Week 2 Virtual Tasting Series for Charity - Oregon Wines for Dakin Humane Society (12/4 - 12/11)

Wine: All about Oregon Wines
Sponsor: D@vid Bu3ker
Format:

  • Anything from Oregon.
  • I will pay $5 per posted TN
  • $10 per TN if you post a photo of your pet.

About Dakin Humane Society

Dakin Humane Society is a community supported animal welfare organization that provides shelter, medical care, spay/neuter services, and behavioral rehabilitation for more than 20,000 animals each year. Since its inception in 1969, Dakin has become one of the most recognized nonprofit organizations in the Pioneer Valley and a national leader in animal welfare.

Our Mission
Dakin Humane Society delivers effective, innovative services that improve the lives of animals in need and the people who care about them.

What We Believe
We believe people are good and will make good decisions for animals when they are treated with kindness and understanding, and when they have enough information and resources.

Our Core Values
At Dakin, we have a set of core values that everyone involved with the organization shares and works every day to uphold. They are:

Integrity We hold ourselves to the highest standards of transparency, honesty, and respect in our words and actions.
Compassion We serve all people and animals with open, compassionate hearts and minds.
Optimism We meet challenges with a spirit of enthusiasm and optimism.
Innovation We seek out new ways of doing things and embrace change.
Effectiveness We work in a way that gets results as efficiently as possible.

Drink up for Dakin! It’s where we got these two wonderful boys in 2010.
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2017 Division Winemaking Company Beton - USA, Oregon (12/3/2019)
My personal favorite of the lower priced Division wines, this always reminds me of a refreshing Loire red blend (e.g. the late, lamented Clos Roche Blanche). This bottle is no exception, with crisp red berry, green tobacco and bright acidity. Lovely as always.

Posted from CellarTracker

David, I don’t own much in Oregon wines but I do have this Girardet Seyval Blanc that you gave me an excuse to open. I also owe Marc Girardet an email, as I told him I would give him some honest feedback when I opened it. I’m gonna paste the link to this thread and send to him. Of note, when I visited Girardet with my Dad this past June, I also took a liking to the Baco Noir that they make. It would seem to me that Girardet is kicking out some cool stuff and I may decide to put some more of their craft in my cellar, thanks to you motivating me.

As for the dog, he is a year old now. We brought him home on 12/29 last year and it’s been a year of learning but he is smart as hell and he is definitely teaching me some things about how to train him, as well as manage my own frustrations!

  • 2011 Girardet Seyval Blanc Estate - USA, Oregon, Southern Oregon, Umpqua Valley (12/3/2019)
    This bottle was a gift from Marc Girardet from my visit in June 2019. My Dad and I had made a trip out to the winery to visit, as I was looking to see if they had any more of the 2015 for sale. That vintage for this wine was/is outstanding and while I wasn’t able to buy anymore of the 2015, Marc went into the back of the winery and returned with the 2011 in hand as a gift. It was the very first vintage of Seyval Blanc from the Estate that he had made, and I was fortunate for his kindness. I’ve held onto this bottle of the 2011 and found reason tonight to open it in support of David Bueker’s challenge on Wine Berserkers to talk about Oregon wines. So, what’s here in the 2011? This is beautiful. Aromatically floral, it’s a real gem to smell in the glass. The palate offers a mix of green banana, grapefruit, lemon curd, and the same slate/flint feel of the 2015’s texture. The acidity here in the 2011 resembles the energy of the 2015, with the lemony quality really lifting the wine, alongside a bit of honeysuckle. What a treat to drink this, and knowing how it’s showing tonight, I wonder if I can track down some more and pour it blind for our wine group. Frigging awesome.

Posted from CellarTracker


That’s one pretty pooch. Thanks for participating Frank!

Continuing the Goodfellow theme from last week’s Pinot Noir thread. Went with the sister wine tonight.

2017 Goodfellow Whistling Ridge pinot noir

Delicate and subtle, but mid weight still. The wine feels like it’s floating in my mouth, not an ounce of heaviness. There’s still plenty of flavor though - I’m a little lost for words, but cherry seems to be the predominant fruit, along with some slight medicinal notes. Medium acid and low to medium tannin, certainly less than the Durant.

Interestingly this year I’ve preferred Durant Chard and Whistling Ridge Pinot, at least when drank young.

“Pet” belongs to my 9mo old now, but we got him from the California wolf center when we visited a few years ago.
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I’m in!

TN: 2016 Loop de Loop, Four Winds Vineyard Pinot Noir-clear garnet color. Youthful aromatics, pie cherries, cherry stones, a hint of lilacs and sea water. From the new school of Willamette Valley producers, this is light to medium bodied, more linear than plush. An array of red fruits, more cherry and raspberry, with a hint of brushiness. Lovely balance, with bright but not overbearing acidity. Feels like a wine to open around 2024.

…now to see if I can sort out uploading photos…
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Guys,

First, thank you so much for participating.

Regarding photos, if you do any tiny edit of the photo on your device they will then post properly. Not sure what that’s true, but it is.

You’re right re: the photos and it’s very strange. I edited them as an experiment on my PC, saving multiple rotations and they all showed up sideways here. A tiny edit on my phone and re-upload and everything was correct.

