So I've been saving a specific bottle of wine to enjoy with my wife since my first trip to Napa and Sonoma after starting Uncorked Ventures, a Copain 2007 Monument Tree Pinot Noir.
I believe I've talked a little about Copain before in this space, but I am a fan of much of the wine they make and their winemaker Wells Guthrie. He has a rather unique style for the area and has really been at the forefront of pushing other winemakers to attempt to control the alcohol levels in their wine. Much of the wine that Copain makes ends up with alcohol content 1-2% lower then the competition. They're able to do this by being very careful about where they source their grapes (usually colder climates) as well as how/when the fruit is harvested (middle of the night when possible to control heat transfer during fermentation).
From a business to business perspective I appreciate the way that they've treated us as a start up and as a consumer I greatly appreciate the fact that their wines occupy a range of prices starting at around $20 for their Tous Ensambles series. I do believe they leave some money on the table on a number of their wines which are sold in the $40-$50 range-which are consistently great values many scoring 90+ ratings from Parker and the Wine Entusiast.
Ok so about that Pinot.....as good as I remember it. In fact maybe a bit better given the 6 months or so of rest as well as the thirty minutes of decanting (yeah, yeah I know not ideal). On the nose it's hard to pick up individual flavors, but it definitely is a dark berry type of smell. On the palate it is noticeably brighter then you'd imagine with cherry being the predominant flavor-the structure of the wine is quite good and really shows Wells ability as most Pinot's don't hold up this well.
Overall at around $50, to me it is a clear buy. I am an unapologetic Pinot Noir fan (both because of the flavor profiles and the story of the grape itself) which comes sometimes much to my business partner and father in laws dismay, but I will be interested in comparing this Pinot to some of the more highly hyped Oregon versions.
Lastly I would be remiss if I did not mention where the Monument Tree moniker comes from. Monument Tree is a vineyard about a two hour drive north of San Francisco. Since Copain aims to trim alcohol levels they source fruit from both the Central Coast of California (think on the ocean just north of Santa Barbara) as well as some of the cooler valley's north of SF. As you can see Monument Tree vineyard is named after a redwood tree which still stands in the middle of the vineyard.
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