After a run of unsatisfying wines from the import side of my cellar, I turned to my little collection of North American wines for some relief.
Didn't find it in the 2001 Patricia Green Four Winds pinot noir from Oregon. I don't like fruity wines as in FROOTY, but I need there to be some fruit for everything else to build on and this one just didn't have it or show any evidence of ever having had it.
Didn't find it in the 1994 St. Innocent Seven Springs pinot (Oregon) either. Of three I've had in the last 8 months, the December bottle was fantastic but last month's bottle and this had gone into that soy sauce-y murk of old age for wines that don't age well. I am ready to pronounce that vintage OVER.
The 2000 St. Innocent Cremant bubbly was rather surprising. Good yeasty nose and medium-fine petillance, but the flavor was a non-match--it tasted of lemons and nothing else. I had no trouble drinking a second glass, but I was previewing this wine for a case purchase and decided against it. I'll buy the Tasmanian Jansz instead.
Much better was Washington State's 2001 Columbia Crest Walter Clore Reserve Red Wine, a little reticent and stiff on the first day but fully open and delicious on the second. Finally, a wine I didn't have to work at. Well-endowed with good structure, and the oak has integrated beautifully. This is the kind of wine most people don't realize that Columbia Crest is capable of and it's terrific value in the low 20's. Should peak in the next two-three years.
And finally, there's the 1996 Andrew Will Cab Franc. Another Washington wine, and it had me smiling from the second I pulled the cork and found it stamped with the name Guido and a Seattle phone number. This wine has aged very well and still has a future ahead of it. Bright and juicy berry fruit with a little celery root and leather notes, and no noticeable oak at this point. Very good.