Bouchaine Vineyards 2006 Gee Vineyard Pinot Noir

I held this bottle for just about about a year before my patience gave out on me. This $50 prize from a vacation to what was then far-away Napa Valley (Carneros, to be exact), was remebered as a mouthful of silky, layered fruit and spice that automatically made you say "wow".

The additional year in the bottle did nothing but good for this wine as well. Expectations were high when I came home to a dinner of curried pork chops, sweet potatoes, and pears, and saw this bottle open on the counter. What ensued could best be described as "Wow-fest 2009".

The Gee vineyard is a dry-farmed parcel directly across Buchli Station Road from the Bouchaine winery in Carneros. The vineyard is known for producing small clusters of intensly-flavored pinot grapes, and the Gee Vineyard bottling is a perennial favorite of Bouchaine's Bacchus club members. The wine spends 11 months in French oak.

This well-extracted pinot is a deep ruby color, fading slightly at the edge. The nose is powerful, wafting out of the glass with aromas of wild cherry, rasberry, ripe plums, and rose petals, with undertones of baking spices, forest floor, and toast. In the mouth, it has a bold attack, and then the layering sets in - silky, mouth-filling waves of cherry, mixed berry, and plum fruit, mingled with spice notes ranging from saffron to cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove, with hints of roses, violets, and black tea. Fine-grained tannins paint these flavors on the palate, and a tasteful measure of oak toast works it's way into a singing finish that does not disappoint.

Yes, this is a $50 bottle, so QPR is a tough thing to assess. I can't afford to drink a wine like this all the time. But, every once in a while it is good to have a wine that sits you back in you seat and reminds you just why you love wine. The 2006 Gee Vineyard Pinot is such a wine - a truly stunning example of Carneros Pinot Noir.

Note - supplies at the winery were very limited the last time I was there. There is a ready supply of the 2005 Gee, which spent more time in oak, and just never came along like the '06. The last time I was there, they were offering the '05 at 2-for-$50, but the 2006 is at least twice the wine. Could easily lay down for several more years and deliver more complexity. Just plain memorable - went great with the chops.