Talley - Pinot Noir

Price: Around $35

Region: California

Year: 2006

Definitely not your typical wine review week for me. I know it has been 2 weeks since my last review, but I have a good excuse. I was on a trip for work, and lucky me, I got to go to San Francisco. Definitely one of the best cities I have ever visited. Not to mention the fact that Napa is only an hour north. Now, being from east coast, I have only visited San Francisco two other times, so it is definitely a treat when I get to go. The other thing that makes this review a little out of the ordinary is that I had this particular wine at a great wine bar, and just jotted down some notes when I got back to my room. So, here goes...

This wine was actually part of a "flight" of three different wines that I tried. I knew without writing down the names of each, I would have a hard time remembering all of them, so I just went with the one that made the biggest impression on me. Amazingly enough, it was a Pinot Noir, and not one of the very good Cabs or Syrahs that I tried. Go figure. I'm 100% I have the winery and grape, but only about 95% sure I have the right year. That being said, I'm pretty sure it was a 2006. When I just looked up the winery online, this picture seemed the most likely, and it appears to go for around $35. A bit more than the wines I usually review, but this was a special occasion for sure.

The thing that caught me by surprise originally was this wine was a bit darker than what I would typically expect from a Pinot Noir. It had a real nice color, and very good clarity. What really stuck out to me, and made this wine memorable for me was the aroma. The word that first comes to mind is smokey, but it was way more complex than just that. It had a nice earthy feel to it, with what I would call a dried fruit smell. Without a doubt, one of the more distinctive smelling wines I've had in a while. So, when it came to tasting this wine, I was so not surprised how smooth, flavorful, and downright good this wine was. I actually saved another wine for last in this flight of three wines, but given to do over, this would have definitely been the clean-up hitter. Next week I'll review one of the wines from one of my favorite wineries in Napa that I had the pleasure of visiting last week.

Rating: 4.5 (A Home Run of a wine)