I typically crop my pics a bit to get them to orient in the posting here. It’s a simple edit.
I’ll pitch some dogs on the pile later tonight.

fred

2015 Matello Whistling Ridge Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge (12/4/2019)
First try of a Matello wine, and this is quite good. Drinks dry, but also quite fruity (mimicking sweetness that is not actually there), it has a complex aromatic that combines crisp tree fruit, a touch of spice and some exotic tropicals. The palate is quite dry, even with a pleasing touch of phenolic bitterness. It feels more German than Alsatian in style, likely because it has brighter acidity, as well as lighter body than most modern Alsatian wines.

Posted from CellarTracker

2013 Kelley Fox Maresh Vineyard Pinot Noir
I know a lot of the folks here are fans of Kelley Fox wines and for good reason. This wine however was very grumpy about being opened. The fruit is mute and there are a lot of flavors from whole cluster stem inclusion. So it’s mostly funky stem notes and structure right now. The next day some wild alpine strawberry flavors show up, and the wine is much better tasting. So let this one rest in the cellar for a few years.
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That’s Rosie who is a Berne Doodle. Hiking the two dollar bill trail to Fragrance Lake, Whatcom Co, WA

Alright David, you’re in for it. I have 5 dogs, 1 big coon cat, 2 rabbits and 2 turtles, and a lot of Oregon wine. Julie literally today said, don’t forget to give to the humane society. That was one of her grandmother’s, and now her favorites.

Of my animals, two dogs are rescues, 1 cat is rescued, 1 turtle is rescued…

  • 2016 BKB Pinot Noir Makena - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola - Amity Hills (12/4/2019)
    Dark garnet to the rim, candied black cherry nose, juicy core of black cherry made in a carbonic style, lip smacking acidity, stemmy, soy sauce, juicy, lively, gulpable. If Hardy Wallace made a Pinot Noir it would taste like this. Pour me another glass!

Posted from CellarTracker

This is Taz. Taz is a 60lb lap dog who we rescued from Alabama when he was just 8 weeks old. Loving the pampered life in Sunny California. Love how you’re supporting our 4-legged friends David.

2010 Thomas PN: Ethereal raspberry, strawberry but anchored with a grounded black cherry and forest floor. Lifted not only aromatically but also in the palate, with 2010 acidity and graceful tannins just starting to mellow out. This is more Morey than Gevrey (sorry about the inevitable Burgundy comparison), but pure Dundee Hills. Notes of blueberry intermingled with savory notes, this is a classic. I know, and have endured, bottle variation from many producers, but this was just great. Long, fine and satisfying wine that refreshes with each sip.

I ordered a case of assorted Vincent wines, and I cracked my first bottle tonight, the 2017 Pinot Noir Temperance Hill Vineyard.

This wine is way too young, with some barrel sample raw grapey character to it still. It has an almost glowing brightness to the transparent light red color. The nose reveals no fruit until several hours after the bottle opens, and even then, it’s still mostly chalky mineral and some kind of forest or herb, but it’s hard to pin down.

After a few hours, some crisp red almost-ripe cherry and cranberry flavor mixes into the savory character of the wine. The acid is high, there is really no oak or alcohol (13.2%) in evidence.

I think this is going to be good wine, and it’s a very honest effort at transparency of grape and terroir, probably at the expense of being something with broader appeal to non-geek customers. But I wouldn’t open another of these for at least a few years.

Fozzy found the bottle interesting, at least.

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Love seeing the pics of the pets!

For my first entry, I pulled one I’ve been letting sit to see what would happen.

John Paul is a hoot of a character and I have always enjoyed his wines on release. Clos Electrique was pretty tricky to find in the market back in the '90s. I expect it is still a bit of a hunt, but haven’t shopped it in awhile. The bad news for me is that the brett in these wines steamrolls the fruit profile after some time in the bottle. Consequently, I decided to let my '96s sit. The vintage had high acids to age on and pretty red fruit which I love a bunch. It was my kind of vintage.

1996 Cameron Pinot Noir “Clos Electrique”
Decanted cleanly off of a significant crust of sediment. Medium-dark brick/garnet red color with medium transparency. There’s some bricking out at the edge. Aromas of smoke and leather signal the funk is there and it still remains on the palate too. There is some pinot and earth lurking under the brimstone and horse sweat and the balance of this wine is better now than it was 5 or more years ago when I last sampled. The brett always wins and I’m left wondering what could have been. Fine enough with some summer truffle stuffed Camembert. Have leftovers for tonight and will report back if anything notable comes from the day in the decanter.

The dogs were both rescued out of the flooding from recent Hurricanes that hit the Carolinas particularly hard. The gray one we think is a Lab-Weimaraner mix named Salvador Dagi (inspired by our visit to the Dali museum in St. Petersburg, FL the week prior to adoption). We got him in January 2018 and he was rescued as part of the long-term aftermath of Hurricane Matthew. The black one we think is a Lab-Malinois mix named Gala and was an add in November 2018. She was rescued out of Hurricane Florence. They are, by far, the most challenging pair of dogs we’ve ever had to manage (and we’ve had dogs for decades). Someday the energy will mellow out. Until then, we play referee a lot.
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Cheers,
fred