Pinot Days 2008.

Pros: Lots of killer wine

Cons: Hardly enough time

The Pinot extravaganza held this past weekend at Festival Pavilion, Ft. Mason, was more than educational, fun, and grueling; it was extremely entertaining. My approach was haphazard, but I felt I got a good sense for the contemporary style of Pinot being produced these days—my unofficial goal for the day—from those producers kind enough to give us a peek. Besides more time, I needed an extra pair of hands to help facilitate note taking, which I did not do, and munching on the various cheeses and sausages provided to help curtail the drunkenness that followed.

Overall, I felt I had a great day of tasting, mostly due to the fact that I didn’t taste one wine that was offensive or terrible. That being said, I did feel that some lines were either too long or not long enough when taking into account the quality of the wine, but I suppose that is quite normal. My family—of which there are no serious wine drinkers—and I enjoyed this relatively extreme Pinot tasting. I will go again, but not before I’ve had the surgery which will allow me to handle multiple glasses, cheese plates, and sausage meatballs.

A few of my personal highlight wineries/wines were Joseph Swan’s’ ’06 Trenton Vineyard, Bink Wines, and the unsulphered Belle Glos Gambit series Pinot Noir.

Quote of the day for me: “You are keeping us honest today.” – a gentleman speaking to the pourer at the Louis Latour table.

- Merritt (photos by Brian Worel)