but there’s definitely a unique character to that NZ wine.

The Cuvaison web site will add a note that says this wine has a flavor of “damson plum”. If you know what a damson plum is, please call me.

Cuvaison apparently does an “Estate Selection” pinot noir as well at twice the price. Haven’t seen it nor tasted it, but if it’s twice as good as this one, well, it must be pretty nice.

Price

Retails for around $24

Overall

 very nice. Smoky black cherry, med to long finish.

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