Sea Smoke Botella 2003

Glad to hear that. I've heard good things about Sea Smoke (_love_ the name!) but haven't tasted one yet.

I bought a couple of bottles of their "10" bottling on futures, which was still pretty darn expen$ive at ~$60US. I was hoping that it won't disappoint. Now I'm _betting_ that it won't!

Tom S

Parker gives the 10 and Southing nearly the same scores as Botella, so I dunno. Not at all a conventional Pinot Noir. With it being this big and oaky, would it be better to drink it in a bordeaux glass than a pinot noir glass?

I really couldn't say, since I haven't tasted it - but I'll let you know in

Tom S

I've had the 'Southing' alongside other pinots (like Williams-Selyem) and it didn't really stand out to me. I can't recall much about it. Just another pinot, IMO.

Dimitri

That's a pretty high mark to compare it to! The Williams-Selyem Pinots I've tasted are velvety and gorgeous. If the Sea Smoke is anywhere close to that it's gotta be delicious.

Tom S

Oops! To Correct myself, Parker gives the 2003 Ten a 96 and the Botella a 90. So quite a bit of spread there. It's in early maturity now he said.

Maybe a high mark to compare it to, but it didn't compete well. As I recall, that tasting had Williams-Selyem (a few different bottlings), Sea Smoke, Siduri (another favorite of mine), Domaine Drouhin, Sanford, Fort Ross, Scott Paul, Testarossa, Patricia Green, and a few other pinots. Tough competition, but here was no compelling reason to choose to choose the Sea Smoke over any of the others and I definitely would choose Williams-Selyem or Siduri over most of the rest. Sea Smoke isn't really close to Williams-Selyem in my experience.

Dimitri

Can I ask which one? I count 15 Williams-Selyem pinot noirs on their Web site:

That tasting had the Sonoma Coast, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley, and Central Coast bottlings.

I like the Sonoma Coast the best of those.

Dimitri

Thanks. The question, of course, was purely rhetorical from my standpoint because I won't get on their mailing list and I'll never have an opportunity to buy some. So the question I posed in my first post still stands. Any recommendations for $30 or under pinot noir that has wide distribution that I might be able to buy?

You don't have to be on the mailing list to buy their wines. However, perhaps they are harder to find wherever you live.

I like the Patricia Green basic bottling (under $20), Sanford, some of the cheaper Hitching Post bottlings, Gary Farrell, Au Bon Climat (always a good bet for QPR), and Archery Summit. Some people also like Melville, Foxen, Byron, Rochioli, and Babcock. Longoria also has offerings at that price point, but is is sometimes harder to find. The basic Domaine Carneros bottling is pretty nice, as is the basic Domaine Drouhin bottling. For a little more ($40) I like Siduri, Ken Wright, Ojai Vineyard, Domaine Serene, and Flowers, among others. There's a lot of good pinot at that $25-40 price point. For under $20 I go with Patricia Green and Sanford. For under $10 I go with Rex Goliath.

Dimitri

I'll put in a plug for probably my favorite winery in the Central Coast area: Domaine Alfred in Edna Valley. Their basic PN is $23 at my local retailer (here in Silicone Valley), and very, very tasty. I love their Chardonnay as well.

Curt

I'll recommend Baileyana (also in Edna Valley). Their Chardonnay isn't my usual style, but I was surprised to find that I liked it also.

For bargain basement Pinot Noirs don't overlook the big producers. Kendall Jackson, Meridian, BV, Mondavi and Gallo of Sonoma all make respectable wines in the $10 range ± a couple of dollars.

Tom S