2012 St Rose Winery Pinot Noir, Nunes Vineyard Ten Block
Photo ©Michael Kelly
The Winery
On the northern side of Santa Rosa, I met with Fred and Wendy Nunes a few years back. If you ever wanted to know what “unbridled enthusiasm” looks like, you have to look no further than to see Fred Nunes! He walked into the small tasting room behind their house and it was a full on engaging conversation from helicopter firefighting to GPS systems to drones and finally growing of Pinot Noir grapes. Fred in his “second career” used some of his knowledge from his degree in systematic biology and ecology. He combined his intuition with science and hooked it up to his bigger than life presence to grape growing and winemaking. In recent years he has not produced his own wine, but chosen to sell his grapes.
Fred meticulously works each row and vine and has developed a detailed diagram for harvesting and cultivating his award winning Pinots. The 2012 Ten Block Pinot scored 94 points from Wine Enthusiast. Fred has consistently received 93 and 94 points. He also makes a unique 100% Clone 777 with limited production. Now the kicker—for his 2012 he only produced 98 cases of his Ten Block. He is actually the smallest commercially bonded winery in Sonoma County when I visited some 8 years ago, which he takes pride in producing some of the best Pinot’s.
That said, they do sell grapes to approximately five other wineries which have a designated Nunes Vineyard Pinot. Fred is so well known and respected, the others wineries allow Fred to be the vineyard manager for their wines, certainly not a common occurrence. Fred has developed high tech sensors to monitor temperature and variations as well as manually walking the vineyard every day. He seems to be the Pinot Noir “vine whisperer”. Fred is the ultimate steward of this 43 acre parcel with Pinot Clones planted on 35 acres. This is his 24th harvest.
The Wine – “Wine is bottled poetry” – Robert Louis Stevenson
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Remarkably being 12 years old, this wine possessed beautiful aromas. On the eyes is a deep violet and medium heavy viscosity. On the nose, violets, Rose petals red berries, strawberries and cherry. On the palate, vanilla, nutmeg, strawberry abound with baking spices and a tinge of French oak. The finish is excellent producing a smooth, textual and long lasting experience. It is 13.9% alcohol. It made a previous year’s best wines of the year tasted.
The Food and Wine Pairing – “Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost. United and well matched, they are as body and soul: living partners” – Andre Simon
Photo ©Michael Kelly
The wine was specifically selected for tonight’s dinner to go with a dry rubbed BBQ’ed pork tenderloin. This was a slightly different recipe that was a bit spicier than a previous one. The dry rub included chili powder, brown sugar, dried oregano, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, fine sea salt, pepper and a little extra virgin olive oil. The slices of pork tenderloin each provided ample flavors to assimilate this refreshing and exquisite wine without overpowering it. The meal was accompanied by a fresh garden salad. The slices of pork tenderloin were served with Stewart and Jasper Cherry sauce. A beautiful food and wine pairing and made complete by this wine.
This was my last bottle and should he produce more, I will be ordering more as this is an elegantly refined, complex and quintessential Pinot Noir.
Sláinte,
Michael
https://californiawinesandwineries.com
https://www.nunesvineyard.com/saintrosewinery/