2012 Bob Wood Memorial Pinot Noir Throwdown Tasting Notes

Look for tasting notes from attendees in the coming days.

If you would like to explore the wines tasted today at Archery Summit, check out our event presentation on SlideShare. A special thanks to Ian Burch and the team at Archery Summit for their wonderful hospitality. And to Paul Willenberg for pitching in with flight design and emceeing the event today.

Vineyard details were mostly sourced from EveryVine, winery/vineyard websites, and in a few cases industry articles and Wikipedia.

Next year we will be holding the 10th annual Throwdown at Cristom in the Eola-Hills. As always the Monday immediately following IPNC.

-Steve

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For those new to the Throwdown you can follow our history here.

1st Annual - The shitty 2007 vintage retrospective, August 1st, 2011 held at Patty Green hosted by Jim Anderson
The thread that started it all. The Bob Wood (RIP) defense of the 2007 vintage.
Another Shitty '07 Oregon Pinot Noir

2nd Annual - 2005 vintage retrospective, July 30th 2012 held at Biggio Hamina hosted by Todd Hamina
Post IPNC Oregon 2005 Tasting

3rd Annual - 2004 vintage retrospective, July 29th 2013 held at Matello hosted by Marcus Goodfellow
2013 Post IPNC Tasting of 2004 OR Pinot at Matello

4th Annual - 2002 vintage retrospective, July 28th 2014 held at Björnson Vineyard hosted by John Grochau
Post IPNC 2002 Oregon Pinot Noir Throwdown! Björnson Vineyard, Eola-Hills July 28th

5th Annual - 2008 vintage retrospective, July 27th 2015 held at Walter Scott hosted by Andy Steinman
Post-IPNC Oregon Pinot Noir Blind Tasting, 2008 Vintage, 7/27/15

6th Annual - 2010 vintage retrospective, August 1st 2016 held at Scott Paul hosted by Ian Burch
Post-IPNC Oregon Pinot Noir Blind Tasting, 2010 Vintage, 8/01/16

7th Annual - 2011 vintage retrospective, July 31st 2017 held at Anne Amie hosted by Thomas Houseman
Post-IPNC Oregon Pinot Noir Blind Tasting, 2010 Vintage, 7/31/17

8th Annual - Revisit the 2007 vintage, July 31st 2017 held at Lingua Franca hosted by Thomas Savre
8th Annual Post-IPNC Bob Wood Memorial Throwdown, July 30th 2018, Salem OR

9th Annual - (2012 vintage) This thread - Hosted by Ian Burch at Archery Summit Winery, Dayton OR

Future Throwdown Planning

10th Annual - (vintage TBD) - July 27th, 2020 - Hosted by Gaironn Poole at Cristom Vineyards, Salem OR

11th Annual - (vintage TBD) - July 26th, 2021 - Hosted by Todd Stewart at Elk Cove Vineyards, Gaston OR

Hi Steve,

Sorry again that I was unable to attend today-I hope that it was an excellent tasting as is tradition!

What is the password for your Slideshare link? Anxious to see the pix/notes!

Thanks!

Mark

I just turned off the password requirement. Didn’t intend for that to be enabled.

Thanks Steve- the link is now working. That flight with the three Annie Amie wines must have been especially interesting. Also, it is my understanding that Andy Humphrey was the vineyard manager for Weber in 2012- no?

Can’t wait to see some tasting notes!

Best,

Mark

Wow. 1) I had no idea this was an annual thing - how freakin’ cool! 2) I also didn’t know that the original ‘another shitty’ phrase came from none other than one of the best Pinots from the US, Belle Pente Murto. Amazing.

All wines 2012, pinot noir, Willamette Valley appellation (or nested AVA), tasted blind with reveal at the end of each flight. Each flight had a theme, so not random.

All notes my own numb, very unskilled palate after tasting about 500 wines at IPNC and averaging three hours sleep over the past four nights, so take them with a grain of salt and definitely do not use them for your purchasing decisions. (I take no responsibility.)

We had some beautiful Champers and other wines during the warm-up. I didn’t take any notes on those. I normally don’t take notes when I taste because I find it detracts from the joy, but I always take notes at these throwdowns.

Flight One
A nice flight to start the day

Goodfellow Whistling Ridge - Classic Oregon nose, ruby red color, nice texture, cherry pastille, loong finish with notes of earth and coffee **
Goodfellow Whistling Ridge Heritage - Fresh nose, hint of eucalyptus, lighter body, whisper of sherry/soy sauce but very subtle, nice grippiness **1/2
Art & Science Armstrong Vineyard - Stewed plums on the nose, deep garnet color, a bit flat on the mid-palate with some slight bitter notes on the finish **
Seven of Hearts Armstrong Vineyard - A bit quiet on the nose, some coffee, not alot of fruit, a bit soapy (whole cluster?), nice grip, some nice freshness on the finish (again, wc?)
Seven of Hearts Curmudgeon Cuvee (100 pct whole cluster, 2 neutral barrels) - Nose seemed a bit tired with a hint of heat, but really nice attack, wet stone texture (wc?), much prettier than it smells **1/2
Flight Two
A really, really nice flight

