2017 Foursight Pinot Noir, Pommard and Boontling – A Great Combination
This is a bit redundant as I recently did a story on Foursight Sauvignon Blanc (3 Unique Features) and now writing about their Pinot Noir. First is that it comes from Boonville, California in the Anderson Valley AVA. This area is known for Pinot Noir and white wines. Mostly due to the topography and with warm inland areas and summer cooling in the late afternoon with fog rolling in from the Pacific Ocean. The elevation goes to almost 1700 feet in western Mendocino County. It is also consider one of the cooler AVA’s in California. Additionally only 558 acres of vineyards are planted out of 56,155 acres in the AVA or roughly only 1%.
The second most intriguing aspect of this North Central AVA, specifically Boonville, is their language called Boontling. It is a dying language or dialect known to have developed in the area. It is a mixture of English, Scottish, Gaelic, Irish and even Pomoan and Spanish. It was believed to have started in the 1800’s to talk behind each other backs and has strong sexual undertones. Less than 100 people today speak the language. Here are some key words and transliteration of a couple of phrases (G-rated):
buckey walter: n. a pay telephone {Combination of buckey (nickel) and “Walter.” A man named Walter Levi owned the first phone in the valley; as a result Walter Levi is a telephone. Early pay phone required only a nickel.}
kilockety: v. to travel by train. {Imitative of the sounds of metal wheels on rails.}
wess: v. to fib; to exaggerate. {A Boonter named Wes often “stretched” the truth, esp. in telling stories.}
fratty shams: n. Grapevines. {Combination of fratty (wine) and shams (brush).}
And thirdly for Boonville, and most importantly, it is the home of Foursight Wines. While only eleven and a half acres are planted in Pinot Noir it holds unique characteristics. This 2017 is 100% Pommard 05 vineyards and they use 43% new French oak barrels. Pommard wine is produced in Cote de Beaune of Burgundy. The AOC Pommard is only used for red wine and Pinot Noir the designated primary grape. This AOC was created in 1937. Pommard wines are unique and typically possess the most powerful and tannic of the regional wines. Especially in contrast to the lighter and rounded wines from neighboring regions. Why write so much about Pommard 05 clone from France? It is because this wine tastes and even feels like a “French throwback wine”. Only 125 cases were produced.
My notes while tasting it was that it provided both rustic and earthy notes, with a semi-sour rhubarb pie. Additionally, Bing cherries and cranberries waffled into the olfactory receptors. This is not your delicate “ballerina Pinot Noir wine” that I often describe. It is more akin to a bantam weight prize fighter. You will not get bruised by it nor think of it as elegant, but you will enjoy and recall the uniqueness of this wine for some time. I paired it with a Swiss cheese chicken and risotto. In retrospect, I think a strong veal or beef dish would be appropriate as this Pinot overwhelmed this dish. It has won the Best of Show Red award at the 2019 Mendocino County Fair Wine Competition. It also received a double gold medal, and best of class award! A nice award for a $54 bottle of “old country Pinot”. I have one more bottle of this and it will be introduced to some type of BBQed beef this spring. I can hardly wait!
Slainte,
Michael
https://californiawinesandwineries.com
http://foursightwines.com/
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