Wine Club Notes:

The name of this wine was inspired by composer Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach.

In the world of music, a grace note is an ornament or embellishment to a composition that’s “not only useful, but indispensable.  They connect the notes; they give them life. They emphasize them, and illustrate the sentiments, be they sad or merry.  The best melody without them may seem obscure and meaningless.”

In the world of wine, the concept that can be applied to the specific grapes utilized, the type of vessels used for aging, and the length of aging prior to bottling and release.  FOr the 2010 Gracenote Pinot Noir, winemaker Reed Renaudin selected grapes from two vineyards in the Carneros area of Sonoma County, and then aged the cuvee in a mix of French and Hungarian oak barrels.

The wine is perfectly balanced, nicely concentrated, and both floral and fruitful.  In a word, it’s a wine that truly is inspired.

My Thoughts:

I tried this one while at my mom’s house for Christmas.  My brother was furiously cooking Christmas dinner and my mother and I were furiously drinking wine and watching him move through the kitchen as if conducting an orchestra.

I picked up very subtle scents from the wine that I couldn’t quite place.  It was hard to tell with the aromas of bacon and braised red cabbage swirling through the air as I swirled wine in my glass.  It was very light tasting at first.  I was thrown off and a bit disappointed because I was expecting a fuller bodied Pinot Noir.  Then is snuck up on me.  Rich notes of cherry and spice with a pleasant subtle finish.  Nothing overpowering here.  Just enough flavor in the middle to make you say, Oh!  Not bad!  Not bad at all!

On a scale of “this tastes like piss” to “oops, I just drank the whole bottle” I would give this a “We emptied this bottle and it paired well with the 2010 San/Gio Sangiovese that we emptied shortly after it.” Would I buy it again?  Maybe…maybe not.  I don’t love it.  I don’t dislike it.  It was good at the moment.  Maybe not memorable enough.

Final Grade: B