diannap wrote:

The Fedex man dropped my box and golden ticket off in the afternoon, too early to open, so I brought it to the cellar and let it maintain its temp – it was perfect cool weather for wine delivery today. In the evening, I brought it back out, and opened it to find very little color on the cork and an initial aroma of light berry, perhaps cherry and strawberry.

Since I’m not the patient type, I poured a small taste right away. The color is beautiful – a perfect light, ruby red with exceptional clarity that sparkled in the light. I’m now getting a little floral perhaps, but definitely still the light berry. Initial taste is high alcohol, moderate tannins and cherry/strawberry. It definitely needs time to breathe. Its very hard to discern flavor over the acidity/alcohol at this point.

(Really wanting to start drinking this wine now. I have an open bottle of Pinotage from last night – vacuum sealed. Tempted to try some, but will resist to maintain fairness for the PN. Sigh.)

30 minutes after opening – Its easing up a bit, but needs more time.

1 hour after opening – Still no real lasting strong flavors. Tried it with both Salmon and Chicken, and we both agreed that food did not improve the wine and vice versa. Food made it have even more bite on immediate taste. Maybe if it had more time to breathe it would be a different story. If I had to pick, I much preferred the Rosemary chicken with it versus the Salmon. Perhaps the earthiness of the Rosemary plays off the wine a bit. Perhaps we should have eaten a little later, but I was hungry, so I digress…

2 hours after opening – More flavors are starting to come through. It does not leave the palette immediately anymore. It continues to have too much bite for my taste, so I must conserve the remainder and stay up later to see how this changes.

Time to start considering chocolate. I have a great triple layer chocolate mousse cake in the fridge. I think its going to have to be eaten. Soon.

3 hours after opening – Ok, here we go. Now I’m really starting to see a change. The flavors now sit on the palette, rather than disappearing quickly. I’m getting a bright, sharp, berry explosion upon tasting which drifts off into a fresh tartness. Now getting more dark cherry and raspberry. The acidity is no longer overpowering the flavors. I’m getting excited to see what its like at 4 hours!

4 hours after opening – Really enjoying this now. The cherry, raspberry are still prevalent and rich. Flavor fills the mouth and has a hint of light earthiness. Such a dramatic change from when it was first opened. I still wouldn’t put it with the Salmon, but it probably would have gone nicely with the chicken at this point. Going to get that chocolate cake…now.

The bottom line: It’s a gorgeous looking wine – the color and clarity are remarkable. After sufficient time, the flavors were bright, fresh and enjoyable. The change from initial opening to several hours later was absolutely remarkable. Ultimately, I think it will be a really good wine after a few more years. I’m glad I bought it, but plan to keep my 3 bottles for awhile before opening. Should you woot? Yes, go click that button if you’ve got patience to let it sit a bit. I think it will be a really nice wine, given some time.

Thanks for the great report =). You don't need to be "creative" and "funny" , just put out precise notes like you just did and it gets the job done 150%!

Thank you!

diannap wrote:Oh, the pressure!!! I bow to the humor and creativity of my counterparts. I disclaim by saying I’m just happy the 3 year old and baby are sound asleep…I’m hoping for a “wakefree” evening of wine tasting. If I get that, I’m going to be REALLY happy. So with laptop in hand I’ll tackle the Kent Rasmussen Pinot Noir.

Nice job, diannap! You clearly have a more experienced palate and better wine vocabulary than I. I agree with you that it opens up considerably after a few hours and, while I don't really have the experience to justify my expectations, I think it is going to improve over the next few years. To me, it has the acidity and tannins to bear a little aging. Now that I've had a free bottle, my three on the way are going to go in the cellar for at least a couple years.

I would like to thank all three of our rats. Very well thought out, informative, and entertaining reports. Great job!

ScottHarveyWines wrote:Kent's wines are always good. I need some Pinot, especially well made lower alcohol wines like Kent's. I'm in. Want to also thank everyone for all the wonderful birthday greetings.

And way to go black (more than 25 woots)!! As TommyTheCat first pointed out in the SH Birthday thread, you are the only winemaker to be "better than anyone else" that we know of on the Wine.Woot boards.

Although I do have to admit that Kent and Peter are very close to our hearts (and wallets as well!). Just ask Loweeel (just the slightest mention of Petite Sirah will get him all a-flutter). Which is why all three winemakers are pretty much an automatic favorite on the Woot Emergency Network.

elisharenee wrote:[quote postid="3072636" user="doerning"]not to sound like a total n00b, but could someone please talk a little about the whole lab rat business? I've seen it talked about but can't find any details. If it has to do with tasting notes I'd love to get involved. I'd like to think I've finally started to develop a nice palate :P


I was feeling like a n00b also...I would love to be a lab rat whatever it might be

I didn't see anyone answer your guestion about becoming a rat. If you find a post like this one from WineDavid39 there is a link in his signature to sign up for the labrat program. Or you can just send an e-mail to labrat@woot.com and give them the address you have your wine shipped to and your username(?). Rats are picked "randomly" ( ) and you have to have your order in before 10am central time on the first day of the offer.

