2007 Sea Smoke Pinot Noir Ten- USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills (7/22/2016)
– decanted for 1 hour before initial taste –
– tasted non-blind for a couple hours –
NOSE: tight; faintly red-fruited; a touch fumey; cherry pie; apple liqueur.
BODY: some sediment present; dark garnet color of medium-deep depth with slight bricking throughout; medium bodied.
TASTE: purple fruited; some prune; smooth; low to moderate oak; medium acidity; somewhat heavy for a Pinot Noir; macerated/baked cherry; 14.5% alc.; Drink Now or Hold — for my preferences, it’s a Hold.
That makes sense. I guess if you don’t really like it now, there’s no harm in waiting. I have a couple of bottles of this that I bought before I realized I don’t like the style. Maybe I’ll wait a while and hope for the best as well.
Always found Sea Smoke in general a bit monolithic, 10 in particular. I was on the mailing list for a few years in the 00’s and eventually dropped off. Their Chard(which a a free gift at the time) was the only wine of their I liked.
I have one bottle remaining, and it probably won’t get opened until I’m with somebody who really wants to try a Sea Smoke. If that doesn’t happen in the next five years, then I’ll probably just check in on it myself.
Had the 2007 same as this one from a friend’s allocation. 5 of us felt it was not going to develop any further so we decided drink up and finished the other 2 bottles.
I used to be a fan of the style but was so disappointed in the '07s that I gave them all away. Last time I had the Ten was about 18mos ago and I had a similar impression to the OP
2007 Sea Smoke Pinot Noir Ten- USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills (11/16/2019)
– popped and poured –
– tasted a couple hours non-blind over approx. one hour –
Stewed red fruits. Baked red fruits. Tasted a bit oxidized or heat damaged, but neither should have been the case. Others at the table did like it, whereas I found it off-putting. Markedly different than a bottle three years ago … has this turned that quickly? I’ve one remaing bottle, and it just got moved near the front of the Drink Soon line. Gut impression score for this bottle: low to mid. 70s.
It sounds like you got a bad bottle. Coincidentally, I had a 2007 Southing recently, and while I am still not a fan of the style, it was developing in a more positive fashion than I had expected.
Bummer that the wine did not show well. And this also goes to show the potential ‘variability’ in wine. As you said, it should not have been that advanced, compared to the other bottle that you had.
I have found some of the older Tens evolve gracefully like older, more classic CdP’s, believe it or not. 2007 was a ‘big and bold’ year, so I have no idea about that one.
Keep us posted as you open additional bottles please. Cheers.
The “Ten” is pretty heavily oaked, and sometimes that resolves nicely with 10+ years aging, but even then, I’m less a fan than the Southing and Botella bottles. Those wines age well and are significantly better at age 7-15 than in their early years.
I am afraid for me this is the poster child for Pinot as syrah winemaking. Do they really want to pursue this style? Is it just the site? Competition for the Meiomi slice of the market? Just seems like the opposite of what Pinot can be
It’s funny how syrah is the bogeyman people use when they want to rant about other wines. “This Kosta Browne is so gross, it tastes like syrah / like they spiked it with syrah.” “This Pavie tastes like it could be Australian Shiraz.” “This tastes like syrah rather than Brunello.”
I’m not actually much of a syrah drinker, but I wonder how people who love syrah and make syrah feel about it always being the bad guy.
2005 Sea Smoke Pinot Noir Botella- USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills (11/19/2017)
Very curious as to what this bottle had evolved into after 12 years. Very good news as it’s still quite youthful and botella continues to be my favorite of the lineup. Nice Pinot fruit and light toasted oak. Wine of the night for most people.
2008 Sea Smoke Pinot Noir Botella- USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills (11/23/2012)
Makes me sad to see the botella go away, very nice wine. Red fruit, spice, simple elegance. Beautifully paired with the turkey.
2004 Sea Smoke Pinot Noir Botella- USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills (5/7/2010)
The wife picked this one out tonight and good for her. It was our last one, parting is such sweet sorrow.
I got the call from the warden at 2:33pm to pull the cork and I grabbed the duck decanter and proceeded to remove the foil and bury the corkscrew into this baby. There’s nothing like extracting the barrier between you and pure enjoyment. OH NO! the cork has a split in it and she’s completely saturated on one side with some dark nasty looking syrup stuff running half way down.
I just did an emotional 180, I wanted to cry. Could it be, corked after sitting for 6 years awaiting my calling? I stuck my nose in there and it was completely muted. All I could think was “this will make one hell of a salad dressing”.
I poured the bottle through the vinturi and within 10 seconds, there it was… That familiar aroma filled the room. Ah… Sea Smoke welcome home. She’s wasn’t corked.
Decanted for 3 hours.
Dark brick color and strong nose of candied dark fruit and spice. Mouthfeel was silky smooth, I’m thinking we’re near EOL (end of life) because the tannis are muted. Great spice mid-palate with still some heat/alcohol on a meduim/long finish. (91 pts.)