WTN: 2005 Rex Hill Pinot Noir (Oregon)

I was in the mood for a good steak the other night, so I swung by the local market and picked up a Porterhouse, cooked it up in the skillet and topped it with mushrooms and onions. I brought this wine up from the cellar, which I purchased while meeting up with BobH at a wine store in Lexington last spring on a trip to Knoxville. I don't recall the price. 13.3% abv. Natural cork. Deep garnet color. Adequate nose of black cherry, cedar and tobacco. Not very acidic, but a mouth-filling tannic finish of medium length. Paired up nicely with the steak. Overall a nice wine, but not what I expect from Pinot. Perhaps this is an example of "New World" style - color, riper fruit, alcohol and tannin as opposed to mouth watering acidity, lighter body and spiciness.

[Jenise]

Rex Hill is one of Oregon's larger producers and they were the first to build A Really Impressive Tasting Room To Attract Tourists (they accept buses), and their zeal to please everybody/all the time results in wines with a sense of calculated mediocrity. Pairing it with big food like a pan-fried porterhouse probably only made it more so.

But, Jenise, do you like the wines??

[Jenise]

They're never bad. But they're never great. You know what I mean?

I was kidding.. and I'm sure you knew. And I DO know what you mean...

there are tons of wines out there that are `OK'. And if all one wants is `OK', nothing wrong with that. But I think what excites the wine geek is the search for something special, something beyond ok.. and sometimes even not OK is fun...

[Jenise]

And if all one wants is `OK', nothing wrong with that. But I think what excites the wine geek is the search for something special, something beyond ok.. and sometimes even not OK is fun...

Right, and that's exactly what I meant by 'calculated mediocrity'. They have a plan, and they're working their plan--and you and I are not in their plan, which is totally okay. There's not only room in this world for the Rabbit Ridges, Laetitias, Fess Parkers etc who make wine for the busloads of newbies and blue hairs who prefer bright, simple flavors, there's a need for them. Acknowledging that same exists, and that this is one of that group, wasn't intended as criticism. I'm sorry Howie didn't get a better example of Oregon pinot, though.

A little St. Innocent wouldn't hurt.. and I also like White Rose's entry level bottling a lot.. the Greg's River, which is $19.99

...I'm sorry Howie didn't get a better example of Oregon pinot, though.

Maybe I can find something when I go to Fort Lewis next month.

There's not only room in this world for the Rabbit Ridges,..my fave bunny winery, Jenise. Are they that bad!!! I thought they turned out a nice Syrah?

[Jenise]

Howie, maybe Bucko will take you shopping.

Doris, out of context the occasional RR isn't that bad. But if you ever tasted across their line at the winery where the majority of the wines are boring and the parking lot looks like a Greyhound Bus Terminal, well....

http://p.vtourist.com/3070312-tehran_ir ... Tehran.jpg

[Jenise]

Yeah, like that. Btw, I want to change my word 'boring'. Rabbit Ridge does a fine job, or at least last I looked they did though it's probably been ten years since I've tasted one of their wines, of making a balanced style of easy drinking wine at the beginner to intermediate level of wine drinker. And if I were at a party where RR's showed up amid the Yellow Tails and Smoking Loons, I'd feel grateful. They wouldn't bore the average wine drinker at all. But we're not average wine drinkers here.

I heard a little while ago that Rex Hill Winery was sold. Here's an article about that sale in late 2006.

http://www.avalonwine.com/wordpress/?p=26

Sixteen years ago, I was living in Massachusetts and looking to make a change. I flew to Portland, OR for a job interview and spent the weekend acquainting myself with the area. One of the last things I did that weekend was to stop at Rex Hill Winery, and I thoroughly enjoyed their wines. Less than two months later I moved to the Portland area, and haven't looked back. My palate and experience began to develop six years later, and I don't know what I would think of their wines today. Regardless, it holds a special place in my wine bank.

-- Clark

I just re-read the back label. Apparently one of the founders (1982) is named Paul Hart. Hmmm... I wonder if he's descended from the long lost great-great-great uncle who left home in the Adirondacks to be a 49er, that nobody ever heard from again?

I'm sorry Howie didn't get a better example of Oregon pinot, though.

Cindy and I visited Rex Hill (and 20 or so other WV wineries) in the summer of 2005. Compared to the likes of St. I, Domaine Serene, Domaine Drouhin, Lemelson.....well, Rex Hill ended up near the bottom of our list. Nothing in their lineup that day impressed us. Back in Ohio, with quite a few Oregon PN available, we avoid Rex Hill even in restaurants with not much else on the list.

I did hear a story/opinion subsequently that Rex Hill came to be known when Lynn Penner-Ash was winemaker and went downhill after she struck out on her own.