Pinot Noir grapes make some of my absolutely favorite wines in the world but as I was saying in my last post the difficulties associated with growing the grapes means the wines can unfortunately be pretty expensive. I'm always on the look out for great value and good quality Pinot Noir's for under $20 but out of all the different kind of wines out there, it's one of the hardest to find.
I'm telling you today about my love for Pinot Noir's and how sad I am that they have such a high price point because I had a great opportunity today to attend a fantastic tasting of Oregon Pinot Noir's, some that are available in our market and some that will be if there is enough interest from buyers. Oregon's coastal climate creates ideal conditions for growing Pinot Noir grapes. It's a little cooler, which the early ripening pinot likes, and the wines that come out of the region are full of flavour with great acidity and for the most part good body as well. Wine makers have the opportunity in this part of the world to experiment with vineyard conditions and wine making techniques that aren't available to many of the legally bound producers in France which means that a lot of the wines coming out of Oregon are unique and interesting, with a focus on making wines for the future instead of wines that represent the past.
Most Oregon Pinot's on our market at the moment are either 2006 or 2007, with the 2008's coming up within the next two months.
Most 2006's I tried today are ageing nicely and still show a lot of rich ripe fruit developing complexity and depth as they age. The good wines out of this year are, and will continue to be great for many years.
2007 was a tough vintage for Oregon growers as it was rainy and extremely wet during the harvest season. Many picked early and the resulting wines show tons of greenness. While many like the light style of wine produced in this year by most wine makers, I found most of them to be rather watery.
As for 2008, I'm really looking forward to drinking many more Oregon Pinot Noir's from that year. There's body, fruit, richness and many have a nice spiciness to them as well. Overall I enjoyed this vintage the most, a vintage in which the best wine makers will make legendary wines and the not so good wine makers will still make some pretty awesome stuff.
Here are a few wines I tried today that I thought were especially note-worthy:
Andrew Rich wines - I tried both their small production wine as well as their lower level 'cuvee B'. Both were quite good and they were both some of the best '07's I tried at this tasting.
Trisae '08 - I gave this one an all around A+ for quality, style and taste. The rich, ripe and almost candied fruit is extremely well balanced with the spicy pepperness and green notes in this wine. It was also delightfully full-bodied.
Trisaetum 'o7 - A solid 'A'. Another of hte good '07's in the room. It was light and vegetal like the others but the difference was that the Trisaetum didn't make it seem like a fault. It pulled the flavours and characteristics together like an elegant dancer.
Erath Winery:
Erath Pinot Noir Oregon - the most basic of their wines at this tasting and an A- wine from me. Typical '08 profile of fresh berries but with comparatively light body. Still a complex and structured wine especially at the $30 price point.
Erath Leland Pinot Noir 2006 - Did I mention I loved the 2006 Pinot's that were being poured at this tasting? This is no exception and is in fact probably one of my favorites. My tasting note for this wine is simply "oh wow" followed by a star and a clear A+ grade.
These wines are the ones that really stood out for me but as with any tasting, someone else I talk to will be wowed by completely different wines. Rarely is there a consensus of what the 'best' wine of the show was. Such is the human palate I suppose. I really enjoyed the '08 Vintage but I gave most of the '07's grades between B and A- for the very best. As always however, I met a few people whose favorite wines of the show were some of the 07's that I thought tasted too green and watery. As for the '06's the general consensus seemed to be that they are showing well and are a testament to the quality of wines being produced in such places as Oregon.
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