There I was enjoying a wine tasting at The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan and being regaled with charming banter from Brian Loring the owner of Loring Wine Company. I think some of us were mildly amused from the fact that the day he was there, it was a pleasant dry day and he was lamenting that there was no snow. I think that most of us were happy that it was such a nice day, in fact, I was able to get by with just a sport coat and sweater and did not have to wear a cumbersome coat over it, especially with the crowd that was there. Loring Wine Company has a great motto “We’re a small company that produces tasty Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and whatever else strikes our fancy.”

The third and the fourth wine being presented were both single vineyard Pinot Noir wines. The third wine was Loring Wine Rosella’s Vineyard Pinot Noir 2015. This really interested me when I looked at the tasting sheet, as I have had several wines from Rosella’s Vineyard and I still have some cellared, and I consider it a great vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA of Monterey County. The wine was aged for ten months in French Oak of which fifteen percent was new and they produced four hundred cases of this wine. As most of you know, I am not a fan of descriptors when it comes to describing wines, but since I was at a tasting, I guess I should, because back in the day when I was learning about wines, the description went something like “this tastes like a Pinot Noir should” or “this is a poor example of a Pinot Noir;” though I will add that back then, one would substitute Burgundy for Pinot Noir. This wine had a great nose, a nice medium ruby color, well balanced and I would say a good cellar life of at least eight to ten years.

The fourth wine of the tasting was Loring Wine Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir 2015 from the Green Valley of Russian River Valley AVA. I have to admit that it has only been in the last couple of years that I have really discovered the Russian River Valley wines and I tend to be more impressed with each wine that I have had. This will probably be the last wines for Loring from the Keefer Ranch vineyard as it has been sold. Here is another wine that was aged for ten months in French Oak, of which fifteen percent was new and they produced five-hundred cases. A very bright wine with notes of cherry and pomegranate with a good color and a nice finish. I would think that a good six to nine years in the cellar, unless you like your wines very fresh, and this one was great with very little chance to breath.