Week 3 Virtual Tasting for Charity - Wines of Oregon - D@vid Bu3ker for Dakin Humane Society - DEC9-DEC16

[Max S.]

I've been meaning to practice more. I think I'm going to try one of those smelling kits - I cant remember the last time I smelled anise for example.

you mean black licorice or fennel?

Ha! All of the above

[Jared Wagner]

Drank a wonderful Patricia Green Cellars Chardonnay last night out of the same glass that you get when you taste at the winery! If you get a chance, visiting PGC is one of the highlights of the Willamette Valley. Beautiful setting, amazing wines, and terrific people. Jim spent quite a bit of time with us and answered all of our lame questions! Couldn't recommend the wines and Jim enough.

2018 Patricia Green Cellars Durant Chardonnay
Gorgeous light-honey yellow out of the glass with aromas of apple, pear, crushed rock, and spice. Medium-bodied, possessing an elegant and graceful palate leading to an energetic finish balanced with a bit of quince. Terrific Oregon Chardonnay! 93pts.

The cute doggo is our new Mini Goldendoodle, Rocco. He's a punk!

[JPWilley]

PGC Berserkers' Cuvee '14 - Fruit was a little more muted than I expected it to be, but everything was in a great balance. I would probably best describe this bottle as "elegant". Really bummed that COVID kept us from visiting WV this year! (Apron courtesy of World Central Kitchen, vintage Hawaiian shirt from Velour in Newberg one of my favorite vintage stores anywhere)

[Jim Stewart]

2018 Patricia Green Dry Muscat Ottonel

A paler shade of white! This might be the lightest colored white wine ever for me. I am smell-challenged, but I pick up a clean whiff of stone and flowers. The first taste shows fruit that I want to lazily call citrus, but I believe that is not accurate. And though I have never tasted flowers I would describe the taste as fruit turning to flowers. Lively acidity. Lingering tart aftertaste, leaning more to herbs than to fruit. Different and extremely refreshing. 10.1 % ABV. This is the last of my six bottles of this. I have described this wine before as a simple wine that is not really simple at all. Nice wine.

Cheers, David and thank you for your generosity.

P.S. Last night I opened a 2018 Brokenwood Hunter Valley Semillon from Australia. As I was drinking that wine the taste remined me of this wine. I poured a little of the Semillon tonight next to this Patricia Green wine for comparison. I confirmed the general resemblance at least to my palate. The fruit of the Semillon was more clearly lime to me, but the overall profile of a lively, refreshing white with fruit and flowers turning tart, and relatively low ABV were very similar. FWIW.

[Jim Anderson]

ottonel.jpg
2018 Patricia Green Dry Muscat Ottonel

A paler shade of white! This might be the lightest colored white wine ever for me. I am smell-challenged, but I pick up a clean whiff of stone and flowers. The first taste shows fruit that I want to lazily call citrus, but I believe that is not accurate. And though I have never tasted flowers I would describe the taste as fruit turning to flowers. Lively acidity. Lingering tart aftertaste, leaning more to herbs than to fruit. Different and extremely refreshing. 10.1 % ABV. This is the last of my six bottles of this. I have described this wine before as a simple wine that is not really simple at all. Nice wine.

Cheers, David and thank you for your generosity.

P.S. Last night I opened a 2018 Brokenwood Hunter Valley Semillon from Australia. As I was drinking that wine the taste remined me of this wine. I poured a little of the Semillon tonight next to this Patricia Green wine for comparison. I confirmed the general resemblance at least to my palate. The fruit of the Semillon was more clearly lime to me, but the overall profile of a lively, refreshing white with fruit and flowers turning tart, and relatively low ABV were very similar. FWIW.

No doubt from the early days when the quarantine seemed sort of quaint! Love this little wine.

[Jud Reis]

2015 Patricia Green Pinot Noir Durant Vineyard Madrone Block- berserker day purchase I believe. Popped and poured at cellar temp.Beguiling nose of black cherry, pine sap and a hint of cinnamon spice. Still a little closed on the palate, with nice pure red fruit and good acidity and body. Get the sense that this will have another gear and pick up some complexity with a few more years in the cellar, but a very nice wine.

[Mike Evans]

A couple from last night:

2017 Goodfellow Family Cellars Chardonnay Richard's Cuvee Whistling Ridge Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge (12/9/2020)
A little matchstick with pure white fruit and a little minerality and florality and plenty of acid at the core, it is on the tight side now and while enjoyable will benefit from more cellar age. (92 pts.)

