A Wine Lover’s Diary, part 977: A Pinot Night To Remember

Tuesday, June 4^th: Dinner at Stephen Cambell’s home – an item in the Grapes for Humanity auction item. All Pinot Noir – all the way, introduced by Thomas Bachelder (Le Clos winemaker) and Stephen. The wines:

• Domaine Le Clos Jordanne Blanc de Noirs S.V. Twenty-Mile Bench VQA 2020 (the first sparkling wine of Le Clos Jordanne)
• (Blind) Bachelder Oregon Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2013
• (Blind) Bachelder Bourgogne Haute Côtes de Beaune 2013
• Domaine Louis Jadot Le Clos Vougeot Grand Cru 2010
• Joseph Phelps Freestone Vineyard Pinot Noir 2014
• Felton Road, Block 5 Pinot Noir 2013
• Frédéric Magnien Chambolle-Musigny Les Charmes 1^er Cru 2014
• St. Innocent “Zenith Vineyard” Pinot Noir Oregon 2015
• Bachelder Wismer-Parke S.V. Twenty-Mile Bench 2015– the last bottles I know of!
• Bachelder Lowrey Vineyard St. David’s Bench VQA 2015 (vines planted in 1984 for Karl Kaiser – originally used in the Alliance bottling with Jaffelin in the late ’80s and ’90s)
• Pyramid Valley “Angel Flower” Pinot Noir 2018 Waikari, North Canterbury
• Domaine Le Clos Jordanne ‘Le Grand Clos Twenty-Mile Bench 2017
• Bachelder Lowrey Vineyard St. David’s Bench VQA 2018 (vines planted in 1984 for Karl Kaiser – originally used in the Alliance bottling with Jaffelin in the late 80s and 90s).

And a beautiful dinner cooked by an old friend, Chef Chris MacDonald. I was so caught up in the conversations that I forgot to take pictures of the food – apart from the first course: a terrine of salmon with white asparagus.

After the dinner we took an Uber back to our overnight hosts Arlene and Michael. On hearing the list of wines, Michael suggested we might be over-Pinoted, so he opened a claret: Château Cantemerle 2014.

Other wines tasted this week: Philippe Colin Chassagne-Montrachet Les Chevenottes 2015, Tinhorn Creek Merlot 2018, Gabriele Rausse Cabernet Franc 2013 (Virginia), Southbrook Whimsy! Pinot Noir 2021, and a grand selection at dinner with Ann Sperling and Peter Gamble.