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Word of Mouth
Dear Friends and Customers: Do you like the wines we sell? Well, then, how about recommending us to a friend or two? Here's the best way: sign them up for our email newsletters!
It's quick and easy. Click on the SIGN UP button at the end of this section. Just enter an email address and your best vinous friends will be able to buy great Oregon wines, too (and drink them with YOU . . . ). If they decide they don't want our emails, there's an unsubscribe link at the bottom of every message.
Word of mouth is an important way for us to expand our customer base. I thank you in advance for adding some emails to our list.
 Introducing Sarah PetersWith the move to Portland, we have lost the services of Emily, the dynamic personality on this end of the phone for the past year. She now takes her place in the Pinot Hall of Fame next to Hannah and Vanessa - fine company indeed.
I'm pleased to introduce our new office manager and all-around pinot princess, Sarah Peters! She's the point person for just about everything - orders, shipping issues, etc. You can reach her at our toll-free number (the same as always) or at her new email address, pinotadmin@oregonpinotnoir.com. Sarah has a second career as a singer-songwriter, but manages to make time to run our office when she's not gigging or recording. Welcome, Sarah! |
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MAY WORLD CLASS WINES
 2006 RETOUR PINOT NOIR
Price: $72
Production: 600 cases
Drinkability: Decant now, only getting better
Availability: Good for the short term
I am pleased to announce the inaugural retail release of a significant new Oregon pinot noir.
One thing us Oregon "old-timers" talk about when we get together is "all them new wineries." It has gotten to the stage where no one can really keep up with everything that's happening in the Oregon wine business anymore. It makes things more exciting, I think, but also means that the Oregon wine landscape has changed forever in a manner that marks a passage from one era to another.
One part of the new era of Oregon wine that I dislike is all the poor-quality wine being produced by all them new wineries. I put serious effort into trying lots of the new labels, but I am most often disappointed. Then I wonder, what's wrong with these folks?
That's why I was so thrilled when I recently tasted the 2006 Retour pinot noir, the brainchild of business partners Michael Richards and Lindsay Woodard. This new product seems to have done everything right - the wine is terrific, the packaging is beautiful and innovative, and their literature and communications are first-class and professional. All said, I think the launch of Retour could be the beginning of one of the most important new labels in Oregon in recent memory.
 Let's start with the important part - the wine. It's rich, complex and nuanced, layered and long, and most of all balanced. The wine has real structure, and completely avoids the primary (and thankfully rare) pitfall of the '06 vintage, which is overripeness. Instead, minerals, soil nuances and very fine tannin give shape to the deep, red-berry fruit. As the wine unfolds in the glass, great mid-palate detail emerges. The wine stays fresh and even lively despite that sheer concentration, thanks to pitch-perfect acidity. For drinking now, a bit of decanting is appropriate - even for as much as a day. But this will integrate and develop very well over the next six months to six years, so cellaring is a solid option.
How did they do it? First, they persuaded winemaker Eric Hamacher to make the wine - OPNC clients need no introduction to his fine wines. Next, they embarked upon what they somewhat fancifully call their "old vine program" -- the fruit is sourced from several respected, old-vine vineyards including Hyland and Durant vineyards. The finest barrels are then blended to produce the final product.
Finally, a special nod goes to their packaging. Not necessarily the enormous bottle, but to the metal label. That's right, the label is stamped, shaped aluminum, curved to fit the contours of the bottle, and is simple, elegant, and utterly gorgeous. I'm the first person to say that the wine is much, much more important than the package, but I must also admit that this is one damn fine looking package.
All in all, this is an amazing freshman effort, and the wine succeeds on all levels. Kudos to the Retour team.
Special Pricing For Three Days Only! $65 / bottle through 5-7-08
 2006 SCOTT PAUL PINOT NOIR "LA PAULEE"
Price: $39 Drinkability: Good to go! Availability: Good for the short term
Scott Paul and his winery are an interesting operation. Not only do they make a small amount of popular pinot noir, they also import small amounts of really, really good Burgundy (sorry, there's barely enough for ME). Paul and his cohorts occupy a nicely remodeled old brick building in the backwoods, wine-centric whistle stop of Carlton. They are neighbors of Ken Wright, Solena, Carlton Cellars (Road's End), The Carlton Wigmakers Studio, Carlo & Julian, and a number of other producers.
