Young Winos of LA

In these times of economic strife, it can be difficult to spend one’s Saturday afternoon perusing luxury goods without being adequately liquored up. The Young Winos understand this, so when CJ asked Dylan and I to pour some vino for her friend’s jewelry show, we thought it would be the right thing to do.

The May Bartus Designs trunk show went down this past Saturday in the cozy lobby bar of the Maison 140 Hotel in Beverly Hills, and a healthy smattering of Winos showed up to enjoy the free wine and the not-quite-free jewelry. The good people at Tolosa Winery sent us some gratis bottles of their ’05 Edna Valley Pinot, which turned out to be a big hit. Tasting notes and additional photos after the jump.

The 2005 Tolosa Winery Pinot Noir (Edna Valley) is made entirely from estate grapes grown at Tolosa’s “Edna Ranch.” The nose was full and generous, offering up huge red currant notes, as well as some insinuations of milk chocolate and charcoal. On the palate, the wine was light-bodied and fairly acidic, but featured robust and almost Burgundian flavors: moss and earth, unripe blackberry, a touch of smoke, and some bitter baking chocolate. The Pinot continued to develop in the glass, losing its early edginess and settling comfortably into its woodsy flavor profile. Receiving overwhelmingly positive response from the event’s visotors, the ’05 proved a nice compliment to the jeweled pieces on display (and, at $30, certainly cost a bit less than most of them). The current vintage is ’06, and we look forward to trying it.

To learn more about May Bartus Designs, check out their website. And to learn more about Tolosa, you can visit their website, or you can friend them up at youngwinos.com.

The ol’ double-fist; that Pinot really made the rounds; sure Andrew, you came for the jewelry, whatever you say

The Young Winos of LA — edutoxicating Los Angeles since 2005.