WTN: Two Pinot Noirs, Oregon and California

I decided it was time to open my bottle of 2005 Lange Freedom Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir. Sells for $60 at the winery. Grapes are from a vineyard just south of Dallas, Oregon.
I took this bottle to a bring-your-own-bottle wine dinner at St. Jacques in Raleigh and shared with the owner and several at my table. I had the welcoming flute of sparkling wine with the amuse bouche and the first course of puree of cauliflower soup. Poured the Pinot Noir for the veal ravioli and the pork dish (sage pork shank on crushed roots with caramelized celery root puree. (Dessert was apple crepe with caramel sauce. The whole meal was yummy but I couldn't eat all of the pork shank.) A gentleman at my table shared some Maury (fortified dessert wine) at the end of the dinner.

The Freedom Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir was purple-red color with nearly opaque density. Viscous. Plummy nose (dark plums.)
Velvety tannins. Slight puckering but not unpleasantly so. Probably another year would decrease even that note of tannins. Dark plums, dark berries, slight underpinning of the soil. Nice match to both the veal ravioli with Brie cheese and mushroom veloute (delicate sauce) and the pork shank. A little sediment in the final pour from the bottle. My personal rating would be 18 or 18.5 points on a 20-point UC-Davis scale which equates to 90-92.5 on a 100-pt. scale.

2006 Angeline Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley (a glass at Hilltop House Restaurant with lunch of small quiche, shrimp bisque and salad) About $7.00 for the glass.

Pale mahagony in color; semi-transparent. Nose of wild berries and rich dark cherries. Flavors of ripe, juicy berries, delicate earthiness and strong peppery finish. Attractive. Found out on Internet that Angeline wines are a product line of Martin Ray Winery and that they produce wines from a number of regions, Sonoma Coast, Russian River Valley, Mendocino County, Santa Barbara Chardonnay, etc. This Russian River Valley Pinot Noir is sourced from Soracco and Rocking B Vineyards. Vintner's notes say that by "cold soaking" the crushed grapes and fermenting at moderate temperatures, bright fruit flavors are extracted from the grape, without harsh tannins. pH 3.67, 13.9% alcohol, over 11,000 cases. Winery's suggested pairing: porkchops with mushrooms or light seared salmon fillet.

[Jenise]

That puckery thing seems quite common to Freedom Hill pinots. It's fleetingly like the astringency of over-extraction or the dill note from American oak, even on a wine that has seen neither. Did you buy it at the winery? Haven't been to the winery myself since the early 90's, but I understand Mr. Lange still holds court quite entertainingly.

I did visit Lange Winery in 2005 but bought only the basic Pinot Noir Cuvee at that time. Later attended a wine dinner in Raleigh with Jesse Lange presenting the family wines (son of the owners) and probably arranged to purchase the Freedom Hill following that dinner. I think I purchased two bottles. Such a beautiful view from the Dundee Hills wineries of Lange and Torii Mor. (I said to Jesse Lange at the Raleigh dinner, "Your winery is next to Torii Mor isn't it?" and he replied "We like to say that Torii Mor is next to us!")