Scott Paul himself has traveled an interesting path to become a winemaker. From radio personality to cellar rat in California to GM of Domaine Drouhin Oregon, he's worked his way up to his current, lofty position. His first wines were from the 2002 vintage, according to my memory.
The Scott Paul wines started out good with their first vintage, and have only gotten better. There are three pinots: Martha Pirrie, La Paulee, and Audrey. This month's wine is the La Paulee, their middle-tier product.
 This is a new-world style pinot with all the markers that make such wines desirable: Lush, fruit-centric, open-knit, luxuriously textured, suave, silky, hedonistic - heck, I could go on for paragraphs (and often do). But the simple fact is that this wine is all about the fruit, and all about early drinkability. Boom. That's it. Toss in a straw and wallow. Even better, it's easily comparable to wines of a similar style that cost $45 and more.
The winery literature is full of stories and philosophy of winemaking, etc. So, I've included some below for your edification.
"From many centuries of experience in Europe, winegrowers have learned that the best wines are most often the result of three essential practices: Old Vines, Low Yields, Meticulous Winemaking.
"We believe that these are indeed the keys to producing the best wines. In our continuous quest to produce the best wines, we strive to follow this holy trinity. There are not a great many old-vine vineyards here in Oregon at this stage of the game, though we are fortunate to work with vineyard blocks planted in 1970. The quality from these vines is clearly superior, and the grapes they produce most generally go into our flagship bottlings.
"Regardless of vine age, we know that we can only achieve the best quality by keeping yields very low. "Two Tons per acre" seems to be the industry-accepted standard, though often we set our croploads at significantly less (or sometimes nature sets it for us - as in a meager .8 tons/acre in 2004!) Compare this with Cabernet Sauvignon, for example, where top wines can be made from five, six, even eight-+ tons to the acre.
"As to meticulous winemaking, there is simply no substitute. Great wines are made by perfectionists, and we believe that no detail is too small. Minimal intervention - "doing nothing" - is actually more labor-intensive than winemaking done with technology, additives, and formulas. We believe the difference is evident in your glass.
"We also believe that wine quality is improved by the use of organic and biodynamic viticultural practices. Aside from doing the "right thing", farming in harmony with nature embraces all of nature as an interconnected whole, allowing each vineyard to come to its truest and purest expression. Our goal is that all of the vineyards we work with will be organically or biodynamically farmed in the near future. Most of our acreage is already organic, and nearly a third of it will be biodynamic by 2008.
"In the wine world, there is an unparalleled grace and beauty that only Pinot Noir can attain. Pinot Noir's unique perfumes, textures, and precise flavors can be achieved only when extreme care is taken to capture and preserve those qualities in every step from the vineyard to the bottle. Our mission is to pay that extra attention, take the extra care, and to deliver in every bottle deliciously pure, authentic Pinot Noir."
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MAY PREMIUM CLUB WINES
 2006 ST. INNOCENT PINOT NOIR "VILLAGE CUVEE"
Price: $24
Production: 714 cases
Drinkability: Good now!
Availability: Good for now
In recent years, St. Innocent winemaker Mark Vlossak has done a big favor for Oregon pinot noir lovers: Created a juicy, fresh, lively and delicious pinot, one meant to drink young, and charged a very reasonable price for it. The price has gone up over the years, don't get me wrong, but at $24, this qualifies as a deal when many wineries have entry-level wines at $30 or even higher.
This is a great quaffer, and is terrific now. It will continue to soften and integrate over the next year or three, but really - go ahead and enjoy this one anytime! Below are notes from Mark on the wine:
"Oregon vineyards were originally planted on their 'own roots'. European grape vines, unlike American vines, have no inherent resistance to damage by the root louse phyloxera. This root louse survives by feeding on the small roots of grape vines. Damage to the small root allows secondary infections to enter the vine resulting in its death. There is no way to save infected vines short of replanting with grafted vines - European (vitus vinifera) tops and American vine roots.
