Filed under: New releases, Vineyards | Tags: 2014 harvest, 2014 Pinot Noir, 2016 harvest, Mariah Vineyards, Mendocino Ridge, Pinot Noir, Rose, Waits-Mast Pinot Noir
In honor of our Waits-Mast Family Cellars late spring release (the 2016 Waits-Mast Rosé of Pinot Noir and the 2014 Waits-Mast Pinot Noir, Mariah Vineyard), it’s a good time to reflect back on the early days of these wines.
The rosé is a mere babe, crafted from a blend of luscious pinot noir juices harvested last August and September from some of our favorite Mendocino County vineyards. Nash Mill Vineyard, Mariah Vineyard and Oppenlander Vineyard make up the blend, which is being released just in time for this week’s heat spell. We only made 20 cases of this wine, so enjoy it while you can.
2016 Waits-Mast Rose of Pinot Noir just off the bottling line, February, 2017. Photo: J. Waits
Filed under: Events, New releases, Tasting notes | Tags: Luke, pinot days, Pinot Days Chicago, Pinot Days Chicago 2013, Rose, tasting events, Waits-Mast Pinot Noir
It’s been a year and a half since the last Pinot Days Chicago, so we were looking forward to the opportunity to pour Waits-Mast wines for our Chicago fans once again. During a particularly crazy weather week, we headed to the Navy Pier for yesterday’s event. Luckily the rains/snow/flooding of the previous few days had subsided, although we were alarmed to see black smoke emanating from a fire at the O’Hare airport (apparently just an emergency training exercise) as we drove to the tasting. After safely arriving at our destination (a gorgeous room at the Navy Pier with a lake view), we set up our signage, bottles, and literature for the expected crowds of Pinot Noir consumers and industry folks.
Tasting glasses at Pinot Days Chicago 2013. Photo credit: J. Waits
Although this is the 5th time that we’ve poured our wines at Pinot Days Chicago, it had been a year and a half since the last event in November, 2011. Traveling to Chicago had become a fall tradition for us, so it was strange to not be there last November. Thankfully the event still took place, moving to April this year.
During this year’s Pinot Days Chicago we poured three of our more recent releases, including our recently bottled 2012 Waits-Mast Rosé of Pinot Noir from Mendocino County as well as our 2010 Waits-Mast Pinot Noir from Londer Vineyard and our 2010 Waits-Mast Pinot Noir from Wentzel Vineyard.
Brian shows off the new Waits-Mast Rosé of Pinot Noir. Photo: J. Waits
It was exciting to launch our brand new rosé at Pinot Days. Bottled on March 30, this is our very first rosé. Crafted from fruit from some of our favorite vineyards in Anderson Valley and Mendocino, we think it’s pretty delicious and were looking forward to hearing what others thought of this wine. We only made 24 cases of our 100% Pinot Noir rosé, so we only brought a few bottles to the tasting for the rosé’s public debut. Despite the chilly spring weather in Chicago, tasters were quite complimentary about the rosé (although some inevitably declined to taste it, preferring to stick to full-on Pinot Noir). In addition to the rosé, we also poured two other wines from Mendocino County – our 2010 Waits-Mast Pinot Noir from Londer Vineyard and our 2010 Waits-Mast Pinot Noir from Wentzel Vineyard. Here are some tasting notes from some of the attendees who stopped by our table:
2012 Waits-Mast Rosé of Pinot Noir, Mendocino County:
“fine mineral quality” (from a non-rosé fan)
“I wouldn’t send this back”
would be “great with Chilean sea bass – best of both worlds, taste of red, refreshing [quality of a] white”
“nice and refreshing”
“yummy”
“my favorite of the day”
“this is the best thing here”
“gorgeous”
Pouring at Pinot Days Chicago 2013. Photo: J. Waits
2010 Waits-Mast Pinot Noir, Londer Vineyard, Anderson Valley:
“love the smell, can’t place it”
“smokiness on the nose”
“earthy smell”
there’s a “very feminine grace to this”
“dances across your tongue”
“violets on the nose”
“fruit forward”
“anise”
“delicious”
“cherry”
“almost like tangerine” (on the tongue as a top note)
“red fruit in nose”
Waits-Mast table at Pinot Days Chicago 2013. Photo: J. Waits
2010 Waits-Mast Pinot Noir, Wentzel Vineyard, Anderson Valley:
“smells awesome”
“dryer finish” (than Londer)
“rich, nice structure”
“fruitier smell” (compared with Londer)
“denser, richer”
“good with salmon, it would stand up to the fat”
“black cherry”
“beautiful acidity”
“such a great expression of Pinot”
“my favorite”
“beautiful”
Pinot Days Chicago 2013 at the end of the day. Note the half-eaten sandwich. Photo: J. Waits
All in all, Pinot Days Chicago was great fun for us. We saw many old friends (fans, family, industry folks, and fellow winemakers) and were also happy to introduce our wines to many people who had never tried our wines before. We did miss seeing our #1 fan, Luke – we waited patiently for him to arrive at our table, hoping for some poetic pronouncements about our wine. Alas, we hope to see him next year. But, perhaps one of my favorite moments was when renowned winemaker Brian Loring of Loring Wine Company complimented us on our wines and applauded us for our small production, saying, “dare to be small.”
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