Wine Tasting: 2013 Kenneth Volk Pinot Noir

This evening, a 2013 Kenneth Volk Pinot Noir.  I had three bottles of this wine.  I tasted the first one quite some time ago, but didn't record any notes. (I do remember it though)

The second bottle was given away as a gift.  Not my first choice, but he is a Pinot Noir fan and wanted a bottle and this was the only Pinot Noir I had on hand at the time.

Tasting Notes:
Ruby redish with violet hues showing a bit of youth.  Minerals, spices and a splash of red fruit on the nose.  Plum rind, florals, and allspice fill out the juicy flavors with a medium finish.  Strong acidity that requires decanting to soften.

Final Thoughts:
With some age, I believe this could can be much better.  Decanting is an absolute must.  You will be punch-drunk by the acidity if you do not.  Within 30 minutes, the wine opens and burns off the extreme acidity.

Wine Tasting: 2012 Goldeneye Anderson Valley Pinot Noir

Delicious!  Well, I'm getting ahead of myself.  Today's wine is Goldeneye's 2012 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir.

Goldeneye is Duckhorn's upper echelon wine label and as I've clearly already stated.  This wine does not disappoint.  While I haven't yet visited Duckhorn's Vineyard in California.  It is supposed to be one of the more highly rated Vineyards to visit.  Keep that in mind if you plan a visit to Napa Valley.

Tasting Notes:
Caliginously garnet in color, medium bodied with a warming alcohol level. Fruit forward with strawberry and raspberry jam on the nose and cherries, strawberries, and rose petals on the tongue. Very juicy with a long finish and a potent acidity that blends well with the progressive fruit flavors.

Final Thoughts:  I believe I've already made this obvious.  This was in delicious and well worth it's price point. ($40-$45 US)

Wine Tasting: 2013 Andrew Murray's Tous les Jours Syrah

I've started Winemaking recently and my first wine is a Barbossa Valley Shiraz.  It's in the secondary fermentation phase now and tomorrow I will be racking it and beginning the clearing phase.  When this happens, I need to top the wine up (fill the container to the top) to keep as much oxygen as I can out of the wine.

So you usually have a choice of three things.  Use marbles, water, or wine to fill up the space.  I don't have marbles (and they can break glass carboys), water will water the wine down.  So, I'm going with using wine!  I purchased this wine to do the top up with.

Anyhow, since I have it.  Why not do an official tasting?

Tasting Notes:
Full bodied and dark ink in the middle with a cranberry color at the edges.  Smells of blueberry and cranberry.  Showing flavors of blackberry and raspberry jam.  Quite smooth with a very long finish that sports a heady acidity.

Final thoughts:  Decent, but not great.  It's probably fine for topping up my homemade wine, but I'm leaning towards using my Schild Estate Shiraz.  It's much better than this offering, but I'm not sure it's going to matter since I'm mixing it with just under six gallons of other wine.