Regular viewers will recall that I've posted about this wine before; I picked up a few for a song at K&L early last year. The last time we opened one in November during a local blackout; three of us drank it by candlelight and chatted. (I didn't take any notes.) It was a strange yet fun evening.

On Thursday I had planned to go to a Cronin tasting in Palo Alto, but had to cancel at the last minute. So instead I decided to open one of my own.

As with previous bottles the cork was saturated almost through, and quite soft and spongy. It had the "old wine" smell; leather, cedar, slight mustiness. As before, it's the acidity that strikes you first, but as you see through that the fruit shows; particularly in the second glass there are raspberries, cranberries and brambles. Still a decent bottle, though a bit more mature than I remember the previous ones being. Then again, being paired with pizza perhaps affected it.

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I've been very busy recently and haven't kept the blog up-to-date. I'm trying to catch up with some short posts on recent events.

My friend Wes Barton recently organised another Cronin dinner. As regular readers will know, K&L recently sold off much of the late Duane Cronin's wine library, which was snapped up by several local collectors. This was the third Cronin dinner that Wes has organised and it focussed on Cronin's Pinot Noirs. The guest of honour was Duane's widow, Nancy Cronin. It was a pleasure to meet her, but unfortunately she got called away early since her younger son Sam had a minor cycling accident.

Due to our babysitter cancelling at the last minute I wasn't able to take proper notes, so here are a few impressions.

Among the line-up was a pair of very early wines - a magnum of 1980 and bottle of 1981 Ventana Vineyard Pinot Noir. The 1980 was excellent; it had aged superbly and had plenty of vibrant fruit. The 81 had not fared so well; it had a strong flavour of shiitake mushrooms.

There was a vertical of Santa Cruz Mountains Pinots from 1993 to 1996. Of those the 1996 had fared the worst; it tasted older than he rest. The 93 and 95 got praise from the burgundy fans with the 95 (from a magnum) being pronounced very young. I enjoyed the 1994 with its slightly funky nose, though some tasters considered that it lacked complexity in comparison.

There was also a vertical of Peter Martin Ray Vineyard Pinots from the 1990s. The earlier vintages showed well, with good fruit, but the later vintages seemed overly acidic and unbalanced. Maybe they are in a "dumb phase" and just need more time.

There were also other Santa Cruz Pinots from McHenry and Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard, but for my tastes none of them were anything like as good as the Cronins.

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If somebody handed you a glass of wine and told you it was 18 years old and they'd picked it up for under $15 you'd probably be thinking "where can I dump this politely". You'd be well within your rights too, because when you look at the amount of wine that's made, the number that can age gracefully for nearly two decades is actually remarkably small in percentage terms, and as a rule they cost a damn sight more than $15. But as we've previously established, the wines that Duane Cronin made fall very much into that small percentage, and this one is no exception.

Now 1990 was a very unusual vintage, in that it was good everywhere. That's very unusual; typically each vintage will be good somewhere, but not others. California did well in 1997, but in much of France and Australia it was a poor vintage. The following year it was the other way round, as El Nino brought stormy weather that played merry hell with the local crops. Even in Bordeaux 2000 was a great year for reds, but 2001 was a much better year for Sauternes. And yet somehow in 1990 it was a good vintage pretty much everywhere.

Anyway, enough with the history lesson. What's the wine like?

I had my concerns when I peeled off the foil and saw signs of seepage. The cork was soaked half way through too. But I needn't have worried as the wine was still perfectly sound. The colour is fairly light with just a hint of bricking around the rim, certainly less than I'd expect. The nose is interesting; it's like candied fruit and flowers in an old wardrobe. I know that sounds like the sort of pretentious bull$#!t you'd expect from a wine critic, but that's the way it is; there's a sort of cedar and mustiness to it, but in a good way.

Taste it and the first thing that hits you (or at least what hits me) is the acidity. As your mouth gets used to it the fruit starts to show; raspberry, cranberry, redcurrant - that sort of fruit. The finish is a little quick but clean, helped by the acidity. Although it's a Cabernet blend, this is clearly a Pinot lover's wine. It would probably go nicely with pork or chicken; nothing too heavy. There's no alcohol content listed, it just says "California Red Table Wine" (which means anything from 11% to 14%).

If you're interested, K&L still have plenty in stock; according to their web site they have over 10 cases, but at that price it's a terrific value that isn't going to last long.

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"Retired computer consultant Duane Cronin may just be the most talented small winemaker in America. His wines have Old World balance and proportion coupled with beautiful Santa Cruz Mountain fruit." -- Richard Nalley, Food & Wine Magazine, 2004

Duane Cronin was one of the early Silicon Valley techies who retired to pursue a second career in winemaking. From 1980 to 2000 Cronin Vineyards made Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernet (plus a smattering of other wines) from a variety of sources, from Monterey to Sonoma. He gaines a reputation for excellent, long lived wines. Sadly Duane retired from winemaking in 2000 and died in 2007. Prior to his death he came to an arrangement that K&L Wines would sell off the contents of his library, and as a result us Cronin fans have had the opportunity to grab some amazing values.

While the 1997 Central Coast Pinot Noir may not be the finest wine that Duane ever made it's certainly a good example of his style. Light in colour with a nose that while unmistakably Pinot Noir also has other elements that I couldn't identify, and just a hint of volatile acidity. On the palate there's good fruit as well as a strong note of asian spice - star anise and clove - backed by good acidity. Showing well for a ten year old wine; unlikely to improve but not showing any signs of falling apart. Great value at $10.

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