"Many of St. Innocent's vineyard sources have phyloxera. As we replant, the early crops have lovely fruit characteristics, but little sense of terroir. The wines made from young vines will not be blended with older vines from our best vineyards. Our solution is to blend these 'first crops' with a consistent Pinot noir base wine from Vitae Springs Vineyard producing a Willamette Valley blend. Given the extent of our replanting efforts, the amount of Willamette Valley Pinot noir will increase in the coming vintages.
"2006 was a vintage that produced wines with an added dimension of concentration. The end of September was warmer and sunnier than normal for Oregon. This coincided with the final ripening phase resulting in an extra level ripeness and intensity in the fruit.
"The 2006 Willamette Valley has a nose of ripe red and black fruits with spice, pepper, and floral notes. Concentrated cherry jam and black raspberry flavors continue into the lengthy finish. Deeply colored and full bodied, this is a hedonistic wine that reflects the appeal of 2006 and can be consumed in its youth or aged for several years to gain added complexity."
 2006 J. CHRISTOPHER PINOT NOIR WILLAMETTE VALLEY
Price: $24
Drinkability: Good, but will age mid-term
Availability: Only a few cases left
Well, folks, I'm sorry to say that I'm thinking of cutting Jay Somers, proprietor of J. Christopher, off of my Myspace friends list. His sin? He has forsworn golf in favor of . . .gasp . . .flyfishing. Never the twain shall meet, I say.
But on to more serious topics. I first met Jay when he was assisting the peripatetic iconoclastic winemaker John Paul of Cameron Winery. Jay launched out on his own in the late '90s, and quickly became one of the indie darlings of the Portland restaurant scene. Indeed, he has become our favorite garagista - he literally makes wine in a remodeled garage on the outskirts of Portland. In addition to pinot noir, he makes one of Oregon's great dry rieslings, a world-class sauvignon blanc, an unoaked chardonnay, and a variety of other bottlings, too.
Over the years, his Willamette Valley pinot noir has become known for excellent value. This month's offering continues that consumer-friendly trend. When this wine is first poured, it has an aroma of that reminds me of a bowl full of fresh, wild berries. Those flavors are echoed on the palate, and this juicy, fresh and forward pinot noir tastes great right out of the bottle. But don't drink this too quickly - given a few hours in the air, the palate expands dramatically to show some very fine structure, layers of additional fruit, and a level of complexity not often seen at this price point. Although this wine is delicious and approachable now, those with the patience to wait a year or two will drink a completely different - and more impressive - wine.
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 VINTAGE CHART This kind of exercise is always a snapshot in time, and a subjective one at that. I try a lot of Oregon pinots of all ages every week, and these notes are a gestalt of what I've tasted lately, what I tasted in the past, my memories of vintage conditions, and my mood among other things. Use it as a guide, but don't take it as the last word. I'm not the only guy who tries a more than a thousand Oregon wine per year, just one of them!
This kind of thing also begs the question: When Should We Drink The Wine? The answer is easy: when it tastes good. I enjoy a young, bright and juicy pinot, and I also enjoy a fully mature, resolved pinot that is in good shape - and at every stage in between. In general, I think 2-5 years after the vintage date is a sweet spot, but there are plenty of exceptions and variations.
One quick note on old wine. Old is not automatically good. I've often seen rooms of people in thrall to an old wine presented by a notable winemaker, cooing and murmuring about the age and so forth - all wine the wine was completely terrible! Old wine needs to taste good, too, folks. Otherwise, it's just old crap. To me, that means it must have fruit. The biggest flaw of older wines is that the fruit is gone, leaving behind tannin, acid and alcohol. Lesson: drink 'em a bit younger than you might think.
2007 - A cool rainy harvest was problematic, but experienced and careful vineyard managers and winemaker with a sure hand produced ripe, pretty and beautifully balanced wines with lower alcohol, and classic balance. There will be failures, particularly among inexperienced producers and those who picked too early to achieve reasonable ripeness, so it is wise to try before you buy or to trust a knowledgeable source. NYR
2006 - A ripe, high volume vintage that produced a broad array of juicy, fruit wines. The best are intense with some structure, while many wines tend towards a popular fruit-bomb style. A great vintage for wines under $30, thanks to the quality and volume of fruit. The one caveat involves flabby, somewhat over ripe wines from those who picked a bit late. Drink or hold.
