I pulled a magnum of Calera Reed Vineyard Pinot Noir 1994 out of the cellar on August 21^st that had recently come direct from the vineyard re-release program, via Artisan Cellars www.artisan-cellars.com to share a glass and opinion with Nigel Greening from Felton Road, over a Sunday lunch.

Served blind, his immediate impressions were Burgundy, in the Chambolle-Musigny ilk, with a reasonable amount of age on it however, as it breathed out, we could both see that whilst it had all the highly desirable nuances of Burgundy, there was some telltale signs of new world sweetness and it did not take this pinot noir Jedi long to home in on Californian and drilling down quickly to Calera.

I saved a good third of the magnum under winesave, partly because we were showing some restraint in consumption as we had a trade dinner organised that night, but also I wanted to see if winesave would preserve the secondary complexities of this wine and do a full tasting note on it after a week or so. http://www.thewanderingpalate.com/buying-wine/must-have-wine-accessory-of-the-year/

Well, I opened the wine last night (Sunday 28^th) after 7 nights in fridge, and can report unequivocally the wine was in excellent condition and had lost none of the complexities it showed when initially open last week moreover, after 30 minutes of breathing was still evolving-growing in the glass. This could be put down to a function of the wine, that is it is obviously still developing in the bottle however I have to say, this wine was open a good 2 hours when we broached it the first time, thus it is quite extraordianary that it again opened up more, and that winesave had retained all these qualities in the wine.

So, this is a double plug for Calera and winesave and for those who have not read my last piece on Calera; go to http://www.thewanderingpalate.com/must-have-wines/calera-reed-pinot-noir-1997-mt-harlan-california/

My note on the 1994 Reed Pinot en magnum, Aug 28th after a week in the fridge:

Immediate secondary complexities of rusted iron, orange rind and dried tamarind peel, tea leaf, hints of balsamic and hot terracotta tiles, chanterelle mushrooms and dried pine needles; then a sweet perfume of strawberries and raspberries with notes of caramel brings an alluring aspect to an already captivating bouquet. This perfume keeps building in intensity with a smoky, spiciness, like mustard and cumin seeds in a hot wok, with hints of charcoal, dark-earthy Oolong tea, and yet a continuously growing sweetness in the aroma with red berry compote, subtle notes of liquorice and muscovado sugar, a wink to the new world warmer profile but also showing the wine still has plenty of fruit and still developing. Wonderfully earthy and rusty-minerally on the palate entry, and silky texture caresses the mouth along with captivating secondary nuances of smoky, grilled meats, dried mushrooms, then a wave of sweetness, strawberry conserve, palm sugar-caramel checked my piquant orange rind and balsamic, also tawny nuances with hot clay-terracotta sensations, and becoming intensely spicy with a lively warmth and perky acidity on the palate, this spiciness increasingly persistent suggesting the wine has more time to reach its full maturity, although with its silky textured and completely integrated tannins, and clearly evident secondary complexities, a beautiful drink now – A brilliant BIG bottle from the maverick master of pinot noir, Josh Jensen.