Cru Wines 2006 Pinot Noir, Chualar Canyon

Jun 11th, 2008 by admin

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If you are visiting us for the first time, Welcome! The Wine Spies feature one exceptional wine each day – and we only bring you wines that we ourselves seek out and love. Always, the wines are great. Sometimes even better than that, as is the case with today’s wine from CRU Monterey.

Mission Codename:

Operative: Agent Red

Objective: Return to Monterey’s Santa Lucia Highlands, a region famous for producing what are arguably the finest Pinot Noir in California, and return with a fantastic Pinot for our Operatives

Mission Status: Accomplished!

Current Winery: CRU Monterey

Wine Subject: 2006 Pinot Noir Chular Canyon

Winemaker: Michael Levin

Backgrounder: Our Operatives know, but other folks are often surprised that Monterey County produces some of the finest Pinot Noir in California. The Wine Spies have featured Monterey County Pinot in prior missions and today we send Agent Red to CRU Monterey, where their Pinot Noir is among the best he has tasted from the region. With Summer now in full swing in California’s wine Country, Agent Red brings you a perfect springtime red wine. Read his tasting notes and mission report below for full details on this fantastic wine

Wine Spies Tasting Profile:

Look – Perfect clarity with burgundy to red colors that maintain tight color concentration right to the edges of the wine, a bouncy surface, and wide-spaced legs that run down the glass at a rapid pace

Smell – A big bright nose of Pannetone (Italian Christmas cake) with fresh cherry, pomegranate and strawberry, plus the characteristic aromas of gunpowder and salt. The wine also displays subtle French characteristics with Earthy forest floor and dried herbs.

Feel – Soft and round up front, then big and bright with a slight tightening on the mid-palate and a grippiness on the lips

Taste – Delicious and bright with great fruits of cherry, raspberry and strawberry with the slightest earthen herbaceous quality

Finish – This wine continues long after its swallowed, with flavors and feelings that last a long time – to be replaced by the wines gentle tannins that dry the mouth slightly

Conclusion – What a wonderful surprise this wine was! On the recommendation of the winery, I had been sitting on the samples that I had procured from the winery for more than a month now. They kept insisting that I wait a little while longer to allow this wine to mature just a tad more. When I finally got the call from the winery, I immediately popped a bottle and then spent two days evaluating it for you. Day one the wine was perfect. It had balance and brightness and aromas that sang out. After a day in a re-corked bottle the wine was even better, exhibiting more roundness, gentler fruit and a more supple mouth-feel. We Wine Spies are very fond of wines from Monterey County’s, particularly Pinot Noir from the region.