2018 Walter Scott Chardonnay Freedom Hill Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley (12/9/2020)
Tremendously reduced at first, which faded with time to reveal more oak than I expected along with pure fruit and decent acidity. If everything comes together it could be very nice in a few more years.

[D@vid Bu3ker]

Spending my own money...

• 2018 Goodfellow Family Cellars Pinot Noir Whistling Ridge Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge (12/10/2020)
  Ever had a crazy day at work, where later on you just wanted a wine that was serene, and contemplative? I had one of those today, and this was just what I needed after it ended. I really did not even need to drink the wine, as the aromatics were transportive. An ethereal carpet ride through the Willamette Valley, and to Ribbon Ridge, which for my palate is a unique and distinctive AVA that imbues a level of nuance that I don't always see from other Willamette Pinots. Strawberry and cranberry fruit with earthy and herbal accents make for a food friendly and disturbingly easy to drink wine. I love the light touch from Goodfellow, and keep going back for more, because there's zero weight or heaviness. It's just too easy, and too friendly.

Posted from CellarTracker

[Richard T r i m p i]

2006 Cameron Nebbiolo, Bottle #031

Nice bright dark red color with a touch of bronze. Dried herbs, tobacco...hold the roses and tar. For Cameron, there's a noticeable slug of neutral wood. Sappy integrated fruit with focused acidity, moderate length and rubbing tannins. Good bones/structure and plenty of life....probably another 10+ years in front of it. No heat (13.4% abv). Reminds me of a rich, new worldy Valtellina, minus the terra. Paired well with roast leg of lamb (garlic butter, fresh rosemary, salt and pepper) cooked on top of a bed of yukon gold potatoes. Pretty sure Cameron was an original member of the D.R.C.?



RT

[ChrisJames]

2006 Cameron Nebbiolo, Bottle #031

Nice bright dark red color with a touch of bronze. Dried herbs, tobacco...hold the roses and tar. For Cameron, there's a noticeable slug of neutral wood. Sappy integrated fruit with focused acidity, moderate length and rubbing tannins. Good bones/structure and plenty of life....probably another 10+ years in front of it. No heat (13.4% abv). Reminds me of a rich, new worldy Valtellina, minus the terra. Paired well with roast leg of lamb (garlic butter, fresh rosemary, salt and pepper) cooked on top of a bed of yukon gold potatoes. Pretty sure Cameron was an original member of the D.R.C.?



RT

I've never had a chance to try one of these. Based on this, would be seek out the current vintage at ~ $33?

[AstridKG]

Weinbau Paetra Pinot Noir Rose: Salmon pink color with notes of golden raspberry with good acid. Not much of a note, but it was so easy to drink...
(note: photo more saturated than reality)

[Richard T r i m p i]

2006 Cameron Nebbiolo, Bottle #031

I've never had a chance to try one of these. Based on this, would be seek out the current vintage at ~ $33?

Chris, do you like cool climate Nebbiolo? If the answer is yes and you're not adverse to a new world twist, it's worth a shot. Made in limited quantities and it takes a few years to integrate IMHO. Word is, it does best in warm vintages (i.e.: 2006). Rick probably knows more details.

RT

[Roger Ouellette]

Picked this up at the winery after a tasting in 2016. This pours out a medium dark red with little to no bricking. Gave this a decant but not much air time. Opens with ripe red and black cherry, vanilla, a bit on the dense/chewy side (in a good way) with mouth watering acidity and a medium long finish. Still going strong.

[ChrisJames]

2006 Cameron Nebbiolo, Bottle #031

I've never had a chance to try one of these. Based on this, would be seek out the current vintage at ~ $33?

Chris, do you like cool climate Nebbiolo? If the answer is yes and you're not adverse to a new world twist, it's worth a shot. Made in limited quantities and it takes a few years to integrate IMHO. Word is, it does best in warm vintages (i.e.: 2006). Rick probably knows more details.

RT

I love Alto Piedmonte wines and love Cameron. My gut tells me to get Nebbiolo where it has been grown for 1000 years for the same cost or less. But like PN, it will never take root in OR without support. I'll grab a bottle or two. Thanks.

[D@vid Bu3ker]

Spending my own money...

