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| September, 2008 Membership E-Newsletter |
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 Harvest Underway in Oregon: Pinot growers wait out the rain
Harvest is underway in Oregon, primarily for young-vine wines in the Willamette Valley and for warm-climate varietals in Southern Oregon and east of the Cascades. While warm temperatures over the past two weeks have advanced pinot noir ripeness, most growers are taking a "time out" while a series of rain showers passes over the state.
After a late bloom and a cool, rainy August, many vineyards reported being several weeks behind a "normal" ripening schedule. Sugars were inching up, but phenolic ripeness lagged.
Great weather during the last two weeks of September buoyed spirits, however, and pushed the grapes to the brink of harvest. Some growers reported bringing in early-ripening young-vine fruit. However, most vineyards are patiently waiting for a bit more sun before taking the harvest plunge.
Delaying the harvest is a series of relatively weak storm fronts moving across the West Coast over the next few days. The long range forecast however is generally
positive, however, with many dry days and temperatures adequate for ripening.
It's STILL EARLY to make any positive predictions as to crop quality, but all the factors seem to be in place for a strong Pinot vintage in '08.
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 Sherry Seminar in Portland?!
We don't sell Sherry. For one thing, it's made in Spain, not in Oregon. BUT . . . we like to drink Sherry! Particularly a very good fino, and occasionally a few sips of PX with a strong cheese.
Thus I am excited to announce that two colleagues of mine will be presenting a Sherry Certification Course in Portland, at the excellent Ten-01 restaurant, on October 30 and 31.
This is a serious course, and includes written and blind tasting exams. While I expect wine and restaurant professionals to be most interested, other wine lovers are welcome, too.
For a complete description, information on the presenters, fees, etc. Just shoot me an email at pinotguy@oregonpinotnoir.com.
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 Vine Mealybug in Oregon?
Single insect found in vineyard may be notorious grape pest One
of the most invasive vineyard pests on the West Coast may have been
found in Oregon, prompting a statewide alert. An unidentified species
of mealybug was found on the roots of vines in an abandoned vineyard
near Hillsboro in northwestern Oregon on Sept. 15. An initial
examination indicated the insect may have been a vine mealybug. Vine
mealybug has been hitherto unknown in the Pacific Northwest but it
spreads quickly and is a vector of grapevine leafroll virus, which
reduces the photosynthetic capabilities of infected vines. That
fact spurred the Oregon Wine Board to alert growers to the discovery
within days of the report, with a view to preventing the spread of the
unknown bug. "We're just helping raise awareness of what people should
do. It's not a time to panic," said Ted Farthing, the board's executive
director. "This is a known problem in other places. But we want people
to help us--if they find any, to know what they're looking for." by Peter Mitham, Winesandvines.com Complete article Photo credit: University of California . |
 Granhholm II: Making States Behave
(A
couple of years ago, the Supreme Court effectively allowed
direct-to-consumer wine shipping across state lines. The reasoning was
based on the commerce clause of the Constitution, which requires local
and interstate businesses to be treated equally. Since all states have
at least a small wine industry that wants to ship to their consumers,
most states have followed the intent of the law and opened their
markets. Some rogue states have tried to undermine the Supreme Court by
enacting laws designed to subvert the original ruling, known as the
Granholm decision. Here's a piece about a recent decision by a federal
judge, regarding the misbehavior of Michigan, source of the original
lawsuit - Bob)
On September 30, 2008, a federal district court
ordered Michigan to give out-of-state retailers access to Michigan
consumers to whom local retailers could sell wine. The reasoning in
Siesta Village Market LLC v. Granholm closely parallels that of the
landmark Supreme Court decision, Granholm v. Heald, in effect rendering
Governor Jennifer Granholm a serial violator of the dormant Commerce
Clause.
Judge Hood found laws requiring differential treatment
of local and interstate commerce to be discriminatory on their face,
thereby assuring their invalidity in the absence of showing by the
state that there was no less discriminatory way to pursue its
legitimate regulatory objectives. She further found that, as in the
original Granholm case, the state had not met its evidentiary burden.