Thank you to all the rats for the very entertaining, and more importantly, informative posts.

tommythecat78 wrote:I didn't see anyone answer your question about becoming a rat. If you find a post like this one from WineDavid39 there is a link in his signature to sign up for the labrat program. Or you can just send an e-mail to labrat@woot.com and give them the address you have your wine shipped to and your username(?). Rats are picked "randomly" ( ) and you have to have your order in before 10am central time on the first day of the offer.

Cheron98 has kindly put all information about the Labrat program at the beginning of the Labrat Thread (where she kindly and graciously cross-posts all the labrat posts into one convenient place).

She has the rules of "rattery" there. As well as a listing of the labrats and offers from June 2 of last year (2008).

MarkDaSpark wrote:Cheron98 has kindly put all information about the Labrat program at the beginning of the Labrat Thread (where she kindly and graciously cross-posts all the labrat posts into one convenient place).

She has the rules of "rattery" there. As well as a listing of the labrats and offers from June 2 of last year (2008).

Well, I waited for the rats and have opted to only go in for one. I'd really like two but I have close to 80 bottles in the basement...dont think I need many more. I'll drink one of these now and save the other two for a few years.

Always love Kents offerings. I was a huge fan of his PV offering and still have a whole set laying around. Thanks Kent! Oh and thanks Rats!

PINOT - NOT JUST FOR DINNER ANY MORE

For those of you still on the cusp about buying this lovely offering, and in the interest of a more complete report, I offer one last tasting note. While I don't usually drink before work, I decided to have a last (small) glass with my morning toast (whole wheat, dry) to see how the Rasmussen held up after 12 hours. Since I have to be able to at least act sober at work, though, I'm just tasting the Rasmussen this morning.

First, I am sorry to say that Colgate Sensitive Whitening is not the best background against which to taste this wine. It took a couple of mouthfuls swished around over the pearly whites before I thought I was getting a good taste of the wine. I had stuffed the cork back in the bottle after about 3 1/2 hours last night and it was now about 12 hours since I first opened the bottle. There is a distinct mellowing of some of the sharpness and I detect more earthy, vegetal tones. Still a very good wine, but not quite to my taste now. I wish I had put it in my vacuum flask. I certainly wouldn't be embarrassed to serve this wine today - but probably not with the breakfast cereal.

My final assessment: the Kent Rasmussen 2006 Carneros Pinot Noir is a very good Pinot. At $35 per bottle, it is beyond my normal price comfort zone, but based on my limited experience with good Pinots, that price is fair. At $25 per bottle it's really good QPR. I think this will be even better in a couple years, but it's darned good now. Buy with confidence.

Thanks again, Wine.Woot! It's been a trip.

ScottHarveyWines wrote:Kent's wines are always good. I need some Pinot, especially well made lower alcohol wines like Kent's. I'm in. Want to also thank everyone for all the wonderful birthday greetings.

Holy Cow! Scott has a black square!

andyduncan wrote:...unending series of multiple posts...

You're killing me. If you get ratted in the future, I refuse to pack your reports again. You're gonna have to do it yourself. Geez. KILLING ME.


...Wait, there's MORE? ugh...

*keeps scrolling*

andyduncan wrote:...continuing drama...

I hate you. You're on the list. This is the most annoying packing I've had to do yet

(funny as all hell though)

andyduncan wrote:... final posting ...

Oh thank God.

You (and all the others) have been packed.

Great reports, one and all!

dayoff53 wrote:...I stopped off at a local wine pusher named, I carp you negative, “Bueno Cheapo Vino”...

SERIOUSLY OT

You know, sometimes I try to show a little class with an artistic reference and it just bites me in the butt. This morning, the lovely Kay asks me, she sez, "what does 'I carp you negative' mean?" I explained it to her. Now, Kay is not a particularly obtuse or uninformed reader, so if she is having trouble with my references, I imagine some of you dear readers are in the same boat. Lemme 'splain...

"Carp" is Wine.Woot's fault. I believe it was my very first post to these forums that I used a common euphemism for the solid excretory function and Wine.Woot automatically transposed the middle two letters. This time, I saved them the trouble and did it myself.

The entire phrase, with the two middle letters in proper sequence, is again a euphemism for the more common idiom, "I s**t you not." I came across this particular turn of the phrase in the third best Cohen Brothers movie of all time, Raising Arizona (of course, the Cohen Brothers' third best beats most of Hollywood's top efforts). It was uttered by the John Goodman character, Gale Snoats. (Sorry, Kay, I was wrong when I first attributed it to Walter Sobchak in The Big Lebowski - blame it on the Pinot.)

