TN: 2008 Westrey Pinot Noir Abbey Ridge Dundee Hills

I had mistakenly recorded this as an Oracle, but upon looking I see that it is my last bottle of Abbey Ridge. This was an excellent new world Pinot. Very different than most PN I drink, as I mostly drink Burgundy. It has a dark fruit, a (dare I say?) almost cola note that I seldom find in OR PN. While that would be a deal-breaker in a CA PN where I tend to find it accompanied by high alcohol levels and glycerin, it worked just fine in this wine. The acid is crisp enough, the fruit perfumed enough. Really a very nice wine, and I’d happily have more. This is just starting to drink well and I could easily see this going a very long distance. May need to pick up some of their wines from the '12 vintage, as I see similarities in the two vintages.

Very good.

2011 Westrey PN WV, 2/28/2015
Glass pour @ Ken’s Artisan Pizza; medium ruby, tart berry, cranberry raspberry and red currants. Acid driven with medium fruit and light, well integrated tannins. 91 Points,

I did not find it as red fruited but it seems we have similar views on the quality.

I haven’t had the 2008, but the 2012 is very nice and drinking well today.

Westrey has been on my list of “want to try” for quite some time particularly the Abbey Ridge. Your description makes me realize I need to track some down. Thanks for the write up. It’s also good to hear some of the '08’s are starting to hit their window. I’ve cellared all of mine for the time being but sounds like it might be time to start pulling a few.

I have some 08 Justice cellared. Having never tasted a Westrey I am hoping for a good result down the road.

Even though I have a moratorium on buying Pinot, I still buy the Westrey Abbey Ridge every year.

I’ve found that the 2008 vintage Pinots all seem to be a little more dark-fruited than what I would usually expect, particularly in the Dundee Hills AVA.

I opened a 2010 last night, and it’s excellent right now. Hoping I can save one for ten years out, but we’ll see.

Michael

I agree with Rick about the dark fruited nature of the 08 Westrey AR. I much prefer the 10. I’ll be sitting on my few 08 Westrey ARs hoping my next peek is more rewarding.

Like St. Innocent, I gave up on Westrey. Different reasons though. With SI, it was the persistent dill flavor. With Westrey, it was fruit forward chunkiness with little or no nuance. Just my 2 cents and worth a mere fraction of that.

St. Innocent dill seems to recede with age and not all of the wines show it. I am not sure of the dill origin.

All the '10s are drinking well for me. My favorite vintage across the board for the wines I have sampled at least.

Glenn, your '08 Justice should be just fine. Underrated vineyard and producer. I tend to love leaner year Westrey Pinots but couldn’t resist several bottles of that Justice.

RT

Thanks Richard.

I think I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again – in my brief experience I love both Westrey and Belle Pente but they tend to let warmer years drive their wines more than others who are more AFWE driven

Thanks for the note, Michael. According to my spreadsheet, I haven’t dipped into any of my '08 Westrey’s. I need to remedy that.

Westrey is an OR producer that really does benefit from age. It just seems to mellow and open and deepen, so Mitch, perhaps you are drinking them too young? Haven’t opened an 08, but the 07s are flat out fantastic and the Justice is quite powerful. I think Westrey really captures the essence of Abbey transparently. 08 is a particularly closed year, especially for the good producers. The WVs are only just now beginning to come around.

As a data point, my prior experiences with both the 2008 Abbey Ridge and the Oracle over the past couple of years had shown them nowhere near ready. This time around the wine is starting to show its stuff really well. This can go now with some air but I can see this wine going the distance if properly stored.

This

Nice. Thanks for the note. I have now buried all my 2008 Oregon Pinot. We’ll see what time does.

It does recede and to be honest, I don’t recall recent vintages having that quality.

J