R. Corbin Houchins, Beverage Industry Counsel, on shipcompliantblog.com
Full article
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SEPTEMBER WORLD CLASS WINES
 2005 Domaine Drouhin Pint Noir "Laurene"
Price: $68
Drinkability: Approachable, but cellarworthy
Availability: Just released, but won't last forever
Domaine Drouhin Oregon, as we all know, is the Oregon branch of the old Burgundy producer Joseph Drouhin. That famous wine family set up shop here back in the late '80s, after their wines were seriously challenged by Eyrie Pinot Noirs in a couple of high-profile blind tastings in France in the late '70s.
DDO makes a few different pinots, including their widely-distributed Willamette Valley bottling and this "Reserve" level bottling, called Laurene. The Laurene is their bigger, riper style of wine - more like other Oregon pinots, than like Burgundy. It does not always work out well. The '03 Laurene was a high-alcohol goo-bomb of dreadful proportions. But in '05, the combination of classically structured Oregon fruit and the Burgundian-styled winemaking technique of Veronique Drouhin resulted in a wine that is flat-out gorgeous.
The '05 Laurene strikes a perfect balance between all the elements that go into a wine - fruit, acid, wood, and tannin. It has heft and depth, but is never weighty on the palate. It has intensity and length, but never overwhelms with too much alcohol or too much wood. It has the right amount of everything in perfect proportions. It's a classically styled beauty that can easily be enjoyed now, but that has the potential to become truly elegant in the cellar. This ain't cheap, but it's worth it.
>> Buy the Domaine Drouhin
 2006 J. Christopher Pinot Noir "Charlie's Vineyard"
Price: $42
Production: 100 cases
Drinkability: Good now, better later
Availability: Good for the short term
Who is the owner and winemaker of the J. Christopher wines? Now, most folks think that his name is Jay Christopher. But really, it's Jay Somers. Christopher is his middle name, so technically I suppose you could call him by either name. This subject creates lots of confusion and misinformation. Just wanted to clear that up.
Jay is also one of the best almost-medium sized producers in the state. He's not officially "dinky" anymore, but he's also not even close to the size of, say, Patricia Green Cellars. He makes a fairly broad lineup on wines, including some of the very best white wines in the Northwest (Cristo Misto, riesling, sauvignon blanc) along with a progression of pinots.
He is also very, very popular around here. A large chunk of his production goes directly to restaurants and private wine cellars around Oregon. Thus I was quite flattered to get an email offering me the wines above before anyone else.
The three high-end wines from Jay are all different due to vineyard source, clonal selection, soil type, and all the usual suspects. But they also share some important common characteristics - most importantly, they all have scads of richly textured fruit with a wild, fresh-picked berry character that is highly appealing on the palate. You cannot pin down one type or flavor of fruit in these wines - they're too complex. Because of all that fruit, they are also ageworthy - approachable now, but destined to become even more open-knit and complex later. Best of all, these are a value at the price - comparable wines from other producers fetch plenty more.
Our selection this month is his flagship Charlie's Vineyard Pinot Noir. It's rich and packed with fruit, but shows better balance and structure than many '06s, some of which are too ripe, and end up being gooey. Decant and drink this now, but hold it back for a couple years for a real treat.
>> Buy the J. Christopher
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SEPTEMBER PREMIUM CLUB WINES
 2006 Whistling Ridge Pinot Noir "Estate"
Price: $34
Production: About 100 cases
Drinkability: Gorgeous now
Availability: Good for the short term
Among all of the new-ish Oregon AVAs, one is a standout, packed with terrific vineyards of particular and distinctive character: The Ribbon Ridge sub-AVA, which is surrounded by the Chehalem Mountain AVA.