2005 - A classic vintage in Oregon with good ripeness, omnipresent tannins, and good, bright acidity. While a few wines are green and clumsy, many are perfectly balanced. These wines seem to be drinking well, but actually have a long life ahead. Decant to drink, or hold.
2004 - Hot weather and miniscule yields led to strapping, rich, extracted wines with intense color and aroma. Fresh natural acidity keeps the wines in balance against all that fruit Many are appealing now, but all the fruit concentration means they'll age for years. Sample sparing, and hold for a few more years. Drink or hold.
2003 - Hot weather made for very ripe fruit, and stripped the wines of natural acidity. Water hoses and backs of acid blend were a common sight during harvest. The best wines achieved some semblance of balance, but many wines sport cooked, chocolaty and overripe flavors with little or no backbone. Drink now.
2002 - Warm days and cool nights until early November made this my favorite all-time pinot noir vintage from Oregon. Impressive concentration, fresh and juicy flavors, and superb structure and balance make many '02s impressive. These wines have thrown off their baby-fat appeal, and are showing some structure now; hold a couple years longer for best results. The finest wines will cellar for 10+ years with ease. Hold for now.
2001 - A vintage interrupted by rain, followed by sun again. Early pickers were not as successful as those that waited for suitably ripe fruit, creating a two-tiered vintage in some respects. Many wines are lush and integrated and drink well now; the bigger wines are still showing plenty of structure, and can age further. Drink or hold.
2000 - A pretty vintage with wines that show plenty of approachable, juicy fruit flavors and not much structure - although there are exceptions. Drink, or hold for just a bit longer.
1999 - Big fruit and big structure mark these wines, many of which are approaching maturity. Drink anytime.
1998 - Oregon's first good vintage after a rough patch of '95 - '97. These wines are mature and peaking, and will hold for a few years more. The best have plenty of fruit and are gorgeously integrated, with fully resolved tannin and desirable tertiary flavors and aromas. Drink now.
1975-1997 - Of the past vintages, my favorites were the '79s and the '85s. While most wines from these earlier years are now over the hill, I continue to find individual stand-out bottles. The '95 Witness Tree Pinot Noir is about as good as old pinot noir gets. The famous '75 Eyrie South Block tasted a couple of years ago had texture and fruit to spare. The '96 Cristom "girls" and the '96 McKinlay Special Selection are in marvelous shape. Sample these older wines with care, and enjoy a taste of history when you find a good one. |
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Have You Got These in Your Collection? Here's How They're Doing Now
2001 Shea Block 21: Like the best of the "after the rain" '01s, this has plenty of life left. While the tannins has gotten quite soft and the wine is displaying a soft, broad palate of integrated flavors, there is also a core of pure fruit left in the center that adds just a hint of lingering youthfulness, and that guides the wine to a fruity and lingering finish. This is terrific now, but will cellar if you like a fully mature pinot noir.
2002 Lemelson Sterner: This is showing off true power, and needs more time. The impressive-from-day-one tannins still rule the show here, but they are certainly balanced off against dramatically intense dark red fruit flavors. This is a dense, structured wine that has thrown off its baby fat and is now ready to lay down for a few more years - two or three more years, I'd guess. When it finally comes around, it's gonna be fantastic. Who would have thought a six year old Oregon pinot would need more time? But There are more than a few '02s showing this kind of power now. As a rule, hold this vintage for a while longer.
1999 Ken Wright Whistling Ridge: This wine is showing a classic old pinot aroma, with deep, relatively dark fruit that offers up nuances of minerals and tobacco influenced by more high-toned, floral aromatics. The tannins are soft, but still quite present. It's an excellent pinot that has passed beyond youth to integration, but is not yet mature. Believe it or not, this showed better after being open a full day. Decant or hold.
