We tasted all Pinot Noirs. But before I get to all that, let's talk specifics of Old World and New World.
Old World is Europe -- France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Spain Portugal.
A very basic summary is that Old World wines tend to be more subtle in flavor.
An Old World Pinot Noir is typically earthy with subtle fruit. Light-bodied and complex. Old world also goes well with food.
Typical descriptions:
Mushrooms
Smoke
Tea
Perfume, incense, sandalwood
Flowers
Tart red fruit like cranberry
New World wines come from everywhere else -- North America, South America, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia...etc
A New World Pinot Noir is typically fuller-bodied and fruit driven. To quote directly from a webpage: "This wine gives the illusion of being sweet on the nose, with juicy, ripe fruit aromas that jump out of the glass."
Typical descriptions:
juicy red fruits - strawberry, cherry, raspberry
meat - bacon
floral
earth
toast
And now to the wine we tasted. We started with two wines that weren't covered so that we could warm up to the idea.
Heron $17.00
2008 Sonoma, CA
black licorice, dark fruit- cherries, tobacco smoke, medium body, nice, juicy wet mouth feel.
Domaine de Bachellery #10.95
French red table wine
not much of a nose, rubbery nose, sour cherries, tart fruit, short finish, lack of earthiness, falls flat, cranberry, sour cherry.
**We covered the next four wines and tasted them blind. Most of the women got it right -- I was very impressed!!**
MacMurray $17.00
2007 Sonoma
dark ruby color, vanilla, spice, medium finish, black pepper, sage, "reminds Diella of peach fuzz mouth feel", smoke, buttered toast, caramel, sour, sweet peppers, cranberries, herbs.
Marc Cellars $14.50
2005 France
cedar, evergreen, peppermint, leather, full-bodied, acidic, low on fruit, young, tart, crsip, bacon, strawberry. Delicious with the food.
Hanging Vine $14.00
2008 California
tobacco, earthy, jammy, raspberry, raisins, blueberries, sawdust nose, white chocolate, vanilla, fuller-bodied more unctuous.
Touraine $18.00
2008 France
pencil shavings, violets, musty, horse barn, sulfur, mushroom gills, bile, vinegar, "tongue sweater wine", flower - lily, "headache in a glass" color looks cloudy. we wondered if this turned. (update: it hadn't turned -- the wine guy that loved it so much).
And OF COURSE we ranked them - here are our top three:
1. MacMurray
2. Marc and Hanging Vine tied
3. Heron
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