I have just returned from a visit to Oregon meant to accomplish two things - a visit with my child who lives there, and ending my quest with the holy grail- the perfect pinot noir. I accomplished the first objective and had fun doing so. I also had fun working on the second objective as follows:
I headed first to the Dundee Hills vitacultural area to visit Domaine Drouhin and Domaine Serene. I had never tasted wine from either winery before. Domaine Drouhin sits high above the valley below affording beautiful views both outside and in. Three pours were offered for $10, including the two pinots I came to taste.
Domaine Drouhin
2008 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir
Light cherry nose (sour cherry), lovely aroma, light color, nice light bodied wine, good finish of cherry/sour cherry. Will go well with food. Purchased. Estimated use in 2013.
2006 Pinot Noir Laurene Cuvee
Top 90 barrels. A bit deeper and darker than the Willamette valley wine, with darker fruits. Deeper, more black and some sour cherry. I preferred the 2008 Willamette Valley. A very well made wine that reflected the warm vintage.
I left impressed with the elegance, and excellent quality of the wines. The woman who poured the wines was knowledgeable and helpful. This was my first taste of the 2008 vintage in Oregon and those that followed makes me believe it was generally an excellent vintage for pinot noir.
About ½ mile away was Domaine Serene. I had seen their advertising. 6 pours were offered for $15. The facility is lovely, and the staff was friendly.
Domaine Serene
Pinot
2006 Gold Eagle vineyard
Lovely clear red color, bright and lively looking, hints of cherry and spice, darker cherry fruit, a bit of dark tannin with the deep cherry fruit.
2006 Evenstead Reserve
All vineyard blend (a winemaker pick). A dark fruit nose, deep, ripe, tannic wine with good depth of flavor. Nice wine.
2007 Mark Bradford Pinot Noir
Darker wine, menthol hit at first which blew off, more tannic but a bit less concentrated than the Evenstead. Deep cherry flavor. I like the Evenstead more.
2007 Jerusalem Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir
Lighter than the mark bradford, with also a hit of menthol. Decent food wine, with cherry and cola flavor, Still some tannin. Fruit just a bit shy.
A beautiful drive along the back roads brought me to St. Innocent, a winery I had heard about for years and which did not disappoint. The winery now shares a site with an event center and sits surrounded by a vineyard . Cannons were going off during the time I was there to scare away the birds from the ripening grapes. The same was true for the wineries in the Dundee Hills.
2009 Vitae Springs pinot gris
2 tons /acre. Nice complex nose of honeysuckle, Sensation of thick fruit at first, wave of sour, dry.
2009 pinot blanc
Much rounder wine than the pinot gris. Made for seafood. 30% oak, the rest stainless, good acidity.
2007 Zenith vineyard estate pinot noir
Red cherry nose, bright, light colored, deep with sour cherry and spices, Some tannin, fruit not quite present enough.
2008 villages cuvee. All from Vitae Springs vineyard.. Young vines. Bright color, lightly flavored. Nice wine
2008 Temperance Hill pinot noir
Very nice wine. Primarily pommard clone. A very well balanced wine with bright cherry flavors, good acidity, good tannin strength. Purchased. Drink date 2013-2015
2008 Zenith vineyard. 777 clone . Deeper, not as integrated as Temperance Hill. A nice wine but not as friendly as Temperance Hill. This is the estate vineyard (at one point known as the O’Connor Vineyard)
2008 Momtazi vineyard. Darker wine. Very fruity, deep, bright cherry. Pommard clone. Purchased. Drink date 2014-2016
2008 Freedom Hill vineyard deeper darker but not as bright.
I really liked the wines at St Innocent. They seemed to reflect their vineyards and were well balanced. This winery is worth visiting and purchasing from.
The next day my brother in law, his wife and I went tasting in the Corvallis area where they live. Kent is responsible for my wine addiction, excuse me, interest. I remember being at his former home and spending days reading through old Connoisseurs Guides to California wines and becoming interested in tasting (some 25-30 years ago). After a wonderful breakfast at a fusion Asian restaurant and a visit to a local coffee roaster, we went to three wineries, Spindrift Cellars, Airlie Winery, and Emerson Vineyards.
Spindrift (in Philomath) offered a wide variety of wines. I especially liked the
2009 Riesling, off dry, 3%rs . White peach flavors, round, nice.
2008 pinot noir- good color, light, strong strawberry aromas, strawberry flavor, a touch bitter at the end. Slight tannin. Early consumption. Well balanced.
We proceeded to Airlie Winery in Monmouth. I’d encourage a visit to anyone in the area because the owner, Mary Olsen, is such fun host, and a character. She doesn’t make the wine (Elizabeth Clark’s job) but Mary does open the tasting room even when not technically open. Official hours are on weekends, but she opens the tasting room if you catch her at the vineyard by chance as we did.
There were a number of good wines here. I was especially taken by the 2008 Beckenridge vineyard Pinot Noir (all of 64 cases made). A wine of good depth, balance, and attractive dark cherry flavors with excellent chewy tannin, it promises to be an excellent wine with three or four years of bottle age. At $35 it is a reasonable buy for a vineyard designate.
Next up on our tour was Emerson Vineyard. Tom Johns, the winery owner, was our host. I think they must grow characters out in those hills, because he was another one. Fun, interesting guy with lots of opinion and knowledge, he was a genial host. Check out the Brother Red wine label here http://www.emersonvineyards.com/wines/brother-red
The wine a a fruity, big, tannic wine unusual for Oregon, and it went well with pizza at home (steak also a good possibility). It is made with hybrid grapes (Marechel Foch, Baco Noir, and Leon Millot) as well as pinot noir. Fun wine, and great artwork on the label. We joked about getting a bottle of it into the White House and photographing it when Tom and his son the winemaker go to the John Stewart/Stephen Colbert rally in Washington, but we all realized this could create a few problems for a certain president.
The winery had just bottled the 2009 Avelina Pinot Noir. It was shocky, but had a nice depth of flavor and seemed like it would be an excellent wine in a few years. I bought some of this as well.
My general impressions: 2008 as a vintage was excellent.. I strongly prefer the 08 pinots to the 07’s. There is lots of great wine in Oregon, and I’ll be back for more. On a traveling note, I found the Oregon Wine Country Guidebook by Cindy Anderson which I picked up at Powell’s Books in Portland to be an excellent guide to the wineries. The quest continues…