Grochau Bjornson Vineyard - Floral nose, with a hint of orange peel, nice raspberry and red fruit, cherries, tea, broad, expansive on the palate ***
Seven of Hearts Bjornson Vineyard - Fresh stemmy nose (exhibits some whole cluster) citrus notes, wet stone, nice texture with a fresh finish ***
St Innocent Temperance Hill - Floral nose, a bit of oak on the nose, coffee and oak on the palate mask some of the fruit, nice grip **1/2
Walter Scott Temperance Hill - Gentle nose, a bit muted, nice texture, round and fleshy on the palate with pleasant cranberry notes ***
Vincent Bjornson - Not my favorite … deep purple color, stewed prune on the nose and palate, riiiipe, a bit flabby, oak notes, some grip helps to balance and redeem it *1/2

Flight Three
A wild ride

Anne Amie - Anne Amie Vineyard Cube Series - Expressive nose with exuberant fruit, rich, red fruit, cherry pastille, pleasant grip, really nice texture (note: closed under screwcap)***1/2
Bouchaine - Anne Amie Vineyard Cube Series - Nose is a bit off, a bit bitter and tight, a touch too grippy (even for me), decent-ish *
Lincourt - Anne Amie Vineyard Cube Series - High-toned floral notes on the nose, a bit flat on the tongue, but pleasant flavors ***
Shea Vineyard - Classic Oregon nose, but a lot of bitterness on the attack. Ripe in an unpleasant way *1/2
Belle Pente Reserve (from magnum) - Pretty nose with lavender and rose petal, deep purple color, big oak, big fruit, big, huuuge … but pleasant ***

Flight Four
A good flight, but not great for me

Walter Scott Dumb Ox - Pretty nose, roses and a hint of oak and hibiscus, nice grip, good finish - very fresh and pretty **1/2
Medici Vineyard - flawed
Bethel Heights Casteel - smells like whole cluster (cue guitar riff), very fresh and broad with a whisper of bitter green notes and a touch of sourness that is actually kind of pleasant, Complex, could age longer for sure. **1/2
Longplay Lia’s Vineyard Jory Bench Reserve - Pretty nose, a bit green in spots, black tea, nice fruit, some breadth but not much focus, nice finish **1/2 (Full disclosure, my wine)
Beckham Estate Sophia - Big grippy and rich on the palate. A bit extracted but with some nice citrus peel notes **

Flight Five
Pretty Classy Stuff - Worden Hill Road

Alexana Revana - Cherry compote on the nose and palate. Bigger, kind of simple **1/2
Scott Paul La Paulee - pretty, bright, refreshing. Very pleasant fruit and texture. (note: screw cap) ***1/2
Scott Paul Audrey - Pretty, fresh, but a bit too sweet and lacking in texture, no tannin, veering toward fruit juice rather than wine **
Arterberry Maresh, Maresh Vineyard - exhibits characteristics of whole cluster, a bit alkaline, but very pretty red fruit and nice texture and freshness ***1/2
Arterberry Maresh Weber Vineyard - Fresh on the nose and palate, a bit of oak, coffee, getting in the way of the fruit, oak grip, nice wine ***

Flight Six
Another up and down flight

Johan Nils - High toned fruit on the nose, really nice texture, nice finish ***
Johan 3 barrel - Pretty, floral nose, but a bit flat. Not much there for me. *1/2
Vincent Crowley Station (Silvershot) - “The good brett” - strawberry preserves, looong finish, a bit hot (volatile? perhaps decant), very nice ***
Cristom Louise - Big EA on the nose, a bit of tomato & tomato leaf on the palate, bitter notes on the finish, can’t get past the nose which doesn’t go away *
Cristom Sommers Reserve - Tight nose, choco-coffee, got a whole lotta oak, high impact oak, oak grip *1/2 (note: oak was 53%)
(Note: normally a huge fan of Cristom so not sure what happened here)


Flight Seven
Oh boy … I usually love these wines, but …

Westry Oracle Vineyard - Floral nose but nothing there except a glass of astringency 1/2
Westry Abbey Ridge Vineyard - Brett and coffee on the nose, but a step up *
Cameron Abbey Ridge - Nasty nose (the bad brett?), not so bad on the palate, but still a chore to drink 1/2
Cameron Reserve - Rough on the nose, rough on the palate and rough on the finish 1/2
Archery Summit Arcus Vineyard - A bit poopy on toasty oak, not much fruit, hint of bitterness *
(Note after this flight I went and revisited some of the wines from the earlier flights to check if my palate was completely off, but the earlier wines actually tasted better with a bit of air.)

Again, I almost never publish my notes because I don’t take good notes and I’m not good at it. My stars were probably influenced by the flight and the food between flights.

DEFINITELY have to reference this thread next BerserkerDay, as there are quite a few producers represented here who sell that day! People always want notes…this is a perfect opportunity, given it’s a bit of a comparative with so many options

I think it was St Innocent Montazi that started the “another shitty Oregon vintage” thread, not BP Murto.