2000 Patricia Green Notorious: This is one damn impressive pinot noir 7+ years into its development. I fully expected the wine to show significant development, but instead it was young-tasting, lengthy yet balanced, and clearly poised to last many more years in bottle. The wine is made from Balcombe Vineyard fruit and gets a bit more "treatment" from Patty - lees stirring, more new wood, etc. It is always a rich, complex wine but also a bit flamboyant in youth. This '00 has thrown off all youthful vestiges to reveal a deeply flavored, mineral-infused wine of great complexity. It was not open-knit and integrated, but it was also still enjoyable; it has a tension and density that will take years to fully unwind. This is perhaps the single most impressive 7-year old Oregon pinot I've had, both for its intensity and for its obvious potential. Drink one only if you have a few left to stash away. Try again in 2-3 years.
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APRIL WINE NOTES
Did you get our April E-Newsletter? Well, you're not alone! We didn't make one - I was too busy moving. But, a bit late, here are the tasting notes for the April Wine Club selections:
WORLD CLASS WINES
 2006 Antica Terra Pinot Noir Willamette ValleyPrice: $46
I'm very excited to be able to offer an impressive new Oregon pinot noir from Antica Terra. This new release is a voluptuous, sumptuous fruit-centric pinot of the highest order; I predict that the release of this wine April 1 will ignite a firestorm of demand among Oregon pinot noir fans, and result in impressive critical acclaim. Read on for the details.
Antica Terra has been around since the early 1990s, and back then made a bit of a stir when they scored a Wine Spectator 91 point score at a time when it was hard for Oregon pinots to get positive coverage in that magazine. Consternation ensued when locals could not acquire any of that wine, because for many years, the owner and winemaker were based out of the area.
In the past ten years, I have actively disliked Antica Terra wines. To my palate, they were consistently overoaked, to a point where my palate could discern nothing but a charcoal-like burnt flavor. So I was only modestly interested to try the wine recently during the annual Salud! auction. But one taste, and POW! I love it! What gives?
The vineyard and winery sold prior to the '05 vintage, and the new owners "tuned up" the vineyard. The '05 crop was sold off in bulk, because it didn't meet the new owner's standards. With the '06 vintage, Antica Terra hired a new winemaker and had healthier vines, and produced their first vintage under the new regime.
The result is a completely different wine. Instead of the thin fruit and burnt flavors, the '06 Antica Terra is simply gushing with intricate fruit flavors balanced by high-quality oak seasoning. It sports a voluptuous texture, and is long and layered through the middle. It's almost a fruit-bomb wine, but the acidity lends pizzazz and keeps things lively, fresh, juicy and balanced. This is a wine with real character and a special "wow factor" that will unquestionably capture the attention of Oregon wine fans, and of wine critics.
The real story here is the winemaker behind the reinvented Antica Terra. I'm pleased to introduce Maggie Harrison, formerly assistant winemaker of Sine Qua Non. That's a cult-level California winery of prodigious reputation that makes uber-New World wines that make collectors drool and wine auctioneers rich. Maggie gained considerable experience there with making big-style wines, and also with Oregon Pinot Noir -- Sine Qua Non produced a Shea Vineyard pinot noir for many years up until 2003. Her arrival in Oregon is on par with similar emigrations by Cristom's Steve Doerner and by Tony Soter of Etude, and with her freshman offering has resulted in equally impressive results.
Buy early, and buy plenty, because this wine is going to fly out the door once folks figure out how good it really is.
 2006 Amalie Robert Pinot Noir "Estate"
Price: $47 Production: 40 cases made!
Another tasty release from Amalie Robert! This is an exclusive to the OPNC.
As the Oregon wine industry continues to expand at a rapid pace, it has become very difficult for a new label to attract much attention. There are exceptions, of course - if you have scads of money or are famous to begin with you can get noticed. But many new producers have only one real calling card - their wine. And many of the new wines just aren't good enough to get noticed.
Amalie Robert has managed to get on the radar despite those challenges. One thing they've done very well is to integrate themselves into the existing wine community here - made lots of calls, paid folks lots of visits, showed some respect for those who have been here a while. That's in contrast to some brash newcomers who think they already know everything.
And, of course, they have made terrific wines. The winemaking at Amalie Robert is also a bit of an anomaly. While they make great use of the rambunctious Dijon clones of pinot noir, they also somehow make wines of great elegance and balance. Their style controls and directs that potent Dijon clone flavor, while still providing the grace and balance pinot noir lovers tend to crave. All the flavor, less fat! That's bucking the trend in the market, and is another indicator of Ernie and Dena Drew's independent streak.
