Our BacchusBadBoys convened last night and some that we tried were:
1. BethelHeights PinotNoir FlatBlock Estate WillametteVlly (14.1%) 2006: Med.dark color; slight valve oil/walnutty rather spicy/black cherry/Pinot slight smokey/pencilly/oak nose; fairly tart/lean spicy/walnutty/smokey bright/black cherry/Pinot bit tannic flavor; very long bit tannic/hard light walnutty/valve oil strong black cherry/Pinot slight earthy finish; a bit of a tannic bite that suggests in needs another few yrs of age yet; really lovely/classic Oregon Pinot.
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2. Penner-Ash WillametteVlly PinotNoir (13.5%) 2007: Med.dark color; strong toasty/oak/pungent slight walnutty/earthy rather perfumed/black cherry/Pinot/spicy bit smokey nose; tart/lean bright/black cherry/spicy/Pinot some toasty/oak flavor w/ light tannins; long perfumed/black cherry/Pinot/spicy slight walnutty/earthy some smokey/toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins; a bit more approachable than the BethelHeights w/ more simple/bright/cherry/Pinot fruit but could still use a yr or two.
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3. PappaPietroPerry SonomaCoast PinotNoir (14.5%) 2008: Med.dark color; rather smokey/toasty/charred/oak some earthy strong black cherry/Pinot nose; soft strong black cherry/Pinot some toasty/charred/oak flavor w/ light tannins; med.long charred/toasty/oak strong black cherry/Pinot slight earthy light tannic finish; quite approachable but seems a bit disjointed and could use a yr or two.
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4. AlbanVnyds Lorainne AlbanEstate Syrah EdnaVlly (14.4%) 1999: Black color; intense toasty/smokey/pungent/charred/Fr.oak intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah slight minerally/chalky fairly complex nose; tart very intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/licorice strong toasty/charred/oak very primary pretty tannic flavors; very long/lingering pretty tannic intense blackberry/boysenberry/licorice/Syrah strong toasty/charred/oak finish; loads of toasty/oak but very intense Syrah fruit that can carry it; still pretty primary Syrah and a youngster that needs another 5-10 yrs of agge; terrific classic Alban Syrah.
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5. Weingut FritzAllendorf WinklerHassensprung Riesling BA Ap.Nr. 27 001 030 77 (7.1%) 1976: Rather brown color; strange metallic/valve oil slight oxidized some peachy/botrytis/apricotty some complex nose; tart/lean slight metallic/valve oil slightly sweet very strong botrytis/peachy/fruit cocktail/apricotty some complex flavor; med.long strong apricotty/botrytis strange metallic/valve oil slight oxidized finish; a bit on the lean/strange side but rather interesting. $8.45/hlf
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And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. This was a BYOB format tasting and there happened to be three Pinots show up. Both the Oregon Pinots were pretty classic examples of that genre, with my favorite being the BethelHeights by a slight margin because of its structure and greater potential. They both had that zippy acidity and slight walnutty character that I like in Oregon Pinots.
The PPP Pinot was of particular interest to me. Usually their Pinots are vnyd-designates from the RRV. I'd not seen their SonomaCoast version. The flavors did not suggest that it came from the extreme SonomaCoast or PetalumaGap. I suspected it might be a declassified Pinot of theirs because of the smoke-taint damage many '08 SonomaCoast Pinots experienced. But I could find no evidence in the wine that it had been subjected to any smoke taint.
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2. Allendorf BA: I was a bit disappointed in this wine. It seemed slightly oxidized and had a strange lean/metallic character to it. It was not showing the complexity I'd expect from a 34 yr old BA. Interesting what the wine had become. I guess if you age a cheap German BA, it turns into an old/cheap German BA.
Tom