The tasting awesome and humbling as usual. Convinced me 2012 wasn’t the awesome vintage that was hyped.

No? I am lucky enough to be sitting with the remnants of the Walter Scott Temperance Hill and the Goodfellow Heritage wines. Both are in great shape and are really drinking well now.

I’d love to know a bit more about where the wines as a vintage fell short? (Sorry to put you on the spot, but inquisitive minds want to know more).

To be fair, I really dislike the heavy hype of a “great” vintage. It’s usually well beyond
any actual difference and too often gets attached to fruit forward years. But I also think the well made 2012s crafted by winemakers with an eye to balance should be beautiful wines around the 10 year mark. The two I tried tonight both seem like that’s the trajectory I would expect? The Temperance Hill from Walter Scott is delicious, like silk with layered fruit and soft tannins(especially for Temperance), plush without overplaying it, and with a “just right” feel to the acidity.

The Heritage, we’ve poured at a recent dinner and Megan brought it today. While one of the bottles sent today had a touch of an oxidative note on opening, I am not getting any here, and the bottles at the dinner spent 3 hours in a decanter to be palatable but still young. I think Chas Stiltner had the wine both times, so hopefully he can also add to how the wine differed between the two events?

Sorry to sit out another one. The quality of the people and their generosity are unsurpassed. I miss you guys!

That said, 2012 was not a favorite vintage of mine.

There are a number of Winemakers who’s style preferences, experience and execution continue to impress me. Every year a few more pop up…and this Post-IPNC annual tasting always dishes up unexpected surprises.

Many producers rise to meet the challenges of warm vintages. Yet overall, a vintage like 2012 is generally going be “plush”, especially on the heels of 2011. Balancing these wines with “just right” acidity is no small feat. Always fun to challenge preconceptions…which is exactly what happens at this tasting every year.

Pinot is a moving target. Very enjoyable and educational to follow up with them along their aging curve.

Steven, nicely done helping to coordinate yet another Throwdown.

A la prochaine.

RT

Always nice to hear from you Rich, and sorry not to see you on the list of attendees.

My use of plush wasn’t intended to evoke the idea of an overstuffed chair, or the type of thickness that hot vintage PN can achieve. Rather an effortless-ness that comes with silk as a fabric. Both wines last night were excellent for their balance and expressiveness.

While the wines at the 2011 Berserker tasting reminded me of cool Loire valley-esque wines, the two 2012s last night were every bit as good. The Walter Scott was sleek, nuanced, and showed the delicious balance that makes their wines so popular. As the Heritage opened up over time, it reminded me of a baby Clos de Lambrays. And I was pretty happy with that. Neither was stewed, fat, or alcoholic.

Pleasure to participate, thanks again for including me. Almost all examples were in tact and worthy examples (Medici was flawed), 12 being a very dry vintage of exceptionally clean fruit. Some wines delivered nuance and subtlety, but many were still fruit driven, on the richer/sweeter side for OR. Generally speaking, wines that are only approaching the next phase/chapter of their aging potential.

Flight 1 (Ribbon Ridge) .
-GoodFellow Whistling Ridge: slightly developed color, dried fruit, flower petal, very elegant palate. Lovely style. My best of flight
-Goodfellow Heritage #1 (Whistling Ridge): Good focus, edge of sour and some alcohol in nose. Bigger wine, more mature fruit, very integrated oak tannin
-Art and Science Armstrong Vnyd: Sweet Fruit, Cakey, oak above wine. Yogurty. Nice palate weight, sweet core–redder fruits. Elegant tannins, nice balance overall
-Seven of Hearts Armstrong: Lifted VA, microbial edge, orance peel, lacking focus. Better palate, round, darker fruit, falls off a bit. Feels “corrected”
-Seven of Hearts Armstrong “Curmudgeon Cuvee”: blueberry, ripe strawberries, crushed ripe berries in general–jammy to an extent. Okay balance on palate but some heat toward the back. Tannin still unresolved, but at 100% WC still a youthful example

Flight 2 (Eola-Amity)–In general one of two top flights
-Grochau Bjornson Vnyd: slight boozy, very spiced, some cinnamon, red fruit, laffy taffy, Silky mid palate, great tannin integration. Sweet Fruited but restrained and fresh
-Seven of Hearts Bjornson Vnyd:Fresh cut, marmalade, decent power, straw, dried earth, very pretty fruit profile. Great overall balance. high marks
-St. Innocent Temperance Hill Vnyd: Funky, deep, wide fruit array, very ripe fruit tone. Well balance, but round and rich. Sweet Fruited
-Walter Scott Temperance Hill Vnyd: Subtle oak and a touch thin in nose. Nice juiciness, medium weight. Good grip toward back, very persistent finish. High marks
-Vincent Bjornson: Chalky, fat, ripe, high VA, feels warm. Grippy and sappy. Hot.

