TN: Pacific North-West Wines

Our monthly lunch tasting covered anything made in OR, WA, ID (although none of those showed up) and BC.

2016 Synchromesh Four Shadows Vineyard Riesling - this BC wine was only slightly off dry and showed a very good varietal nose with a bit of flint. I know the winemaker (we are both sports car nuts) and they do a good job with their Rieslings

2019 Savage Grace Red Willow Vineyard Blanc Franc - out of left field came this white wine made from cabernet franc in Washington but it had no trace of red colouration. A very nice clean dry wine with good length.

2021 DeLille Cellars Chaleur Estate Blanc - 2/3 sauv blanc 1/3 semillon, showing a very Bordeaux like nose, long, clean crisp and lasted well into the next day without fading. A very good white Bordeaux clone - would be interesting to slip it into a Bordeaux tasting!

2011 Foxtrot Pinot Noir Foxtrot Vineyard - my wine, and from an interesting winery that used to actively repel visitors. Once they got to know me I was welcome to drop in once a year and the reason is that they made some of the very best Pinot Noir in BC (the winery has since sold to new owners). The current Pinot goes for around $100 a bottle. Medium colour, excellent nose with dark fruit, and full in the mouth with a long lingering finish. The last time I opened one of these it was blind beside a Burgundy of the same year which it absolutely killed.

2013 Patricia Green Cellars Pinot Noir Block 1B Balcombe Vineyard - a bit darker than the previous wine, with a warm nose of berries, and good flavours but a bit short on the finish.

2017 Goodfellow Family Cellars Pinot Noir Temperance Hill - a bit darker with a slightly sweet nose of cherry and with time some violet, a mellow, pleasant wine ready to drink now.

2010 Descendants Liegeois Dupont Cuvée Marcel Dupont (Hedges) - colour still closer to purple than red, the wine showed good currant fruit though being a tad monolithic, and a clean slightly sweet finish

2020 Delille D2 - this blend of 61% merlot, 27% cab sauv , 8% cab franc and 4% petit verdot was still purple, showed a bit of spice and to me it needed time, although the parts were there.

2015 La Rata - this Walla Walla wine (54% grenache, 36% CS, 10% syrah) was quite dark, with a notably sweet nose, and massive almost primal fruit was the perfect choice for the cheese wine. It reminded me of a Priorat!

[Jenise]

I pretty much agree with your notes down the line, Bill. WOTD for me was your Foxtrot, easily. I was also lucky enough to have been there when you last opened a bottle in that showdown with the Burgundy. I honestly think it could go toe to toe with a DRC--it's THAT exceptional and has that kind of a future, too. Do you have more?

My second favorite wine was my La Rata. A Cayuse product that most people won't be familiar with, it is made by Christophe Baron's assistant winemaker Ms. Boucier who adores Priorats. She put the first experimental barrels together on which someone scrawled "the Rat" by way of identification, it not having any other name at the time, and it stuck. Hence: La Rata. The last bottle of this I opened was at Naramata which you'd have been there for, and this bottle shows excellent secondary evolution since. A little rounder with just a touch of old-school Pegau-ish barnyard not evident before, and perfectly in the peak zone for my tastes.

The Goodfellow was also mine, and it was okay but I wasn't thrilled with it. It was by far the lightest in color and body of the three pinots and for my tastes suggested less than optimal ripeness. I was hoping to bring you guys an 'internet darling' that you read about but don't have the chance to experience, and I guess I did that but it did not impress in the way that I hoped.

I liked the La Rata too - unusual wine. They could do a junior wine called La Mousa.....

I have around 10 bb of Foxtrot left from a few vintages but it was always hard to get - they sometimes didn't answer their bell or didn't feel like selling that day or whatever. I'm sure you'll be in on future bottles - the 2011 was my oldest so I went with it this time.

[David M. Bueker]

2017 Goodfellow Pinots are almost universally shut down hard right now.

[Jenise]

Yeah, I blew it on the Goodfellow. I *thought* I'd investigated and found it to be drinking well vs. some '18s I also have. Thank goodness I brought three wines, not just two.

I don't have any experience with this wine, but generally like GF PNs. But it's actually the GF Chards that I buy much more regularly.