MarkDaSpark wrote:(where she kindly and graciously cross-posts all the labrat posts into one convenient place)

... i dunno about "graciously" today...

Yes, andy, I'm lookin' at you.

dayoff53 wrote:unnecessary explaination

Some of us got it right off the bat. Don't stress.

Wow, so the PA state stores have this for $35.99/750ml.

So this is effectively buy two get one free for me, plus one would be signed.

BUT, I'd still have to have it delivered somewhere distant as this won't even ship to my cellar in NJ.

Decisions decisions.

Will Kent Rasmussen be at the Philadelphia Wine Festival in May?

iByron

clayfu wrote:stemmy? forest floor? mushroom? floral nose? any of that in your tastings?

I wish I had another glass to tell you if those are present. That said they were not strong enough for me to place. I wish I could have bought 2 offerings.

Daysoff: You mentioned a recent trip to the Willamette Valley. My wife and I will be making our first wine tasting trip there next month and I am hoping you (and anyone else with opinions) can recommend some wineries to visit.

So as not to hijack the thread, please post to the pub.

Thanks in advance,

David

dayoff53 wrote:PINOT - NOT JUST FOR DINNER ANY MORE

For those of you still on the cusp about buying this lovely offering, and in the interest of a more complete report, I offer one last tasting note. While I don't usually drink before work, I decided to have a last (small) glass with my morning toast (whole wheat, dry) to see how the Rasmussen held up after 12 hours. Since I have to be able to at least act sober at work, though, I'm just tasting the Rasmussen this morning.

First, I am sorry to say that Colgate Sensitive Whitening is not the best background against which to taste this wine. It took a couple of mouthfuls swished around over the pearly whites before I thought I was getting a good taste of the wine. I had stuffed the cork back in the bottle after about 3 1/2 hours last night and it was now about 12 hours since I first opened the bottle. There is a distinct mellowing of some of the sharpness and I detect more earthy, vegetal tones. Still a very good wine, but not quite to my taste now. I wish I had put it in my vacuum flask. I certainly wouldn't be embarrassed to serve this wine today - but probably not with the breakfast cereal.

My final assessment: the Kent Rasmussen 2006 Carneros Pinot Noir is a very good Pinot. At $35 per bottle, it is beyond my normal price comfort zone, but based on my limited experience with good Pinots, that price is fair. At $25 per bottle it's really good QPR. I think this will be even better in a couple years, but it's darned good now. Buy with confidence.

Thanks again, Wine.Woot! It's been a trip.

what % of the bottle was left for the morning?

Damn, the labrats really stepped it up this time. I can't imagine anyone who was on the fence not going in for at least one. I for one am glad I got in before the rats so I only buy 1.

andyduncan wrote:When I tasted my actual bottles from that offering, I still liked them, but I can understand why some people wouldn't. They were very funky, maybe a little unbalanced (clay would say "HOLY CRAPSTICKS THE ALCOHOL"), but I enjoyed the pencil-shavings and funkiness that I think other people objected to, and I thought the QPR for a non-fruit-bomb napa cab was worthwhile.

So along those lines I think the most useful thing would be to categorize this as best I can rather than just say "get it". (but get it).

I am still on the fence between one or two. I am new at tasting notes so I do not yet know how to describe a taste adequately (and therefore cannot always relate to the labrats' comments).

I visited Alma Rosa in Janurary, and tried their full lineup of Pinots. I found all of them very tight and possibly too tannic? I didn't enjoy them. Maybe they were too young. By comparison, I recently visited Cambria, Kenneth Volk, Tensley, and Scott Cellars. I loved the Pinots. More fruit, well balanced, smooth on the palate.

Can the labrats, or anyone else, confirm whether the labrats' descriptions of this wine or more like one or the other?

iByron wrote:Wow, so the PA state stores have this for $35.99/750ml.

So this is effectively buy two get one free for me, plus one would be signed.

BUT, I'd still have to have it delivered somewhere distant as this won't even ship to my cellar in NJ.

Decisions decisions.

Will Kent Rasmussen be at the Philadelphia Wine Festival in May?

iByron

I'd wootleg for you but not sure when you next plan on coming to a DC tasting. May, perhaps?

dayoff53 wrote:Okay, that's most of them. Enjoy in the privacy of your own cellar - NOT SAFE FOR WORK!
(is that better?)

Reminds me of those Cycles Gladiator labels ..

davirom wrote:Daysoff: You mentioned a recent trip to the Willamette Valley. My wife and I will be making our first wine tasting trip there next month and I am hoping you (and anyone else with opinions) can recommend some wineries to visit.