Flight 3 (Yamhill Carlton)
-Anne Amie Block 7.1 (Cube): Lushy Fruit, candied, very sweet toned, strong tannins on attack, finishes with some heat and substantial grip–sweet.
-Bouchaine Anne Amie B7.1: Burnt, edge or Reduction or something else? Plastic like tone–falls off on palate, finishes with very little
-Lincourt Anne Amie B7.1: Almost tropical, reductive, meaty, earthy. Plenty of wood, round and generous but good precision. Dirty nose in a good way
-Shea Shea: Tired, odd, opens withg lots of palate oak, not much wine underneath. Hot dog (aromas).
-Belle Pente Reserve: heat, oak. Took a while for any fruit to push through the oak. This was the most oak dominated wine I tasted, but still quite youthful so time should allow for the other components in this wine to shine (I hope).

Flight #4 (EAH and Chehalem—Maybe all Volcanic? Although Dumb Ox may be low enough in Eola Springs it is on Willakenzie).
-Walter Scott “Dumb OX” Eola Springs Vnyd: Lovely perfume, spicy, dark edged. Very Oregon tone
-Medici Estate: flawed bottles. Ketchup, pickles
-Bethel Heights Casteel: I think this wine had low level TCA. Still lots of quality aspects on palate
-Long Play Lia’s: Pretty, good focus and drive, sweet fruit, good acid balance. Disjointed a bit toward the back, unravelled in an odd way, but complex and tightly coiled. I thought high WC % but it was in fact zero.
-Beckham 115 : Really pretty, red, menthol/tea leaf. Nice sweet core, very round and generous but good balance

Flight #5 (Dundee Hills except Paulee had other sites blended) . These are all mostly crowd pleasers–the other top flight for me
-Alexana Estate: OR nose, black and red fruit, good power. Smoked meat, some prickliness toward the back, a bit disjointed palate/oak balance.
-Scott Paul Paulee: open, pretty, strawberry, red fruit generally. Lovely, “natural” feel on palate. A touch hot, but good persistence on finish . high marks
-Scott Paul Audrey Maresh Vnyd: Salinity, mineral edge, reductive, lovely weight, energy, movement, like the balance. Persistent, some subtlety!
-Arterberry Maresh Maresh: Great focus of fruit, purity. Very OR Dundee. Lovely curve. Very elegant, “not over the top, but all the way to the brim!” high marks
-Arterberry Weber: Very similar to #4, chalkier body, decent dimension. A bit more muscle but quite like the Maresh.

Flight #6 (Polk County!)
-Johan Nils: fresh, good “up”, very red, well integrated, youthful and fresh, good wine. High marks
-Johan 3 barrel: high pH, more open, nice juicy, round attack, finishes with some energy. Better palate than nose
-Vincent Silvershot: Dark, smoked meat, saline, Gartner’s Country Meat Market, high pH, stewy fruit. worcestershire sauce
-Cristom Louise–EA, nail polish. Could not get past. Ok palate, acid disjointed.
-Cristom Sommers: Ripe, chalky, lushy fruit, some VA. Falls apart, heat.

Flight #7 (Dundee)
-Westrey Oracle: dried Nebbiolo? Rich and ripe but seems Piedmonte.
-Westrey Abbey Ridge: Red Fruit, slightly jammy, lushy but juicy and generous
-Cameron Abbey Ridge: Reductive and high tones. Lovely palate weigh
-Cameron “Reserve”: Spicey, sweaty, more finesse. Elegant tannin and weight
-Archery Summit Arcus: Sulfides but I like it. Fat and lactone, but dense and dirty also

My personal standouts no particular order: GoodFellow Whistling Ridge, Seven of Hearts Bjornson, Walter Scott Temperance, Beckham Estate, Scott Paul “Paulee”, Arterberry Maresh Maresh, Johan Nils

I’ll add some more notes later this evening hopefully but here’s a high-level overview of my thoughts:

The 2012 vintage has yet to peak my interest. There were only a handful of wines that I’d want in my cellar. That’s not to say that these wines won’t come around and be beautiful in 5-10 years, but as of now they’re too fruit forward and alcohol driven.

Flight 2 - Great start here, I really liked both Goodfellow and found the contrast between 1.1 and 1.2 very interesting.

WOTF - Goodfellow Whistling Ridge Heritage - Great structure, while still being nimble. Lovely bright red fruits, mixed in with umami. Lovely long finish as well.

Flight 2 - Another great flight here and very fun to see the comparisons for specific vineyards

WOTF - Walter Scott Temperance Hill - On the first pass, I wasn’t that excited about this wine, but after 10 minutes, it started to open up in the glass more and showed serious promise. Lots of red fruits again, with hints of whole cluster? This wine seemed to have a lot of built up tension and I’m curious to see where it goes in a few years.

Flight 3 - This was also VERY fun! Hopefully someone can explain the Cube project better than I can, essentially three different winemakers produced the exact same bottling using same fruit picked on the same day. It’s always fun to see what different winemaking does to the juice.

WOTF - Anne Amie - Anne Amie Vineyard Cube Series

I really liked how much tension was in this wine. Learning that it was under screw cap made sense. Loads of expressive fruit that still felt wound up but was getting better by the minute. Loads of structure while still being in balance.

