Decanterberry Tales - A Willamette Valley Wine Blog - pinotnoir tag

Willamette Valley Vineyards, Elton Vineyard, Pinot Noir 2007

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 17:19:37 GMT

If you like French Burgundy, you'll love this bottle of wine. This is another bottle from Willamette Valley Vineyards, that ironically, has a style more akin to France than Oregon. Oregon is typically known for "bigger" Pinots: full, dark fruit, and rich. This, on the other hand, is lighter, with more red fruits, and is elegant and nuanced.

The nose opened with ... beach! Yeah, it smelled like the Oregon coast. That smell up on the dry sand of driftwood and other dried flotsam and jetsam. And dust (like a dusty road). A sweet smell comes and goes. Maybe a cherry vanilla smell. Maybe that's a dry creek bed smell. Sort of dust mixed with must. Hard to get my finger on it. A bit later on the aromas changed a bit. Red cherry candy emerged. The dust was still there, but the beach was gone. Denise smelled bark: dusty, dirty bark -- like a gangly old tree. She said it smell "Entish".

The taste and finish are wound up with each other; which is the say that the finish is very quick. It's earth, then sweet, then berry, and then gone. The earth is dirt, moss and wood. The sweet is vanilla, but it's there and gone in a flash. The fruit is red cherry and hints of salmon berry. Then it's gone: almost like a very dry (and not sour) cranberry at the end. There's no lingering finish.

Tasting later we got hints of white pepper and pomegranate. While the nose gained some anise and violet (yummy). Denise found hyacinth, orange and cola. And later still, the finish improved with cayenne and black liquorice.

Denise said that this would be great with a dark chocolate. I agreed. However, definitely open this one up and leave it open for awhile before drinking. It really opens up after a few hours.

Cost: $45

Rating: 9.0

Beaux Freres, Willamette Valley, Pinot Noir, 2006

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 20:48:44 GMT

Apparently 2009 was difficult for just about everybody if you read all those end-of-year editorials and remembrances. 2009 was especially hard on our family. So what did we drink New Years Eve? We decided on carpe diem, and broke open one of our Beaux Freres. This is always a double-edged sword: we really have never been disappointed beyond the fear that we opened a it too early. This one was no different. If you can resist drinking them now, by all means, hold 'em. But if you do crack one, they are -- without fail -- pure pleasure in a bottle.

This one was really big for Beaux Freres -- lots of body and dark fruit. But the thing about Beaux Freres is that they tend to be insanely floral -- something we just love. It's almost as if they raided the Portland Rose Gardens one evening and stuffed the fermentation tanks with rose pedals. It smells and tastes just like that. Incredible.

Along with the rose, the nose was wood, anise, and pepper. The nost took awhile to open up. It started fairly flat, but after an hour. The anise became much stronger, along with some eucalyptus.

And that was the other thing that was a bit different from 2005, this one was strong with pepper. Very spicy. As I said, the body was really full on this one. Silky, full and rich in your mouth. The taste was a mixture of rose pedals and black cherry. Strong black cherry meandered through hints of leather, chocolate. While you can taste the oak, which is normally presents a fairly sweet taste; the leather just stopped that sweetness in its tracks. And the finish was black cherry mixed with a non-sweet Satsuma orange.

Cost: $49

Rating: 9.5

Willamette Valley Vineyards, 'Whole Cluster Fermented', Pinot Noir, 2008

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 01:00:40 GMT

Lots of people love Pinot Noir because of the thrill in the inability to really know what you're going to find inside the bottle. Pinots, more so than other varietals, can be hit and miss. Usually these people (myself included) love the highs so much that they brave (and endure) the lows. And then sometimes, you find something really unusual, like this bottle.

Oregon Pinots are known for being really big and jammy. Often when they're on the lighter side, they're called "Burgundian". But Pinots from Burgundy aren't just lighter, they're generally more earthy and subtle in their flavors. This bottle was neither jammy nor Burgundian.

Instead, it was light and fruity -- almost akin to a really great Beaujolais. The nose was raisin, dust, red cherry, violet, and a hint of wood. The taste started with a flash of sweetness, and then it changed into a strong red cherry and maybe some blackberry. The finish was pomegrante and was really quick. This wine reminded me of another Oregon Pinot we liked: the Phelps Creek, 2007. This wine was really well balanced.

Denise really liked this one. See said it "a wine that dances, and wears chiffon". And then, "this would be perfect to drink when sitting in a red velvet room eating chocolate". She thought it would be great with a Christmas dinner because it wasn't overly heavy.

We never read the marketing descriptions on the wines we review until after (and this was no exception). And too often, those descriptions don't seem all that helpful. However in this case, I think Willamette Valley Vineyards hit the nail on this head in describing this wine: "As refreshing as liquid fruit salad in a glass". Yeah, that's exactly right, it's like liquid fruit salad.

Cost: ($19)

Rating: 8.5

Yamhill Valley Vineyards, 'Reserve', Pinot Noir, 2005

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:39:34 GMT

A couple years ago when the 2005 Oregon Pinots were being released, I have to say I was disappointed. I'd sip and it was as if someone poured orange juice into my glass of wine. Citrus. Acid. Not pleasant. So, of the ones I had bought, into the cryogenic chamber they went.

That was then, and this is now. I am really enjoying the 2005's now. Generally, they've really matured. That citrus is now gone, and you're left with a structured, spicy, and rich Pinot experience.

But this one was different -- and better. This was one of the better 2005 Pinots I've tasted. I was really impressed. We drank this next to a Ken Wright Shea 2006, and this was everyone's first choice. No offense to the Ken Wright, but this one was spicier, more balanced, and just more drinkable. Personally, I think most of the the 2006's I've tasted need a little more time.

The nose was strongly and hauntingly: cinnamon and earth. It smelled like a really great Burgundy, only more spicy. There was oak, but not in a sweet or over the top way -- just the right amount for my tastes. A little pepper and dust followed.

At first it had that "cold lake" thing we usually find in old Bordeaux's -- it's just super smooth. But immediately following that initial mouthfeel, it just grew spicy. That, mixed with black cherry and chocolate. It was dark, and incredibly yummy. Then that cinnamon returned in the finish, along with pepper that lingered. Every once and awhile, I'd get bits of cherry and maybe a really subtle (and not sour) cranberry.

I was just blown away by this bottle.

Cost: ($35)

Rating: 9.5