The 2013 Glenwood Cellars Pinot Noir with Carneros fruit was our first effort at making a Pinot Noir.
I will admit to never being a big Pinot Noir fan in my early days of wine drinking, as my favorite wine was, and still is, big fruity Cabernet Sauvignons. When I got into the wine business with Tiedemann Wines, I needed and wanted to (quickly) expand my palate and I began trying all types of different wines. I found a number of wines that I really liked…such as Petite Sirah, Malbec, Viognier and Bordeaux. The downside of all this was that my wine cellar began to grow with all these new found wines. I was especially attracted to Pinot Noirs when I became the Indiana distributor for Eric Kent Wine Cellars because they make several wonderful Pinot Noirs.
When I started making wine with friend and winemaker Kent Humphrey (winemaker and owner at Eric Kent Wine Cellars), it made sense to make a Pinot Noir under our Glenwood Cellars label with Kent. His Pinot Noirs are great (so I was guessing ours would be too) and it expanded our label’s opportunities in the marketplace.
Let me digress a little and tell you that the Pinot Noir grape originated in France. Today it is the tenth most widely planted grape in the world. It can be a difficult grape to grow and is best suited for cooler climates. Pinot Noir is the primary red grape in the Burgundy region of France. There they make some of the most sought-after and age-worthy wines in the world. A couple of examples are: a 2004 Romanee-Conti from Burgundy (Pinot Noir) is around $10,500 per bottle. It is said that it is one of the greatest Pinot Noirs in the world. The most expensive wine in the world today is winemaker Henri Jayer’s 1970 Richebourg Grand Cru. Cote de Nuits has prices “starting” at $10,000 per bottle. The 1962 vintage of the same wine reached an average price of $28,000 per bottle in 2015. Don’t worry…I don’t think my 2013 Glenwood Cellars Pinot Noir will reach those price points.
The Wine Blend
The 2013 Glenwood Cellars Pinot Noir is a blend of 87% Carneros and 13% Russian River grapes. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are likely the two most popular grapes of the Carneros AVA. Carneros is located between the two most famous wine regions in the United States: Sonoma Valley and Napa Valley. See the map to visualize its location:
The wine was fermented in traditional open-top tanks, and then stored in 40% new French Oak and 60% neutral barrels for 8 months prior to bottling.
The Winemakers Comments
What follows are winemaker Kent Humphrey’s remarks on how the wine tastes:
“A rich ruby hue, the nose lures you in with bright red fruits, black plum, tart raspberry and baking spices. Showcasing deeply satisfying red and black fruits on the palate with an elegant dark spice on the finish, this is serious Pinot Noir that will be happy to lie down for a year in the cellar or open up right now for lamb chops, wild mushrooms and grilled salmon.”
We submitted the wine to Wine Enthusiast magazine for review and we were very excited and pleased when they gave it a score of 91 points. Not bad for our first effort at Pinot Noir. We have recently blended our 2014 Glenwood Cellars Pinot Noir and hope we can improve our rating with this new blend. Time will tell.
The wine is available locally at Chalet Party Shoppes, City Wide Liquor (if they don’t have it in stock they can order it through Tiedemann Wines for you). The wine retails from $21.00 to $23.00 in wine shops. A number of local restaurants have the wine on their wine lists, either as by the glass or by the bottle.
As always I appreciate your support of our wine blog and encourage you to share it with family and friends. If you care to share your comments on this blog posting or other topics please do so in the comments section below.
Until next week,
Cheers
Please join us for these Upcoming Tiedemann On Wines Wine Club dinners:
August 25, Uptown Kitchen Wine Dinner, Uptown Kitchen in Granger, 6:30 p.m.
October 13, Old World Versus New World Wines, Dinner at McCarthy’s on the Riverwalk in Elkhart, 6:30 p.m.
November 10, Spanish Wine Dinner at McCarthy’s on the Riverwalk in Elkhart, 6:30 p.m.
Just letting everyone know that we have Carl’s Glenwood Cellars Pinot Noir at both The Mark Dine & Tap and Uptown Kitchen. We are currently featuring it as a glass pour at The Mark and encourage all to try it.
Additionally, we also have the Eric Kent Pinot Noir at The Mark. I will say that I find it to be one of the most unique and satisfying Pinots I’ve tasted.
Jonathan: Thank you so much for your support. The Tiedemann family appreciates it, as well as your friendship.
Cheers