Flight 4 -

This flight had a lot more diversity and not necessarily in a good way. I REALLY loved these two:

Bethel Heights Casteel - BIG nose, allspice, clove, reminds me a bit of Cristom and had a delayed bitter finish (presumably from stems). There’s ample red and black fruits to compliment the green notes that come through. This will be really pretty in 5 years.
Beckham Estate - Sophia’s - VERY BRIGHT, high-toned fruits. It reminded me of candied cherries/raspberries with some spice that’s hard to pinpoint. Almost hibiscus/black tea like. The nose almost leads you to believe the palate will be really delicate and almost thin, but it has ample fruit and structure on the nose. I think it’s in a lovely place right now and curious to try it in a few more years.

Flight 5 - By far my favorite flight of the tasting. Everything showed really nice balance and finesse considering the bigger vintage.

WOTF - Scott Paul La Paulee (This might have been my wine of the tasting) - I thought this was so pretty, delicate and not really representing a “bigger” vintage in a good way. This was everything I’d hope a pinot to be for my palate. Delicate red fruits, with subtle spice while still having nice weight to it on the body. The acid really continued to lift this wine up. Everything was in perfect balance here for me. Lovely lovely wine.

Flight 6 - Three of my favorite producers but I didn’t care for this flight as much.

WOTF - Johan Nils - I normally LOVE this bottling but this was not all there for me. I got a bit of orange pith, spice and cherries on the nose, with a nice round mouth feel. Well structured wine, but just not as interesting as I know this wine can be. Still a nice wine though.

Vincent was a close second here but the “Sexy Brett” was just enough to distract me from picking up the fruit. I have a lower tolerance than most for brett so don’t take my aversion as a bad thing. I think this wine showed nice structure and had hints of great fruit under it.

I think I have more Cristom in my cellar than any other Oregon producer and I didn’t care for either of these. I don’t know if they’re just in an awkward place or what? Luckily I don’t have a 2012.

Flight 7 - Oh dear

I didn’t care for any of these wines at all.

Piqued my interest

Piqued my interest

Piqued my interest!!!

Off to the curmudgeon thread…

First, I would like to thank the hosts of this event for so kindly including me. I have been focused on Chardonnay these past few years, so for me this was a great perspective on vintage, style, and aging of Pinot Noir given my recent purchase of an Eola vineyard with Pinot. I focused my tasting on the more notable aromatics and palate flavors for ID profiling, not as much on quality level or preferences on style/AVA/geology. That said, I have indicated my preferred wines wine an asterisk. Ultimately - the svelte complexity of the wines from the Dundee Hills is marked. At times I confused Yamhill-Carlton initially due to what I perceived to be a monolithic flight, but in Y-C the acid and oak do not headline as prevalently, and were not as high-sparkle polished. Ribbon Ridge seems to provide more space (less density) and less spice than Dundee. For me, bright salinity and spice definitely be more prevalent in EAH and Polk County, but with varying tannin textures/loads and spice profiles. Thank you again!


Flight 1 – Ribbon Ridge

Wine 1: Goodfellow, Whistling Ridge*
Aroma: Salinity, floral, savory ham and seaweed (noting some browning)
Palate: Warm with slightly grippy earthy tannin, but freshness and acid balance.

Wine 2: Goodfellow, Heritage Whistling Ridge*
Aroma: Dusty, cherry lozenge, ripe, oak
Palate: Warm alcohol, ellagitannin apparent in texture, finishes nicely at front of palate.

Wine 3: Art + Science Armstrong
Aroma: Stony, orange peel, bright cherry, oak.
Palate: Luscious acid, stony, long finish, slightly warm (alc.), but otherwise balanced.

Wine 4: Seven of Hearts Armstrong
Aroma: Cola, licorice, balsamic.
Palate: Rich, herb/dried rose petal. Warm alc., big but short finish.

Wine 5: Seven of Hearts Cuvee
Aroma: Muted, airy, saline but ripe.
Palate: Spacious, slight bitter – needs more time to settle down.


Flight 2: Greater Density overall – Eola Amity

Wine 6: Grochau Bjornson*
Aromas: Umami, soy, spice.
Palate: Full, warming alc, front palate tannin descends into a good finish. Interesting wine.

Wine 7: Seven of Hearts Bjornson*
Aroma: Light Soy, herbaceous, saline, elegant pretty aromatic profile for me.
Palate: Light entry, saline , bright acid, front to mid palate tannin. Palate delivers on promise of aromatics.

Wine 8: St. Innocent Temperance Hill
Aroma: Oak, vanilla, ripe, heavy.
Palate: Oak, vanilla, cherry lozenge, long finish, as expected.

Wine 9: Walter Scott Temperance Hill*
Aroma: Mint, river rock, slender aromatics.
Palate: Mid-warmth, with lean crunchy palate acidity and long finish, slender wine style consistent with aromatics.

Wine 10: Vincent Bjornson
Aroma: Glass issue? (River rock slime funk).
Palate: Ripe, grippy


Flight 3: Yamhill Carlton.

