I've been fond of Cima Collina winemaker Annette Hoff's blog, Cellar Rap, since its inception, but I never actually had any of her wines. Her recent posts about the stresses and joys of crush time in the winery while keeping a family going have inspired me to crack out the only bottle I have of hers in the cellar. I can sympathize with her plight as my local winemaking group is knee-deep in crushing and pressing right now and after an all weekend grind I'm sore and my teeth and hands are purple.
Annette is a maverick of Monterey and is one of the great winemakers that are putting Monterey on the map, especially for Pinot Noir. She clearly has a touch with Pinot Noir and has been honing her skills at Sterling, Saintsbury, and a number of NZ locations before Cima Collina in 2004.
Cima Collina Pinot Noir Monterey County 2004
On the nose I would put this in Willamette Valley. It has a touch of green pepper and a whole lot of black rasperry and cranberry sauce going on. On the palate, it's fresh and has just the right amount of tartness to balance the almost heady fruits. Delicious now and I would forsee for the next couple of years as is, with the potential of being really interesting in 10.
I have a chicken on the rotisserie with lots of garlic and herbs de Provence on it to serve with it. Can't wait.
Hi Corkdork -- thanks for the write-up -- I'm glad you enjoyed the wine. I don't think of myself as a maverick, but certainly don't mind the title! Good luck to you during harvest. Regards, Annette
Posted by: Annette | September 15, 2008 at 12:07 PM