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Siduri/Novy           www.siduri.com    novyfamilywines.com
  
                          981 Airway Court, Suites E & F, Santa Rosa, CA 95403
          
                   (707) 578-3882

Siduri, named for the Babylonian Goddess of wine, produces single vineyard Pinot Noir from 20 different vineyards stretching from Santa Barbara north to Oregon’s Willamette Valley. All of their Pinot Noirs are produced unfiltered and unfined. Husband and wife winemaking team, Adam Lee and Dianna Novy, produce all the wines together. All Pinot Noirs are bottled under the Siduri label and everything else (mainly Rhone varietals, Chardonnay and Zinfandel) is bottled under the Novy label. Pinot Noir is their favorite varietal, which explains their dedication to the grape in their first wine venture, Siduri, with their first vintage being 1994. They produce more than 25 Pinot Noirs each year. Novy is a more recent venture, established in 1998, which is a collaboration between the winemaking couple and members of Dianna's family. They don’t own any vineyards, but instead contract vineyard plots by the acre. They produce about 10,000 cases per year under the Siduri label and about 5,000 cases per year under the Novy.

Tastings are by appointment only. The casual tasting room uses barrels as tables.

88+  2008  Novy  Russian River Valley Viognier  $20

Overall: Very good structure and dry, honeyed fruit, with pure Viognier character and no oak. Elegant with good concentration. Very good value.

89+  2008  Siduri  Chehalem Mountains Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley)  $30

Overall: Medium cherry color with elegant, acidity propelled black cherry fruit, minerality and cola. A lean, solid middleweight with character. Tart cherry lingers in the finish. Could improve in the next 2-3 years.

91+  2009  Siduri  Van der Kamp Pinot Noir (Sonoma Mountain)  $45

Overall: Deeper color than the last. Excellent black plum and black cherry fruit with some forestal sticks and a little smoke. A light heavyweight with excellent acidity and good tannin complementing the fruit. Very tasty and interesting already, but should improve in the next 3-5 years.

88  2009  Siduri  Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir  $30

Overall: Pure black cherry fruit, more ripe than the last two, as expected for this appellation, but not as much complexity or structure. Also a hint of bitter cherry pit. A tasty example of the appellation, but nothing more.

89+  2009  Siduri  Rosella's Vineyard Pinot Noir  (Santa Lucia Highlands)  $30

Overall: Ripe blueberry/raspberry fruit balanced by excellent acidity. Delicious already, but should improve in the next few years.

88  2007  Novy  Judge Family Vineyard Grenache  $27

Overall: Grayish cherry color with very good, juicy, slightly grapy Grenache fruit. A middleweight with excellent acidity. A little restrained at present, but comes on in the finish.

89  2007  Novy  Russian River Valley Syrah  $20

Overall: Plums and blackberries with briary spice. Solid middleweight with excellent fruit and very good acidity. Finish is a little restrained at present. Excellent value.

91  2008  Novy  Rosella's Vineyard Syrah (Santa Lucia Highlands)  $29

Overall: Deep purple garnet color with lots of concentrated blackberries, complemented by smoke and white pepper. Light heavyweight with excellent fruit and acidity. Has a viscous, tangy mouthfeel and a long and interesting finish. Outstanding value.

90+  2009  Novy  Russian River Valley Zinfandel  $20

Overall: Very ripe, fresh figs and black plums. Light heavyweight with outstanding fruit and enough acidity to balance it out. This takes ripeness to the brink, but still shows balance and elegance. The pure, multilayered fruit is for hedonists only (count me in). Outstanding value.

Final Thoughts: The purity of fruit, balance and elegance of these wines is impressive. In addition, they do it with consistency throughout their lineup at reasonable prices. Bravo! My only complaint was the format of the tasting, where the pours were small and the next wine came a bit too fast for me (difficult to complete an accurate tasting note with this size pour and the clock running). We were allowed to get a second, revisit pour of those we chose at the end, and there were a lot of wines to go through for 7 others besides us three, making it somewhat understandable. Also, when I consider the quality of the wines, it was definitely a positive experience overall. Jonathan Hughes was also very helpful in making available some special, single vineyard Zins to us that were not on the regular sales list. Thanks Jonathan!

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