Wine 11: Anne Amie Cube*
Aroma: Toast, smoke, meats, mint, eucalyptus.
Palate: Intense, dense, candied, warm, complex with notable grip on exit.

Wine 12: Bouchaine/Anne Amie Cube
Aroma: Hot red brick.
Palate: Intense, dense, warm and grippy.

Wine 13: Lincourt/Anne Amie Cube
Aroma: Vinous cherry, warm alc, dense, monolithic.
Palate: High acid and alc apparent.

Wine 14: Shea
Aroma: Light cherry and oak.
Palate: Loose palate resulting in a feeling that the wine will never resolve itself. Has harsh texture and space but they are just not working together as they theoretically should be.

Wine 15: Belle Pente
Aroma: Slime, river rock again > bad glass > glass change.
Palate: Oak notable, heat notable, texturally not integrated.


Flight 4: Mixed

Wine 16: Walter Scott Dumb Ox (Eola Springs)*
Aroma: Bright, saline, spicy > bay leaf and floral notes.
Palate: Loose, good acid balance, lean, focused palate (well structured).

Wine 17: Medici
Aroma: Oxidized, prune funk.
Palate: Did not taste.

Wine 18: Bethel Heights Casteel*
Aroma: Gingerbread (Sojo?) – dense, slight paper/cardboard scalping.
Palate: Tannin load is marked, slightly bitter.
*I liked this wine because I’m trying to needle down on what is similar to my site (Bracken), neighboring Sojo, and other sites in EAH on similar geology. Our geo shows some of those pie spices v. the Dumb Ox went more leafy bay spice and floral. Looking to see if I can find other correlating wines.

Wine 19: Longplay Jory Bench*
Aroma: Vinous, spicy, pretty.
Palate: Tight, silky tannin, luscious acid level.

Wine 20: Beckham Estate*
Aroma: Stony and fresh.
Palate: Raspberry leaf and rasbberry v. cherry fruit made this wine an outlier on the fruit profile, warm alc, slightly bitter finish > high/warm location? (ultimately I think we were told these were also younger vines).


Flight 5: Dundee Hills

Wine 21: Alexana*
Aroma: Svelte, some dark umami aromatics.
Palate: Dense, cocoa powder, liqueur, meat, monolithic. This is a nuclear shelter wine. It’s going to take some time for things to soften and shake out.

Wine 22: Scott Paul Paulee*
Aroma: Violet, pretty floral nose.
Palate: Dense, hot, cherry cough syrup. Really interesting juxtaposition of aroma/body.

Wine 23: Scott Paul Audrey*
Aroma: Iris, pretty floral nose once again.
Palate: Seaweed freshness, red apple peel/firm but fine tannin.

Wine 24: Arterberrry Maresh*
Aroma: Dense.
Palate: Dense, floral, fruit, spice, coconut, red plum. Full package.

Wine 25: Arterberry Maresh Weber*
Aroma: Dust, stone.
Palate: Stoney, lush acid, bright fruit.


Group 6: EAH and Van Duzer

Wine 26: Johan Nils*
Aroma: Stone dust.
Palate: Light fresh fruit but also some spice, appealing mouth feel and exit.

Wine 27: Johan 3 Barrel
Aroma: Bright, rubber.
Palate: A bit fleshy.

Wine 28: Vincent Crowley Station/Silvershot
Aroma: Brett. Figgy, stewed, baked, basalmic – but not offensively so.
Palate: Also fleshy, but cooked fruit character.

Wine 29: Cristom Louise
Aroma: Flawed / EA.
Palate: Flawed – did not taste.

Wine 30: Cristom Sommers
Aroma: VA lifted.
Palate: Oak and Bitterness.


Flight 7: Dundee Hills

Wine 31: Westerly Oracle
Aroma: Bright, light, milk chocolate, hot, oak.
Palate: Elegant but hot.

Wine 32: Westerly Abbey Ridge
Aroma: Ripe red fruit but some aroma of pickle juice, dill.
Palate: Bright acid, good texture to fruit.

Wine 33: Cameron Abbey Ridge
Aroma: Reductive.
Palate: Acid is awkward, did not revisit.

Wine 34: Cameron Reserve
Aroma: Reductive, dill pickle
Palate: Warm, did not revisit.

Wine 35: Archery Summit
Aroma: Soy, umami.
Palate: Ellagitannin, black tea, cardamom grip.

Ok, here are my notes, warts and all. Overall some lovely wines, more than I expected. But many including my Bjornson are just too marked by the hot dry winds at harvest. 2012 wasn’t a hot growing season, it was slightly “behind schedule” throughout the summer, but east winds at the end of September into early October changed things in a hurry. Lots of dehydration and I think heavy adjustments in many cellars. The jangly acid in several wines helped the balance but seemed generally out of step with the fruit profile. Some wines were assertively hot. I remember really feeling like I should have picked some things earlier, much like that feeling of taking the meat off the grill a minute or even two too late. But still we ate well.

