2010 Lynmar Pinot Noir Rose (91 Points)

DATE CONSUMED

Saturday, October 08, 2011

VINTAGE

2010

WINERY/PRODUCER

Lynmar Estate

WINE NAME

Rose of Pinot Noir

TYPE OF WINE

Rose

COMPOSITION

100% Pinot Noir

SUBNAME/NICKNAME

N/A

VINEYARD DESIGNATION

N/A

REGION/A.V.A.

Russian River Valley (California)

ALCOHOL CONTENT

14.3%

PRICE PAID

$22.50 through the winery’s wine club (regular price is $25)

WHERE/WHEN BOUGHT AND/OR HOW PROCURED

Received from the winery’s wine club (May 2011)

BOUQUET

The nose on this wine is very creamy, stony, and fruity (think strawberries and cream with a side of pebbles/rocks), along with white pepper.  The wine smells like it’s going to be very crisp and clean.  I’ll know in a few seconds………

TASTING NOTES

Wow, this is a fantastic Pinot Rose!  Sure enough, the bouquet on this wine completely gives away what the wine will taste like.  Some wines smell like X but taste like Z.  This wine smells like X78R2700K14M and tastes like X78R2700K14M.  There is, indeed, plenty of strawberries, cherries, cream, an entire peppermill’s worth of white pepper, and minerals, along with firm/crisp acidity and an elegant, lingering finish.  Just like a good, quality Pinot Noir (Rouge), this wine exhibits wonderful depth-of-flavors and complexity that a White Zin could NEVER imagine touching. 

I absolutely LOVE Pinot-centric bubbly and roses and this bottle is an absolute paragon of Pinot’s strengths.  This wine is gorgeously well-balanced, deliciously complex, and if I had the ways and the means, I would buy every bottle that Lynmar had remaining of this fantastic rose and drink it every day after coming home from work.  This is EASILY the best rose I’ve had all year.  VERY well done, Lynmar!

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS

We had this wine with two appetizers sharing one common ingredient: marinated and deep-fried pork belly with a salad of apple, radish, cucumber, fennel, and red onions with a citrus vinaigrette as well as a Chinese “sandwich” of the same pork belly tossed in honey and Sriracha with cilantro, green onions, and hoisin sauce on shao-bing bread.  The rose went PERFECTLY with both pork belly appetizers.  I’ve always found it difficult to pair a quality rose with the right food, but the pork belly dishes paired very well with the wine.  I would imagine the rose would also pair well with a cold pasta/seafood salad, as well as a crab cake salad in the middle of August.  Even though it’s typical to pair a Vermentino or Grenache Blanc (or bubbly, of course) with cold seafood dishes (oysters on the half shell, a cold mixed seafood platter, etc.), I would think this rose would also go VERY well with those cold seafood dishes as well.

AGING POTENTIAL

Roses are means to be drunk young.  As a 2010, this rose should probably be drunk before the end of 2012 at the latest.  It’s drinking BEAUTIFULLY right now and will probably last another year or so.  Just like a good, quality, multi-billion-dollar nuclear weapon, “use (drink) it or lose it!”

SCORE

91 Points

Q.P.R. (QUALITY-TO-PRICE RATIO) (POOR, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT)

GOOD (verging on EXCELLENT)

WINERY WEBSITE

http://www.lynmarwinery.com/