A few TNs: Cameron, Ribbon Ridge, and Fabio Gea

Opened a few wines for Mother’s Day

  • 2017 Cameron Pinot Noir Abbey Ridge - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills (5/9/2021)
    Young and tight. Took a while to coax out the wine. Nice red fruits, cherries, raspberries, strawberries with an earthy and herbal finish. Medium body and acidity. Grew in depth over time.

ABV: 12.8%
Closure: natural cork
Decant: 3h
Stem: Gabriel-Glass StandArt


  • 2006 Ribbon Ridge Winery Pinot Noir Ridgecrest Vineyards - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley (5/9/2021)
    Black cherry cola and sweet oak notes on the nose. Chocolate, toffee, leather, loam and baking spices. Surprisingly good acidity given the ABV. No noticeable heat, and the oak seems to have integrated quite nicely. After an hour the fruit started emerging more. Felt a bit rich for my taste, but still enjoyable and other quite liked it. Drinking at peak, but it has the acidity to keep it there for a few more years I suspect.

ABV: 14.9%
Closure: natural cork
Decant: 1h
Stem: Gabriel-Glass StandArt


I’m really not sure what to make of this wine. It feels like it’s meant to be a lighter and more refreshing wine. Indeed many signs point to it: carbonic maceration, ever so slight effervescence; bright raspberries and strawberries; fresh herbal finish; prickly acidity, a great combination. Yet it comes in at a whopping 15% ABV and after a glass or two you do feel it weighing on you. I can’t quite tell what this wine is trying to be. A crushable(?) Nebbiolo at 15% that feels heavy on you after is just a weird feeling in a wine.

ABV: 15%
Closure: glass stopper
Decant: 30min
Stem: Gabriel-Glass StandArt
Assemblage: 100% Nebbiolo. Fermented and aged in porcelain and stoneware made by Fabio himself and then aged in his pool for four months. What the water does, is a mystery to me. Carbonic maceration. I’m quoting from the importer here, “Fabio says this wine was ‘f*cking in the pool for four months (water and wine making love).’” (Whatever the hell that means)

Thanks for the Cameron note. Not at all surprised to hear that it’s young and tight. I’m just starting to think about digging in to the 10’s and 11’s.

RT

Over the past year, I’ve opened a few Clos Electrique and Abbey Ridge from those vintages. No issue opening now and they were all delicious, but still think peaks is years away. Will wait a few years before opening others.

Interested to see a Gea note. Had an excellent experience with a 13 barbaresco and a miserable one with a blend called Mushroom Panda.

I have two bottles of Gea’s 2017 Onde Gravitazionali (Nebbiolo blend). I wonder if this producer is up to his fame or I just bought into the hype [scratch.gif]