2012 Vintage smack down

Flight 1

1. Goodfellow Whistling Ridge
   Pretty red fruits, cherries, soft aroma
   Soft texture, powdery acid, pretty wan but flavory and gentle

2. Goodfellow Heritage 1 Whistling Ridge
   Similar ruddy look and aroma, forest notes, mixed fruits, wood,
   Finely tannic, bit jangly acid, tart red fruits, better aromatically but nice

3. Art + Science Armstrong
   Darker color
   Bit stewed, vegetal note, seemed more extracted
   Intense jammy fruit, seems hot, tart acid, better on retaste

4. Seven of Hearts Armstrong
   Red fruits, more delicate presentation
   Cool well knit finely tannic, gently gripping wine,

5. Seven of Hearts Curmudgeon Cuvée
   Spicy pretty red fruits, similar to the last
   Sweet red fruit with some green, ripe unripe, jangly and a bit vegetal

Flight 2

1. Grochau Bjornson
   Deep color in this flight
   Minty sappy aroma
   Like old CA Pinot, hot and intense, candied cinnamon red fruit, soft slightly powdery texture, finishes hot

2. Seven of Hearts Bjornson
   Pretty deep red fruits, more dimension or lift if not terribly complex
   Pretty enough, one bottle was corked so a light pour

3. St innocent Temperance Hill
   Deep fruit, smells like Bjornson, bit vegetal
   CA like bit syrupy jangly red raspberries, not as hot as 1.

4. Walter Scott Temperance Hill
   Very raspberry, cola
   More rhubarb in the mouth, I like this for its elegance, for the vintage/flight

5. Vincent Bjornson
   Dense hard to read
   Bit advanced, prune just starting to creep in to the big deep fruit and shoe polish darkness, some heat, eh, now I’m thinking my Bjornson, there was too much wood on 3 to be mine

Flight 3

1. Anne Amie Block 7.1 Cube Project
   Ruby port, candied fruits, fresh nuts and spice
   Light ruby port sweet berry fruit, mouth filling fruit, just so nut and tobacco sweet fruited. No water back on this.

2. Bouchaine Block 7.1 Cube Project Anne Amie vineyard
   Pretty red fruit,
   Finely tannic, super grippy mineral, reductive

3. Lincourt winemaker Leslie Renaud, Same Fruit as 1 and 2
   Cinnamon red fruits
   Strawberry, good energy but tart finish, I like the relative delicacy here.

4. Shea Estate
   Nicely fresh and delineated aroma, toasty, fruit and spice notes
   Fancy wine, worsted sweet, wooden strawberry fruit, finely tannic, this is good “fancy” wine.

5. Belle Pente Reserve
   Dense but not too much so, ripe red fruits
   Bit volatile and loose in the mouth, good texture but just a little VA marked,

Flight 4

1. Walter Scott Dumb Ox
   Pretty, spice integrates into red fruits
   Sweet fruit, candied, some spice

2. Medici
   Some green dill like notes, aldehydes
   Oxidized, bit raisiny, not dead but clearly off

3. Bethel Heights Casteel
   Pretty red fruits, classic
   Very suave, finely tannic texture, classic oregon Pinot

4. Lia’s Jory Bench
   Lighter color
   Broader aroma, touch of va though
   Broad red fruit flavor, lovely red fruits, gentle but nice

5. Beckham Chehalem Mountain
   Raspberry jelly doughnut, butter milk, smells like my Lemelson barrels
   Cola, charry red fruit, definitely marked by the vintage

Flight 5

1. Alexana Estate Revanna
   Deep raspberry aroma, some port notes, nuts, ham smells
   Dense nuts and thick fruit, a bit hot, minty, very ripe profile

2. Scott Paul La Paulee mix of soil types, more Maresh
   Deep raspberry, touch green olive aldehyde, I cleaned this glass out from last flight though
   Powdery deep fruit, tart acid, hmm

3. Scott Paul Audrey All Maresh
   Gentle broad pretty wine if lacking great focus
   Redder, bit cola, broad soft but fine textured, good wine

4. Arterberry Maresh Maresh Vineyard
   Smells a little advanced, not sure what to make of this
   Some greenness, whole cluster?

5. Arterberry Maresh Weber
   Bit brushy greenish note,
   Rich touch of VA flavor, wide profile, grippy tannin, heavy and dense, almost cab franc like

Flight 6

1. Johan Nils Reserve
   Lemelson like toast, suave red fruit
   Lovely delicate wine

2. Johan Three Barrel
   Muted, looks a bit older but smells closed
   Seems a bit older but good, beet root, classic Pinot

3. Vincent Crowley Station
   Wild, sweet berry fruit, seems familiar
   Lovely resolution in the mouth, leesy, Christmas spice, I like. People thought it was bretty, maybe a little but I loved it. [editor - House palate!!]