So as not to hijack the thread, please post to the pub.

Thanks in advance,

David

Hi David -

If you are interested in visiting some of the wineries that have had woot offerings, click on the link in the signature below for the map.

clayfu wrote:what % of the bottle was left for the morning?

I'm going to say 69%, give or take. ;) Remember, I was working on three bottles of wine last night all by myself.

woopdedoo wrote:Hi David -

If you are interested in visiting some of the wineries that have had woot offerings, click on the link in the signature below for the map.

Thanks for the map. It looks like Lange is right up the street from where we will be staying. I did not order that particular offer.

David

woopdedoo wrote:Reminds me of those Cycles Gladiator labels ..

I had never seen the Cycles Gladiator labels - or heard of the wine OR the bicycle. I Googled and found it all here. Very nice!

UMA2006 wrote:I visited Alma Rosa in Janurary, and tried their full lineup of Pinots. I found all of them very tight and possibly too tannic? I didn't enjoy them. Maybe they were too young. By comparison, I recently visited Cambria, Kenneth Volk, Tensley, and Scott Cellars. I loved the Pinots. More fruit, well balanced, smooth on the palate.

Can the labrats, or anyone else, confirm whether the labrats' descriptions of this wine or more like one or the other?

I haven't had any of the wines you mentioned, but I would definitely say the KR is not one of the fruitier Pinots I have tasted. I got a good whiff of red berries in the nose, but I was aware of a fair amount of acidity and astringency of in the mouth. This is not to say there is no fruit - I think it is a very well-balanced Bordeaux-style Pinot - but, from your description, you may not find it your favorite wine.

apw2123 wrote:I wish I had another glass to tell you if those are present. That said they were not strong enough for me to place. I wish I could have bought 2 offerings.

In what ways is it "very old world and Burgundy?"

dayoff53 wrote:I'm going to say 69%, give or take. ;) Remember, I was working on three bottles of wine last night all by myself.

From what you are saying, it seems like it took a turn for the worse overnight? Were the leftovers in the fridge or outside?

dayoff53 wrote:I had never seen the Cycles Gladiator labels - or heard of the wine OR the bicycle. I Googled and found it all here. Very nice!

They had a wine.woot offer here last May, of their "More Reserved" line. Looks like the labels on the website are a little different now. The ones on the woot offer looked like this. (more reserved = covered up. get it? *small chuckle*)

clayfu wrote:From what you are saying, it seems like it took a turn for the worse overnight? Were the leftovers in the fridge or outside?

Stored at room temperature overnight. I just didn't get as much fruit in the morning. A big part of that was probably the toothpaste - even though it had been 1/2 hour since I brushed, there was enough mint in my mouth to kill the softer elements of the flavor.

dayoff53 wrote:Stored at room temperature overnight. I just didn't get as much fruit in the morning. A big part of that was probably the toothpaste - even though it had been 1/2 hour since I brushed, there was enough mint in my mouth to kill the softer elements of the flavor.

Note to self: When drinking wine in the morning before work, brush teeth *after* drinking...

I'm not so sure if this is a "quality post", but I like Kent's look without the beard much better. ;-)

Nevertheless I would like to thank Kent for the marvelous products he's creating and I'm really looking forward to the arrival of this weeks PN.

UMA2006 wrote:I visited Alma Rosa in Janurary, and tried their full lineup of Pinots. I found all of them very tight and possibly too tannic? I didn't enjoy them. Maybe they were too young. By comparison, I recently visited Cambria, Kenneth Volk, Tensley, and Scott Cellars. I loved the Pinots. More fruit, well balanced, smooth on the palate.

At least with Alma Rosa vs. Volk and Cambria, the vineyard sites are pretty different. Alma Rosa's wines are probably a little heavier, tighter and earthier because they're grown in the cool, windy Santa Rita Hills AVA in diatomaceous earth. Volk and Cambria utilize Santa Maria vineyards, which aren't in quite an extreme climate and have different soil, I think. Alma Rosa's winemaker is French; I suspect he may influence the style.

I think, generally speaking, SRH Pinots will tend to be earthier, darker and with more tannic and acidic structure. The question is whether Carneros is more like Santa Maria or Lompoc.

andyduncan wrote: (but then again, I can't tell cab from merlot)

Yeah, about that. We had that Wellington merlot over the weekend, and it was nothing like a cab, and nothing like the red dot wine that I remember tasting. And I have a good tasting memory. So maybe you and I are right and the dots are wrong! At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

How would the KR PN compare with the Roesler PNs offered recently? I bought a number of them and wonder if I need another 3 PN.

How is this not SOLD OUT?!?! One of the best threads on a Pinot I've ever had the pleasure of skimming through.


Debating adding another trio after the colorful Lab reports.