TN: 2008 Thomas Pinot Noir Dundee Hills

Its unlike any domestic pinot noir I’ve ever smelled. Like sticking your nose in a freshly shined unworn new pair of leather dress shoes right off the shelf that your father would have worn 50 years ago. It’ like a new baby smell but of leather goods. Like walking into your neighborhood cigar store or hookah lounge only to be inundated with an incredible perfume of green smokey flavored tobacco. Stems too. Wow what a way to start.

No spritz. Soft med texture, seamless, weightless, red-fruited but incredibly layered with a strong tobacco varnish thing I can only assume coming from age, maybe the oak? Citrus, orange peel, lemon, more leather, black tea, a little rose hip, fine tannin, looong. Fruit definitely takes a back seat to some of the tertiary flavors. Makes you just sit there and think. But then the more I play with it in the mouth, more wild strawberry, rose water and underbrush come out and hit your senses. So complex. Nothing out of place but this rustic varnish brick note (maybe from age) I can see you either like or dislike. But with so much going on I can’t complain, I just sit on the porch and enjoy the Thomas ride.

I read somewhere where John mentioned his wines are best consumed around the 10 year mark. 11 years here, pretty spot on. Yet, I can still see this incredible vintage improving for another 5 years or so.

Thanks for the note, Jason. I have a loner of this that I was just looking at yesterday. Sounds like it may be prime time.

Great note. Lots of Thomas mentions on the board lately and notes like this will likely increase those mentions.

Shhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Thanks for the update. My last taste was at the July 2015 Post-IPNC group tasting. Post-IPNC Oregon Pinot Noir Blind Tasting, 2008 Vintage, 7/27/15 - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers

It was lackluster, IMHO, compared to the overall lineup…which was pretty strong. Probably time to check-in again soon…although the cognoscenti seem to recommend patience with higher tier 08s.

RT

Seems very advanced for what has, for the most part, been a stubborn and unyielding vintage. Interesting.

His 2002 and 2008 are my favorites.

Had the 2005 and 2012 last night in a double blind tasting of 20 Oregon pinots.

2005 very fresh and flawless and it tasted very familiar, but lacked extra complexity eg leather so I thought it was Stephen Goff. Retastingb
it after the unveiling I still didn’t find anything Thomas like (tertiary).
The 2012 I thought was Thomas because it had the dullness that comes after the spritz of secondary fermentation and I said so before the unveiling. Otherwise outstanding and complex, too bad.

I thought we had agreed not to post positive notes or for that matter any un-coded descriptors so the general public won’t discover the wine until we’ve worn it out?

Just opened the 2012 after the secondary fermentation marred 2012 described above. Beautiful and fresh and complex but it needs time for the gentle oak to integrate. Big but perfectly balanced. Wait five years.

Sounds a lot like the 2015 I had a couple of days ago. I wouldn’t quite say “big”, but not delicate.

I don’t know. This seems spot on for Thomas in my experience. I love the new-baby father’s-shoes descriptions.

I may be wrong, but I don’t think he uses a lot of new oak. Amazingly, this is how his stuff tastes. It’s very distinctive and polarizes the crowd.