This wine is initially subtle, but with air opens to reveal a broad palate of red fruit flavors, spanning the spectrum from bright reds to darker reds. The texture is silken, and the flavors arc across the palate without any rough edges. After a couple of hours in a decanter it fully opens into a long, complex and persistent wine of great character. The structure of this wine is hard to see now, but it's there and it supports and expands upon the fruit and adds some promise for the future.
Overall, this wine seduces rather than pummels, and it invites contemplation rather than communicating through a bullhorn. Decant and drink now - slowly and deliberately. Or cellar for one to five years or longer. This wine is stylistically apart from the Antica Terra above, and together they make for a fascinating contrast in style, and a great pair of World Class wines for April.
PREMIUM WINES
 2005 Left Coast Cellars Pinot Noir Estate
Price: $27 Drinkability: Good now Availability: Good now Left Coast Cellars is a new producer located right in the Van Duzer Corridor of the Eola Hills, on the west side of Hwy 99. Their vineyards span a couple of hillsides in a pretty little mini-valley, and is right across the highway from the Firesteed winery, formerly Flynn. Left Coast is one of those operations that sprang up out of nowhere, driven by folks with no previous wine industry experience but plenty of capital. Their inaugural releases in '04 were a mixed bag; this Estate bottling is the first of their '05s, and is a worthy effort that is priced fairly. The wine is medium bodied, with nicely juicy flavors and some mild, spicy tannins all supported by good acidity. There's a certain rusticity to the wine that adds complexity, and that is not offputting at all. The flavors fan out nicely in the middle, and the finish is clean, long and fruit-based. It's a solid effort from new producer, and the price is quite reasonable. A note on that: Many new producers in Oregon are releasing pinots that are too expensive, too oaky and not very good. Left Coast Cellars is treading a smarter path by offering wine at a decent price; that tactic will result in better growth and greater customer loyalty over time, in my opinion.
 2006 Anne Amie Cuvee A
Drinkability: Good now Availability: Good now Anne Amie occupies the former Chateau Benoit site outside of Carlton, Oregon. It's perched on a hill, and has a great view. Chateau Benoit was a very early winery in the Valley, but fell by the wayside as their old-style Oregon wines failed to keep up with modern winemaking and viticulture. The property was purchased by Robert Pamplin, Jr., a well known businessman and philanthropist in Oregon. For fun, here's a bit of Pamplin's bio, from his web site: "Dr. Robert B. Pamplin, Jr. is a businessman, philanthropist, farmer, minister and author of 13 books, including two book-of-the-month-club selections. He has earned eight degrees, including two doctorates, in business, economics, accounting, education and theology (B.S. Bus. Ad., B.S. Acctg., B.S. Econ., M.B.A., M.Ed., M.A. Theology, Ph.D. Bus., D.Min. Theology) and is a tenured Professor. He is Chairman, President and CEO of the R.B. Pamplin Corporation, a family-owned company with annual sales approaching $650 million , and founder of the Portland Tribune newspaper, Columbia Empire Farms and Your NorthWest retail stores. Dr. Pamplin has served on Presidential and State Commissions, and as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for three colleges and The Portland Art Museum. He has been awarded many honorary degrees and national awards . . . " This goes on for quite a bit longer -- the guy is accomplished. As part of the deal, he hired winemaker Thomas Houseman, whose online bio is equally long but populated with less inspiring achievements. Houseman did put in stints at several notable wineries, including a couple years at Ponzi Vineyards before taking the head job an Anne Amie. The new team has reinvented the winery with reasonable success. Their top-tier pinots show excellent concentration and balance. This Cuvee A is their entry level pinot noir, and delivers great value. It's medium bodied, highly aromatic and possesses juicy, lively and fresh fruit flavors touched by a hint of new wood and good balancing acidity It's designed for early consumption, so it's soft and generous now. Pull the cork, and put a straw in it . . . .this is another terrific value.
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Robert Wolfe
Oregon Pinot Noir Club · 1-800-847-4474 |
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