Cobb Pinot and A-Z Update

I realize that I mainly write about wines I have not has before. In truth, I may drink more wines than I have had before than my favorites. The appeal of the new is strong. Looking back on my entries I have rarely mention pinots. Which, given my love of the grape is surprising. On the other hand, most good Burgundies are far out of my price point as are many good Oregon or California options.

Luckily, I have some Cobb Pinots on my wine rack. Cobb wines are made by Ross Cobb, formerly wine maker at Flowers on the Sonoma Coast. They currently make 3 pinots: Coastlands, Rice-Spivak and Joy Road http://cobbwines.com/store/currentreleases.html

According to their website: Coastlands Vineyard is the original planting of Cobb Wines, and contains some of the oldest (20-year-old) pinot noir vines on the Sonoma Coast. This 15-acre vineyard has elevations ranging from 900 to 1,200 feet, and sits on a ridge that overlooks the Pacific Ocean four miles to the west. The varieties of pinot noir at Coastlands include Pommard, Martini, Wadenswil and Mt. Eden. The extreme, marine-influenced weather of Coastlands produces outstanding pinot noir fruit. Periods of spring rain or heavy fog can cause the vineyard’s yields to be very low, and in some years virtually nonexistent. 240 cases made.

Last night, I tried the 2007 Coastlands. It had a very elegant nose, even in a smaller glass. Ruby red, it featured raspberries, white pepper, minerals and cherry with a very long finish. It was lovely at first sip and only improved as it had some time in the glass. I'm very happy to have a second bottle to taste again after some time passes. I'm looking forward to tasting all 3 of their current releases at the end of the month.

For local Bay Area folks, there will be a Cobb Wines tasting at Jardinere in San Francisco on January 31. Please email me for details.

I also wanted to give an update on the A-Z Challenge. First of all, we have clarified: tastings do not count, only glasses. The spreadsheet can be found here: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tR8Ns33Ynq4gdnNJ17gc9mA&output=html
It looks like for producers I have:B C F P R V
and for grapes: A C F G P Z
I have much work to do!