Opening tonight's bottle served as a bit of reminder of Portland and WBC12. A bottle was graciously gifted to each of the conference participants - but there was more than enough wine to keep us going at the conference. So, this one made it home with me.
I hadn't realized the fact when I was given the bottle, but "Don" is a Don from the Sebastiani family - a pioneering name in California winemaking with over 100 years experience in the business. The original Sebastiani brand was sold back in 2008; however, Don Sebastiani branched off to create Don & Sons with two of his children. They have modelled the company on a négociant format and they source grapes from growers throughout California - aiming to produce appellation-driven wines at consumer friendly prices.
The company is also structured so that it produces wines under more than just the Don & Sons label. I'm actually more familiar with the Smoking Loon and Pepperwood Grove brands - Dons & Sons being behind both of them. Their reach isn't limited to using California grapes either. The company has sourced fruit from Chile and Tasmania as well.
The bottle at hand was 100% Pinot Noir, primarily from Sonoma Coast growers - website notes say that 13% of the fruit was grown in the nearby Clarksburg appellation. It's a fleshy, easy drinker with lots of bright fruit. I'm not sure it was a Pinot that Myles would gush over in the movie Sideways, but Boo was quite taken with it - and that surprised me a bit in that that he generally favours wines with a little more Old World structuring. Wines that are awash in bigger tannins and structure and not so much juicy fruit. Guess it just goes to show that any given wine on any given day can hit the mark.
As for my hitting the mark, that'll revolve around getting caught up with some more posts - and maybe in going back to fill in some those gaps that "life" left behind.
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