How good is it? Consider the players: Patty Green is up there, as well as Beaux Freres and Brick House. Chehalem's Ridgecrest Vineyard is in the neighborhood, too. And then there's Whistling Ridge Vineyard, with sits on the hill right next to Patty and to Beaux Freres.
The vineyard was first made notable by Ken Wright, who made a single-vineyard wine from it for a goodly number of years. Nowadays, Patty Green gets a few acres, and Marcus Goodfellow of Matello gets some fruit, too. In fact, it is Goodfellow who made this wine. As part of his deal with the vineyard, he makes wine under the Whistling Ridge label for the owners, Richard and Patricia Alvord.
Now, Marcus calls his wine "Matello Pinot Noir Whistling Ridge." It costs $45, retail, and is paragon of balance, purity and traditional styling. When he bottled his wine, he also bottled THIS wine, from the same tank at the same time. It's the same wine - but it costs substantially less. This is no knock on the Alvords. They spend their time growing great grapes, and are not necessarily assiduous marketers of bottled wine (although I expect that to change now that they have hired a dynamic, knowledgeable sales manager).
Instead, it is a chance at a GREAT DEAL for OPNC clients. We sent out the Matello version of this wine as a World Class Club selection. Now our Premium members - and everyone else - gets a crack at the wine, too.
Plus, I don't have to rewrite my notes on the wine! Here they are:
"Still made in minute quantities, this wine is an uncommon find. It's completely hand-made, of course. While the '06 vintage is somewhat over done is some cases - sweet, soft wines are abundant - this wine shows the balance of fruit picked at the point of perfect balance. It's brimming with ripe fruit flavors, but it is not over ripe. It's got texture and some fine structure, too - it is certainly not a soft, gooey wine. And it's lengthy, in that desirable elegant-yet-powerful manner where the fruit never over powers the palate, but also never stops pumping out flavor. It's a session wine, where drinking more than one glass is pleasurable rather than onerous."
I highly recommend this wine at this price point for all OPNC clients who want a spectacular deal.
>> Buy the Whistling Ridge
 2006 Grochau Cellars Pinot Noir Tout Suite
Drinkability: Now
Availability: Good now
Here's some info from the Grochau Cellars literature:
"Established in 2002, Grochau Cellars is anchored to our Oregon homeland and we approach each vintage with the same goals: create complex, genuine wines true to their origins and to the distinct flavors of Oregon.
"Grochau Cellars is the project and passion of John Grochau and his wife Kerri. John has been fortunate to learn the trade from some of the Willamette Valley's finest winemakers. From the pioneering cellars and large-scale work of Erath Winery to four years as Doug Tunnell's assistant at the esteemed Brick House Wines, John has logged the numerous hours of careful attention, expert advice and forklift skills necessary to risk his own money on his own endeavor."
"Our philosophy is simple, really. Don't screw it up. Resist the urge to do too much. Modern winemakers have such an array of options available to them, it's staggering. Micro-oxygenation. Enzyme addition. Wine concentrators. Not to mention the temptation so many indulge in to beat an otherwise fine wine over the head with a battery of new oak. We eschew all this. Minimal handling, subtle coaxing, oak as a seasoning not as a main dish. These are the hallmarks of our wines."
Well, couldn't have said it better myself, especially that last paragraph. (That's why I used his stuff.) All that philosophy has been translated to a successful, early-to-market pinot that is our selection this month.
The '07 Grochau Pinot Noir Tout Suite is a fresh, juicy, lively, and somewhat focused wine that comes across the palate with great flavors, bright acidity, and just a touch of structure on the finish. This is pinot noir fruit on display without artifice, and without the burden of super-high alcohol. It's what pure pinot noir really tastes like when it's not manipulated, and when there is no opportunity for excessive hangtime. It's a good deal on a wine that has a strong following among locals. It also reflects what will be best about the '07s a class. As the name implies, this is meant for drinking now, so what are you waiting for?
>> Buy the Grochau
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Robert Wolfe
Oregon Pinot Noir Club · 1-800-847-4474 |
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