WTN: 2006 Bethel Heights Vineyard Pinot Noir Casteel Reserve

What have we got here, a red martini? is my snickering reaction two nights ago to a 2006 Bethel Heights Pinot Noir Casteel Reserve that I picked up for sixty bucks at the winery two years ago. The label admits to 14.8% alcohol but this sucker reeks of booze and burns like a shot of white lightning. So I pour most of what's left into a half-bottle and the rest down the drain and stash the 375 in the cellar. Tonight, 48 hours later, against my better judgment, I bring the 375 to table and....

....it's screaming over the top delicious, a lean and lovely black cherry and currants loamy delight. This is about as good as Eola Hills-Amiy Pinot gets. I love it. OK, I know the wine needed air to bring the fruit and earthy flavors out -- but where did the alcohol go?

Hi Clint,

BH is one of my very favorite Oregon wineries and I've never known them to be heavy-handed with anything. I tasted that 2006 Casteel Res on release and remember marveling at the concentration, but in context of that vintage; I thought that it was rather well behaved. My guess is that the alcohol and tannins were working in tandem to convey harshness and heat, and the fruit just needed some time to catch up. I'm glad that it eventually worked out! And thanks for the note as my Bethel Heights access is now very limited.

FWIW, I think that they make the best Chardonnay in OR.

Cheers,
Bill

Bill, I tasted the wine on release, too, and was sufficiently impressed to buy a couple of bottles. Which was why I was surprised the first day to come up against so much alcohol and so little of everything else.

I share your favorable impression of Bethel Heights. And I'll either keep my hands off my second bottle of 2006 Casteel for a few years or give it lots of air time.