4. Cristom Louise
   Broad aroma, some VA
   Lovely broad savory red fruit, more VA poking out, good though

5. Cristom Somers Reserve
   Similar aroma
   Broad red fruit, lovely middle with fine tannin and length, good!

Flight 7

1. Westry Oracle
   Stalky intense cherry raspberry, peppery
   Kind of loose? some volatility, then a nice gun flint, white pepper, tighter finish, I ended up really liking this

2. Westry Abbey Ridge
   Powdery red fruit
   Lovely texture but a bit reduced. Gentle and lovely.

3. Cameron Abbey Ridge
   Reductive and intense
   Nice dark berry fruit, nice texture, denser than 1 or 2, good wine

4. Cameron Reserve
   Reduced, smells reduced Chardonnay
   Tastes reductive, eh, is this Cameron?

5. Archery Summit Arcus
   Black cherry, intense
   Intense cherry, sappy oak, like a rich cake that didn’t rise, a bit over the top, fancy wine for sure but not my thing

Interesting notes, especially as I don’t think I’ve drank any 2012s since release. Think I’ll continue to sit on mine, not that I have much. Went deep in 2013.

Curious that PGC was not included, esp considering the high praise Jim had for the vintage upon release.

The 2012 vintage isn’t one of my favorites. Regardless, tasting a broad selection of wines selected by attendees, mostly from their personal cellars, was a lot of fun. There were a few duds here and there, along with a few surprises. Paul Willenberg’s fun fresh take on flight design added to the fun.

Flight 1 – Ribbon Ridge

What a great way to start. My wine of the flight was the Seven of Hearts Curmudgeon Cuvee. A gorgeous wine and one I should have had in my personal cellar.

Both of Marcus’s Whistling Ridge wines were right behind the Curmudgeon the first having a nice spicy note and the second a lot depth. The Art & Science Armstrong was pretty tasty too.

Flight 2 – Björnson vs. Temperance Hill.

Another really solid flight. My wine of the flight was the Walter Scott Temperance Hill. My note was one word. “Yummy”. Another attendee highlighted “savory” which is also a great single-word descriptor. The St. Innocent Temperance Hill was a nice wine but didn’t stand out in the flight.

Moving on to the 3 wines from the Björnson vineyard the battle here was between the Vincent and the Seven of Hearts. Vincent’s had outstanding flavors and length. The Seven of Hearts was “pretty” and was more in my personal wheelhouse.

Flight 3 – Yamhill-Carlton

The flight started off with 3 wines from the Cube Project at Anne Amie. All from the same pick from the same vineyard block. It was real proof of how HUGE the impact the individual winemaker can have on the final project. My wine of the flight was as Tom put it… clearly watered back as the tech sheet had the ABV below 13%. But that’s right in my wheelhouse.

Attendee comments on the Shea spoke to it as a luxury Cuvee from one of a handful of producers in the valley. A big lush wine.

Flight 4 – Eola Hills vs. Chehalem Mountains

The clear wine of the flight for me was the Walter Scott Dumb Ox made from mostly own-rooted Pommard planted in the late 70s. (this particular vineyard block succumbed to Phylloxera since and has been replanted).

The Bethel Heights Casteel was another lovely pinot a worth h2h competitor with the Dumb Ox.

Flight 5 – Worden Hill Road

2 of the wines in this flight were screw-capped Scott Paul wines. (For those who may not know Scott Paul Winery closed earlier this year, therefore I won’t be building on my vertical of La Paulée. At least it has more depth than the vertical I had started of St. I Seven Springs 2002-2017).

That said… I have grown frustrated that the Scott Paul wines don’t age fast enough under screwcap. I’m wondering if I should find someone to help me remove the screwcaps and cork the bottles then put them back in the cellar. Has anyone tried that?

Back to wines. My wine of the flight was the Alexana Revana. The tannins need some time to resolve, but this wine was a knockout.

Both Scott Paul’s showed very well enough, but as I noted above development isn’t happening under screwcap. The Audrey (100% Maresh vineyard) was the winner between the Scott Paul’s as it is most years but at twice the price.

I thought the Arterberry-Maresh Maresh Vineyard came off a bit sweet on the palate. The right food pairing would help with that. I preferred the Weber vineyard which had more fun flavors and complexity.

Flight 6 – Salem Whole Cluster

This was an interesting flight as I found several of the wines too big, and one was simply hard to drink, another “too spicy”. Which is a comment I rarely make on an Oregon pinot.

The battle for the wine of the flights came down to the Cristom Sommers Reserve and the Johan Nils. The Sommers Reserve is actually a Willamette Valley blend with grapes sourced from multiple AVAs… So I’ll disqualify it and award wine of the flight to the Nils. Pretty sure I heard a # of others voting up the Nils.

Flight 7 – Dundee Hills

It’s entirely possible my palate was done by the time we got here. Several wines from a vineyard that usually knocks my socks off were meh. (Abbey Ridge). Wine of the flight for me and many of the attendees was the Westry Oracle. This was a lovely expression for a warmer vintage. The Archery Summit Arcus showed well too.

One comment I heard from a few attendees put a few different ways, is that perhaps we should always have a flight that’s made up of wines from the likes of :

Beaux Frères
Brickhouse
Eyrie
Patricia Green
Thomas
…

Note that we had none of these this year!

I had a similar thought, and also with Jim putting 2012 forward as the one of the very best vintages in the Willamette Valley on a thread recently.

Also a bit surprised not to see Evesham Wood or Brickhouse represented.