One of the most exciting wine finds I had last year was the wine from Eric Sussman's Radio Coteau. Eric specializes in cool climate, coastal, sonoma pinot noir. His commitment to working with passionate growers and his desire to make natural wine result in some beautiful wines. He is a terroir-ist (not the Bin laden type!) 2002 was the inaugural vintage. He makes four different bottlings of fairly limited Pinot Noir: Savoy, La Neblina (fog in Spanish), Marsh, and Hellenthal in addition to a Syrah and a Zinfandel. The Syrah and Zin are both worth seeking out. Fantastic wines. The names of the Pinots reflect those of the respective growers with the exception of Neblina which is a blend.
Eric spent a year in Bordeaux at Baron Phillipe Rothschild and another in Burgundy at Domaine Comte Armand and Jacques Prieur in Mersault. It was in France that he first heard the expression "radio coteau." It suggests word of mouth and means more literally broadcasting from the hillside. Eric's vision of Radio Coteau is that it "reflects a commitment to community and place. It refers to growers
found by word of mouth, tradition handed down in the cellar, and
friends helping out at harvest."
Eric also had stints at Bonny Doon and was the associate winemaker at Dehlinger for four years.
I bought about a case of the 2002 Savoy and after the first two bottles last November wondered how I was going to keep may hands off of it. they were elegant, nuanced, with great interplay between the spice and dark fruit. Long, precise, bursting with flavor but not overkill. Bottle number three might slow me down a little bit. Everything is still there but it seems it has picked up steam since the last two bottles. I probably could have decanted it 3 hours before drinking it. Everything seems to be in great balance just turned up a couple of more notches. Great dark color. Really picked up the spice and cherry on the nose. Lush fruit, nice acidity, but the tannins were very present at the end. Definitely enough fruit to shed as the tannins mellow. I think I'll wait another 6 months before opening another. Hopefully I have a bottle or two left 5 years from now.
Order online at Radio Coteau. The 2003 is out now and about $40 per bottle.
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