Zely & Ritz Restaurant in Raleigh hosted their monthly wine luncheon last Friday with a distibutor presenting wines from Lemelson Vineyards, Carlton, OR. The grapes are grown organically. The first wine was the Lemelosn Tikka's Run Pinot Gris. This is not one of my favorite grape varieties but I thought it was a pleasant wine and a good representation of the grape.
Next was a 2010 Lemelson Dry Riesling. Pale gold coloring; clean tasting; medium body. I didn't find particular fruit flavors such as apple or pear, but found the wine inviting and balanced and ordered one bottle for pickup this week ($23.00). I don't recall other Oregon Rieslings but think the grape shows promise in Oregon from this example.
The third wine was the 2010 Lemelson Thea's Pinot Noir priced at $35.00. This pleased me at the first appearance and sniff--a very pretty color that I would describe as medium garnet color with transparency. The nose was quite perfumed with flowery and cherry aromas. This carried over to a deep cherry flavor that I found nearly irresistible. Medium body and medium to long finish. This spends 14 months in new and old barrels. Very nice.
The final wine was the 2010 Lemelson Jerome Reserve Pinot Noir priced at $53. It spends 22 months in French oak barrels. The representative described this reserve Pinot as more masculine and the Thea's Pinot as "elegant." It was similar in nose to the Thea's but IMO less perfumed. Exhibited viscosity. Perhaps it was the more intensive oak treatment which needs some time to integrate, but I prefered the Thea's Pinot to the Jerome Reserve and with the price difference it was an easy decision to order two bottles of the Thea's Pinot Noir.
Lunch was again family style where we served ourselves from a platter of mussels, took cheese and tomato tarts off a passed plate, spooned out some risotto from a large bowl, etc. $20 for the lunch and wine tasting.