Legendary Loss
Calera founder Josh Jensen passed away earlier this month after a lifetime of achievements that included elevating American Pinot Noir on the world stage
Day 1
Served this with the Vinloq System
👃Bold, sexy, purple fruit floods from the glass endlessly
👅Spicy purple fruit, blood orange, sasafras, and licorice. A gentle tannic pull on the smoke tinged finish. Drinking well
Remaining wine was Slow Decanted in my refrigerator
DAY 10
👃Sweet, spicy, purple fruits with more vanilla, oak, vegetal, and tobacco notes than Day 1
👅Same sweet plummy fruit with tobacco and licorice. Fruit forward but balanced. Soft tannins and no heat
I did not have a preference for Day 1 or Day 10. There were more oak notes on both the nose and palate on Day 10. Two solid showings👍This is solidly in its drinking window & will be there for quite some time 🍷 — 3 years ago
Dinner with Brett and Karin in Jensen Beach, FL. February 8, 2025. E enjoyed Terri bottles of the 2022, during dinner at 11 Maple Street. — 6 months ago
Big body, dark color of deep rose, with violet hues on the edges and long, lingering legs. Initial taste, VERY dry, with grippy tannins and pronounced pepper notes. The wine slowly opened up though, the tannins loosened their grip but never let it go, the nose bloomed into a more floral and deep velvet expression, with notes of magic marker and candle smoke, the palate showed its composition, with lingering acidity, dark cherry and plum notes, and a floral but lingering finish, with a mineral spine that lasted forever. Very special on a special occasion, the day Tiva “legally” became a Jensen! — 3 years ago
Five single-vineyard CA Pinots vs 5 Burgs: Gevrey-Chambertin, Vosne-Romanee + three 1er Crus Beaunes. All 2005s. Rob Jensen, owner, and Sue Ryan, lead wine educator at Testarossa joined our group for the tasting. This was Siduri’s Gary’s vineyard Pinot, which I thought rivaled the Testarossa — 4 years ago
Five single-vineyard CA Pinots vs 5 Burgs: Gevrey-Chambertin, Vosne-Romanee + three 1er Crus Beaunes. All 2005s. Rob Jensen, owner, and Sue Ryan, lead wine educator at Testarossa joined our group for the tasting. This Siduri made a strong showing at #4. — 4 years ago
at peak, subtle and excellent — 10 months ago
Won’t you be my neighbor? ~ Mr. Rogers
The 2021 My Favorite Neighbor Blanc is a Paso Robles Chardonnay produced by Eric Jensen. This wine is delicious. Lively nose, racy acidity, layered complexity, and balance are just a few good descriptors for this wine. I would like to see how this wine evolves with a couple years of bottle age. It would be smart to add this to your list.
This wine falls in the “I’m glad I grabbed a few of these” category.
— 2 years ago
absolutely amazing balance, Josh Jensen RIP — 3 years ago
Five single-vineyard CA Pinots vs 5 Burgs: Gevrey-Chambertin, Vosne-Romanee + three 1er Crus Beaunes. All 2005s. Rob Jensen, owner, and Sue Ryan, lead wine educator at Testarossa joined our group for the tasting. Great wine, meaty — 4 years ago
Shay A

@Delectable Wine : This is the Madson little cloud vineyard Pinot Noir. I didn’t see it in the database.
Here I am a few days later still thinking about this wine…asking myself why I’ve never heard of this producer? Why aren’t these wines more common? Most importantly, when can I get more?
13.3%ABV; 100% whole cluster; 1 barrel (20 cases); 70% Little Cloud Vineyard, 30% Savaria Vineyard
It’s not common these days to have a domestic wine catch me off guard due to exposure across wine platforms, tasting groups, reading/research, etc, so I had no expectation of this wine. When I poured it in the glass, the translucent ruby color and the smell of whole cluster snapped me to attention real quick. Aromatics of cranberries, green herbs, violets, fresh potpurri fill the glass immediately. It drinks like the old Calera Jensen Pinots of 15+yrs ago…feral, crunchy, stemmy, bright, electric acidity but so much power carrying through to a wonderful finish of spiced rhubarb.
I don’t seek out many Pinot producers (especially Cali ones) but I’m going down the rabbit hole with this one. — 7 days ago