TN: Oregon Wines

I used to be quite familiar with Oregon wines back in the early days when I was racing cars at the track in Portland several times a year. We'd finish that and then head out for McMinnville and Nick's Diner and into wine country. That was a long time ago and I had lost touch with Oregon wines so looked forward to this event.

2021 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Chardonnay Arthur - citrus nose, clean and tasty on palate and god length - very nice chard!

2019 Drouhin Oregon Roserock Chardon nay- a step up in complexity and a quite Burgundian nose with floral and lemon notes. Very clean long finish and a definite step above the Arthur.

2013 Cristom Pinot Noir Eileen Vineyard - lovely berries and smoke nose,, a medium dark red colour and some nice floral notes that came out shortly after it was presented. Smooth on palate and well balanced with suitable levels of oak.

2011 St. Innocent Pinot Noir Momtazi Vineyard - darker yet, with a very good sweet fruit and spice but I found it a bit lacking on palate right at the end.

2019 Lingua Franca Pinot Noir AVNI - good nose of red berries and spice and in the mouth some strawberry, good length - the first wine that might have been mistaken for a Burgundy?

2015 White Rose Estate Pinot Noir Appellation Series Dundee Hills - lighter colour, spicy and a tad earthy, decent nose, and medium length. Good wine.

2015 Lingua Franca Pinot Noir Mimi's Mind - a more spirity nose and a bigger wine, this wine had excellent concentration but I though it a bit lacking in the nose until it had been open quite awhile. Good flavour concentration.

2021 Holocene Pinot Noir Apocrypha - medium colour, slightly cloudy and with a ripe bubble gum nose, it had good concentration and length but seemed on the young side - it would be interesting to see what a few more years brings.

2017 Delmas Syrah SJR Vineyard - our cheese wine, this was made from Walla Walla fruit and was obviously spicy syrah in the nose along with red fruit, not black, and it was dark, supple and had a long finish - wish it was available up here!

[Jenise]

Bill, thanks for hosting, as always, and for the delicious sandwiches. Re Nick's--if you're ever back in McMinneville, skip Nick's. They've doubled the size of the restaurant and halved the quality of the cooking. We were there about five years ago--will never go back.

Re the wines:

2021 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Chardonnay Arthur - I don't disagree with your note on this one, but I have to admit I was disappointed. I've had almost every vintage since 2012 and most recently have worked my way through a half case of the '19--I have a track record. I brought one to a lunch some time ago and awhile before that Coop also brought a '19. The difference between those '19s and this '21 is about the same gap as between this and the Roserock below. They were/are Burgundian, and this wasn't.

Re the 2019 Drouhin Oregon Roserock Chardonnay I'd say it was three steps up from the Arthur. I adore white Burgundies and I adore high end new world chardonnays and the best of all is that place between the two: this nailed it. Absolutely loved it. My notes say "Brilliant, light reduction, seductive, very dry, shows cool climate, OFS." The search might be futile, but I'm going to look for this anyway.

2013 Cristom Pinot Noir Eileen Vineyard - Shows to be about ten years old. Light colored for a pinot with en pointe mature (more than some '13s) pinot flavors, very elegant.

2011 St. Innocent Pinot Noir Momtazi Vineyard - My wine. Older and darker than the Cristom, and spicier. There's some telltale green stuff in there too that was almost unavoidable in this ridiculously cold and problematic vintage, but considering all that: exceptional.

2019 Lingua Franca Pinot Noir AVNI - Strawberries and roses, lightly stemmy giving it that Burgundian thing. When we visited Oregon a few years ago, no one was pouring 19's but I bought a few. Watching the evolution of some I own, including the Drouhin referenced above, I'm starting to realize that I really missed out on stocking up. This is my kind of vintage.

2015 White Rose Estate Pinot Noir Appellation Series Dundee Hills - shy nose, more aroma. Bright fruit, some floral stuff and juicy ripe, but the finish was concerning--turned sour and didn't last. That said I was excited to try it. I really loved St. Innocent's work with this vineyard and had yet to taste the result of grower-turned-winemaker when they started their own label. The fruit from this vineyard is distinctive.

2015 Lingua Franca Pinot Noir Mimi's Mind - I agree with your assessment here.

2021 Holocene Pinot Noir Apocrypha - Bubble gum nose???? I noted cardamom and cumin, really excellent spice for so young a wine. I know it's very young, but I brought it to show the group "one to watch"--this is a side hustle from the guy who is arguably Washington's best winemaker of the moment, Todd Alexander. He has several other vineyards in the pipeline and his stuff should be on your hunt list.

2017 Delmas Syrah SJR Vineyard - Also my wine. Intense fruit, salty and plummy. It doesn't have the feral, funky qualities of most Washington syrahs, rather it's feminine and sultry with understated power. It's Catwoman, where the others are Batman. And yes, the winemaker-owner is a lady.