Northwest Passage
Beautiful weather until the skies unloaded about 6:30 PM just as they were serving the main course.
I and another participant both brought the Columbia Crest H3 (Horse Heaven Hills) Merlot. Horse Heaven Hills was an area that came to my attention on a trip to Oregon and Washington some years ago. We had had this at our Merlot tasting at Fayetteville Wine Society meeting and it was my second choice after the Shafer Merlot from California. Easy drinking. One person commented that it tasted like it smelled.
2007 Sorella (from Andrew Will Winery.) 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, with Cabernet Franc, Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot. Jim Grow brought this. I have liked this in past vintages and liked it again at Mo'Cool although Jim thought it needed more time and this is a wine that can age well. Jim had decanted it beforehand.
Jim Grow also brought the 2007 Cadence which he mentions elsewhere. Pale garnet color. Attractive appearance. Bright cherry/berry fragrance and taste.
I tried the four British Columbia Bordeaux-like blends and voted for the Portfolio as my favorite although all were good and the Quatrain was a close second for me.
2008 Torii Mor Reserve Deux Verres Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, OR. I brought this and a 2006 Sokol Blosser Pinot Noir, Oregon. I prefered the Torii Mor drinking them on their own, but thought the Sokol Blosser might be a better match to the salmon. When it began to pour, I took a glass of the Sokol Blosser with me into the lodge and sat at a table. Before we got all the windows closed, a gust of wind knocked over my glass, spilling red wine in my lap. I went to the restroom to clean up and proceeded to drop my glass which shattered across the bathroom floor. So I never got to taste the Sokol Blosser with the salmon (although I believe that was the combination at a dinner at Zely and Ritz where I first tasted the wine.)
Before the storm, I tasted the 2006 Panther Creek Eola Amity Hills, Temperance Vineyard Pinot Noir. Very bright flavor--I really liked it and will seek out more Panther Creek Pinots in the future.
2008 Domaine Drouhin Pinot Noir--pale scarlet color, lighter on the rim. Full-bodied impression. Lengthy finish with sharp pepper note. I missed one Domaine Serene but tried another. Also missed another Domaine Drouhin I believe. I found the 2004 regular Torii Mor rather too tart for my preferences. The 2009 Argyle Pinot Noir was pretty nice. I have liked this winery's wines in the past. It was bought by Petaluma, an Australian company and uses screwcaps on many of their wines.
2007 Archery Summit Renegade Ridge Estate Pinot Noir. Use of both wood barrels and stainless steel. Uses indigenous yeast. Liked this even better than the Argyle. Pronounced cherry flavor. Pale coloring with transparency.
I tried a 2005 Sineann Phelps Creek Vineyard Pinot Noir but didn't record any notes. I believe I also tried a Penner-Ash.
My last tasting of the evening was a 2003 Torii Mor Port from Paso Robles so an Oregon winery using California grapes. I liked this a lot. May order it from the winery some day if they continue to produced it.