Rich Cook

1 week ago | winereviewonline.com | Rich Cook

You might think that having a room full of judges tasting through several hundred wines and sending the best of those wines to your table for review purposes would be a fun job to have, and you’d be right about that. It’s especially fun when that group of judges deeming wines worthy of a top Platinum award are experts at making wine. Their abilities are honed on a near-daily basis, and they are particularly adept at recognizing a wine’s current status and potential for development.

2 weeks ago | winereviewonline.com | Rich Cook

It was a real treat to taste three Calera Pinot Noirs (Selleck, Mills and Ryan vineyards) side by side and blind. All were made from the same vintage and same clones, by the same winemaker, using the same regimen of whole cluster fermentation, native yeast and 18 months in 30% new French oak, with only the specific vineyard as a variable. The Selleck Vineyard brings a plush entry that is silky and mouth filling, featuring black cherry, damp earth and brown spice.

2 weeks ago | winereviewonline.com | Rich Cook

The Mills Vineyard iteration of Calera’s 2021 Pinot Noir is a little lighter on its feet than the Selleck Vineyard from that vintage (three 2021 Calera Pinot Noirs from different vineyards were tasted blind at the same time), showing more red cherry, hints of cardamom, dry earth brown spice and a little more evident oak at present. Not to worry — this will resolve into championship middleweight as the oak folds in. 93 Rich Cook

2 weeks ago | winereviewonline.com | Rich Cook

Calera’s Ryan Vineyard 2021 Pinot Noir offers a different expression than the other two 2021 Calera Pinot Noirs from different vineyards, with vibrant fall spice tones of clove and cinnamon, a little leafy note, and rich black cherry fruit. This sucks up the oak imparted by its aging regimen with ease, like the Selleck Vineyard, but maintains a little softer acidic edge like the Mills Vineyard, with a firm grip on the end. I would age this for a while.

3 weeks ago | winereviewonline.com | Rich Cook

I think I sense perhaps a dollop of Riesling in this, based on a perception of a little petrol note in this tasty Vermentino, with the main grape sourced from Temecula Valley, which is well south of the Castello but is a top performer there. This is a natural addition to the Cal-Ital portfolio. Sassy acidity focuses this on lemon, lemon and more lemon, with soft herb notes adding interest. It needs food – I would start on the fish side of the menu. 92 Rich Cook