We had a group of wino's over last weekend for a fun blind tasting of Oregon Pinot Noirs. Most of us are ITB, so it was great fun to unveil the wines and see just how "right" or "wrong" our impressions were. During the evening we had several items that paired well with the elusive pinot, including salmon en'croute, stuffed portabella mushrooms / eggplant, shrimp wrapped in proscuttio, several cheeses and on and on. Needless to say, no one went home hungry.
The following are our limited tasting notes, after discussion about the wines:
Tori Mor 1996 Olson Vineyard
Strange nose, not appealing at all. Nice mouthfeel (weight) but not much fruit and what was there reminded us of "stewed" or over-ripe ? This one seemed to be at the end of it's life
Ken Wright 2005 Canary Hill
Nicely balanced, good upfront fruit and a great full mouthfeel. Terrific fruit with a nice balance against the tannins. we ALL enjoyed this one
Le Cadeau 2003
From a tough vintage I was surprised and delighted with this wine. Lovely flavors, ripe fruit, good structure, somewhat of a short finish but - overall VERY enjoyable. A stellar effort from this young producer in a hot year
St. Innocent 2003 White Rose
Over-ripe flavors, slightly acidic, dark fruit, astringent in the back. Might be too young yet, or simply vintage driven. I have had fabulous wines from White Rose, so am unsure about this one
Thomas 2003 Dundee Hills
I was very excited to see this on the table, as I'd heard great things yet never had the chance to try a Thomas. This one however did not meet my expectations. Again, might be the 2003 vintage, but this was an oak bomb with the fruit hiding somewhere, we never did find it over a 4 hour period. Also, a very non-pinot nose. I will try another Thomas, just not the '03.
Yamhill Valley 1993 Reserve
Over the hill
Until next time...
Linda