TN: 2011 Ayoub Pinot Noir Brittan Vineyard - Something else different

From one end of the extraction spectrum (Kelley Fox) to the other, I decided to pull a bruiser of winemaking style and vineyard. Shared with CT jsanders on Friday night.

• 2011 Ayoub Pinot Noir Brittan Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, McMinnville (11/4/2017)
  SO’d for three hours. A powerful nose of forest floor and faint fruit. In the mouth, there is dark fruit but it is quickly overtaken by gripping tannins. It improved a little over four hours, but the fruit never emerged from behind the tannins. Not sure they ever will, but I have five more bottles to investigate over time (88 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

I normally like Mo’s wines for what they are - a more powerful interpretation of Oregon pinot, and they are normally well balanced. But this was one of those 2011’s that never got ripe enough.

The lack of buzz or respect or even chatter over Mo’s wines here never ceases to amaze me, but this note would seem to support the lack of enthusiasm. I haven’t had any Thistle or Brittan or Winderleas yet, no Whole Cluster either, pretty much just Estate and ??? and some Memoirs. I wish more people would comment on this note, as “powerful” wouldn’t be a word that would ever come to mind when thinking about his wines. I don’t think I’ve had any Kelley Fox though, maybe that’s why. I love his wines.

All a matter of opinion Scott. Feel free to post notes as I enjoy keeping tabs on OR Pinot producers that I don’t regularly follow. I haven’t delved in to Mo’s Pinots for some time. I found them well made and a bit 4 square for my preferences. There’s a boatload of competition in a similar style IMHO. There could certainly be more nuance in the multitude of bottlings I haven’t tasted.

RT

I’ve only tried a few of his wines because I don’t see them often in my area. My favorite was the 2012 Thistle Pinot Noir. It’s definitely a bit on the richer side for Oregon Pinot, but a nice, well-balanced Pinot.

-Al

Agreed. The few PNs of his I’ve tried did not move me, nor did his Chardonnays I tasted a few years ago at the OR Chardonnay Celebration. Will gladly try more of his wines if someone opens one in my presence.

There are several producers whose wines are priced above my comfort level now for a casual drive by. I will occasionally buy a more expensive bottle of a producer whose entry level inspires me to move up the scale a bit, but I hardly ever open them for casual drinking.

I own a few bottles of this wine and opened one a couple of years back. It was the biggest outlier of the 2011 vintage for me. Incredibly dense and dark and sappy for an ‘11 but also had searing acidity (and grippy tannins) I really didn’t know what to make of it and figured in like 15 years it could come into balance. Really a bizarre wine for Oregon in 2011. It was like every aspect was dialed up to 11.

As someone mentioned Ayoub’s wines are certainly well made but they can’t compete (IMO) due to their pricing. There is too much good wine at tthat price, hell you can buy burgundy at the price of some of the Ayoub wines.

2011 shouldn’t have much tannin…I wonder if he was extracting in '11. 2011 fruit has been generally shy up until the last 6 months. Like 2007, it took quite some time for fruit to really show. Give the '11 3-6 more years to see if fruit emerges.

I have a soft spot for Mo, he’s probably Muslim, right? Mohammed Ayoub from Lebanon? My wife is Muslim, so I like the idea of supporting Muslim winemakers. But I must concede his prices are a little Seth Morgen Longish. And he is Silicon Valley California money. And he hasn’t been here for decades. I’d support the boycott for the prices, but I think he’ll achieve an upper echelon status at some point that I suspect most will feel he deserves- his prices are a little steep though you’re right Brandon, relative what you can find for 2/3 the cost elsewhere from the state.

As I mentioned above, I buy Mo’s wines for what they are - robust examples that are usually very balanced. His Estate and Whole Cluster are very good, and I will be curious to see how this style ages compared to others. This Brittan won’t get any better, but it seems like an outlier. I also find his prices to be middle-market. His low end (Memoirs) sells for mid-30’s, and his other wines are 40s. Now, he doesn’t have anything in the 20s, but he also doesn’t have much in the 60s or higher (like many others).

And thanks everyone for the comments - my “something different” postings were intended to promote strings like this. I look forward to notes from others.

Loved the 06 Ayoub and really have not tried many vintages after.