2010 Copain Pinot Noir Kiser En Haut

Light crimson. Correct and quite introvert after the aromatic Kirsch San Andreas. Needs a bit of encouragement on the nose but on the palate it’s a sturdy, serious, non-sweet Pinot. Grainy finish. Still quite chewy. (JR)

The 2010 Pinot Noir Kiser En Haut is more compact and dense than the Kiser En Bas that follows in this tasting. Here the tannins are firm and a bit imposing. The 2010 will require a few years for the fruit to really open up. Today, the wine is compact, tight and closed in on itself. It will be interesting to see how the wine develops in the coming year and years.

The 2010 Pinot Noir Kiser En Haut is more compact and dense than the Kiser En Bas that follows in this tasting. Here the tannins are firm and a bit imposing. The 2010 will require a few years for the fruit to really open up. Today, the wine is compact, tight and closed in on itself. It will be interesting to see how the wine develops in the coming year and years. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2020. I have to say, it is a bit strange to visit Wells Guthrie’s beautiful Copain winery in Healdsburg, as none of the wines are made from fruit grown on the estate! Guthrie prefers to source fruit from cooler parts of Sonoma, most notably Anderson Valley and Yorkville Highlands. Today the Copain wines are mid-weight, gracious and delicate in style, a far cry from a few years back, when they were much more overt. In cold years like 2010 and 2011, some of the wines are a touch on the fragile side. Readers on a budget should be sure to check out the Tous Ensemble range, as those wines deliver tremendous quality for the money. All of 2011s I tasted from tank were scheduled to be bottled a few days after my visit. Tel. (707) 541-7474