Tom from Cameron came by to clean some kegs and dropped this off. I thought it was really good, and probably would have confused it with the Dundee Hills edition. A little funk, gobs of cherry, not terribly complex at this point, but the mouth feel and finish are great and there aren’t any holes in it. I assume that it’s available for around $20 or less. Seems like a bargain.
Thanks for the heads up Rick. Have been waiting for the release so I can gobble some up before its all gone. I checked all the usual suspects (Vinopolis, Sec, Liner and Elsen and Avalon) and only Liner and Elsen had it in stock. Less than 2 cases left in stock after I grabbed a case. I’m sure it will show at other wine shops and New Season’s market soon.
$18.99 a bottle by the case + $36 shipping and no tax = $241.09 delivered to California.
When is the Dundee Hills usually released compared to the WV Bottling?
Cheers,
Sean Smith
Is it more or less Eola Hills again?
The Dundee Hills usually comes out after the Willamette Valley. I don’t know what the composition of the WV is this year, but we’re bottling Spritz on Tuesday, so I’ll ask.
The Willamette Valley bottling is mostly the Dijon clone section of Abbey Ridge with a little Clos Electrique and one barrel of Ribbon Ridge in the mix. There are less than 175 cases available.
Glad mine is on the way… Can’t wait to try and compare to the Dundee Hills…
Thanks for the update Rick
Sean
Due to low production, some of the usual suspects (retailers) are limiting purchases to 6 bottles. 175 cases of this will disappear fast.
That is some impressive stuffing for the WV. I’m going to immediately forget That I read this thread to avoid any purchase temptations.
Scott, the Dundee Hills will be better and it isn’t that much more expensive (and still cheap for the quality).
I just remembered that John said a couple years ago that he was going to cut back on the amount of Pinot he made because it was a lot of work (and a lot of space in the winery) for his lowest tier wine.
The 2016 Cameron Pinot Noir Ribbon Ridge hit Avalon and Vinopolis today.
Avalon is already sold out. Vinopolis has some left. Get it before its gone…
$24 from Vinopolis.
I saw the Avalon email and having overbought this month, I’m almost happy to hear it’s gone. I’ll wait for the DH bottling and jump on that.
As an aside, Vinopolis seems to have very good wines, but their shipping costs are way too high so I tend not to buy from them. Avalon gets my OR business instead.
How long Oregon Pinots can age gracefully?
Depends on the wine and the vintage. Some of the 2005s are in a really good place right now. I suspect that a well kept 2002 would be really good too, though I tend to drink most Oregon Pinots within 10 years of release. The best Pinot I’ve ever had was a 1983 Eyrie South Block Reserve that I tasted about two years ago. I’ve had 10 year old Cameron DH bottlings that were fantastic.
To riff on Rick, the best OR Pinot I’ve ever had and one of my top 3 Pinots ever was a bottle of 1996 Eyrie South Block Reserve from last Oct. – words cannot adequately convey the haunting complexity & absolute amazingness that bottle possessed…and while I’d say it was peaking for my tastes, there’s no doubt it would have easily held for another 10-15+ years.
Should add it was from an Eyrie release in 2011 and was inspected by the winery before sale so the provenance was impeccable (and one of the reasons I dropped the coin required to purchase it…which was a lot for me both then & now).
In 2011 I had a 1990 Elk Cove Reserve that was glorious…so I’d say 20+ years and possibly longer for some of the better wines.
Had a 2000 Shea Pinot from magnum last week. Could go another 10 years easily. Seemed young.
Had a 1979 Ponzi about 8 years ago. Still drinking fairly well.
I just bought some Cameron '16 WV Ribbon Ridge and Dundee Hills from Sec Wines last week.
Bought a case of the '16 RR from Eric . . . am thinking about the Dundee Hills offer today. The '14 and '15 RR were Pinot QPRs I’ve ever come across.
Has anyone tasted all three of the 2016 Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills, and Ribbon Ridge?
Just wondering how they compare.