Siduri / Novy open house

Dec 3, 2011 open house at Siduri Winery in Santa Rosa. It's a chance to try most of the wines they make--and they make a lot! I counted eleven Pinots, seven Syrahs, plus a few other miscellaneous wines. I tasted all of the available Pinot Noirs and a few of the Syrahs.  I ranked the Pinots from favorite to least.  On about my second Syrah I got "over-tannined" and wasn't able to judge them very well.

Really in the holiday spirit!

Siduri Pinots from my favorite to least:

2010 Garys' Vyd (Santa Lucia) $50
Great fruit, spices, finish. Almost perfect balance. Excellent now; this should be a great wine in time.

2009 Clos Pepe Vyd (Sta. Rita Hills) $54
Good fruits, not overdone, spicy, lots going on/complex. Needs time.

2009 Cargasacchi Vyd (Sta. Rita Hills) $50
Earthy, tobacco, less fruit compared to many CA Pinots. Dark cherries, tart. Needs time.

2009 Sonatera Vyd (Sonoma Coast) $49
Nice complexity and spices. Bit earthy with black fruit. A very good wine.

2009 Santa Rita Hills (two vyd blend) $30
Body, spices and acid all nicely balanced. Dark fruit. Great value.

2009 Ewald Vyd (RRV) $45
Softer, rich, lower acid but still enough backbone.

2010 Sierra Mar Vyd (Santa Lucia) $49
Good fruit but just not ready yet. Would like to try this again in a couple years.

2009 Arbre Vert Vyd (Willamette Vly) $39
Medium body, black fruit, lots of acid.

2009 Chehalem Mts. (Oregon) $25
Some sweet red fruit, lots of acid. Lacks body and complexity. Young vines?

Most of these seemed really young yet and I would love to try a number of them a few months from now.

Novy Syrahs:

As I said I didn't rank these because of being hit by big tannins mostly from the 2009 Gary's Vyd ($29).  But I did like the 2009 Susan's Hill Vyd best ($34).  The 2008 Simpson Vyd at $25 was a good deal.

I purchased the Garys' Vyd and Sta. Rita Hills Pinots plus the Simpson Syrah.