• 2018 Goodfellow Family Cellars Pinot Noir Whistling Ridge Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge (12/10/2020)
  Ever had a crazy day at work, where later on you just wanted a wine that was serene, and contemplative? I had one of those today, and this was just what I needed after it ended. I really did not even need to drink the wine, as the aromatics were transportive. An ethereal carpet ride through the Willamette Valley, and to Ribbon Ridge, which for my palate is a unique and distinctive AVA that imbues a level of nuance that I don't always see from other Willamette Pinots. Strawberry and cranberry fruit with earthy and herbal accents make for a food friendly and disturbingly easy to drink wine. I love the light touch from Goodfellow, and keep going back for more, because there's zero weight or heaviness. It's just too easy, and too friendly.

Posted from CellarTracker

Just want to add that if you do open it, allow for 4+ hours of air or a splash decant. I have had it open for 3.5 hours, and it is still improving.

[Kirk.Grant]

• 2018 Patricia Green Cellars Pinot Noir Estate Etzel Block - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge (12/10/2020)
  Opened, poured into a decanter, this first glass has had about 30 minutes of air. This wine is Pigeon blood ruby at the core and translucent throughout with about a 3oz. - 4oz. pour in a Grassl Cru stem. Scents of autumnal forest floor, high-toned red fruits, clove, & crushed stone. The palate is a wild ride, starting out very light bodied, as the acidity lengthens out the wine, the body builds in the midpalate just before the fruit crashes in and the tannin slowly rises to a long, dry finish. This wine is bottled under a Diam-30 Cork, and I think that this has the stuffing & structure to last all of that. This is a wine to seek out if you love Oregon Pinot Noir. Highly Recommended!!!!

Posted from CellarTracker

I may open a 2008 tomorrow night for a neat look at how 10 years in the bottle brings out something special in these wines.

[Nate M]

Been trying to think of something to juice the numbers here. We donated 40% of the revenue of a 2016 Pinot Noir bottling to a local no-kill animal shelter so this is firmly in our winery’s wheelhouse.

We will match any person’s PGC tasting note by replacing your bottle. Maybe not that wine or vintage but we will send you a fresh mystery bottle of PGC for opening up your cellar to open up the wallet for the Humane Society. Yes, you won’t know what you’re getting but...you’ll have to trust me.

This is Awesome! Thanks Jim:)

[Jeff Skinner]

2018 Patricia Green Cellars Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir Ribbon Ridge

The tasting for charity is such a great program, and Jim's generosity is impossible to ignore. I believe this was purchased during one of the Quarantine sales, and is one of the last survivors!

Opened and poured into a decanter, quite a bit of sediment in the bottle. The color is on the purple side of ruby, with a bit more intensity than some Pinot Noirs from the area. Very beautiful in the glass. I let it sit and get some air for 45 min to an hour.

The nose initially shows off light toast and oak, with vanilla and cedar notes. Those rapidly move to the background, revealing black tea, blue fruit, bramble-y red fruit, and fresh strawberry. Upon tasting, the wine is presents a light body and high acidity, with smooth tannins gently pulling through the palate. The dark blue fruit is the star of the flavors, with the black tea, strawberries, and vanilla playing alongside. Freakin' Delicious.

Sorry for the indulgent notes, Ribbon Ridge is a favorite of mine, so I gave the notes a little more pizazz than I normally would. I'm also partial to 2018's over other recent vintages ('16, '17) in the Willamette valley, as the seem a little more balanced and put together now.

Thanks to those donating!

[ChrisJames]

2016 Patricia Green Balcome 2A, Mortimer Cooke Memorial

A special bottling Jim made to honor the owner of Balcome vineyard. As I recall, proceeds went to a Newburg animal shelter that was close to Mortimer’s heart. I am probably opening this way too young, but I have six bottles and the cause is right.

Decanted eight hours. Deep rich nose on opening. Not noticeably changed eight hours later. Classical PGC PN with tons of depth and structure. Pushing 14% it is a bit hot, but comforting for a chilly evening. It seems a wine well suited to the season with lots autumnal character. Pretty damn tannic and bruising right now. Tons of potential locked in a tight box. Yep. Way too young. This needs at least five more years.

Thanks Jim. Thanks David!

[Jim Anderson]

2016 Patricia Green Balcome 2A, Mortimer Cooke Memorial

A special bottling Jim made to honor the owner of Balcome vineyard. As I recall, proceeds went to a Newburg animal shelter that was close to Mortimer’s heart. I am probably opening this way too young, but I have six bottles and the cause is right.

Decanted eight hours. Deep rich nose on opening. Not noticeably changed eight hours later. Classical PGC PN with tons of depth and structure. Pushing 14% it is a bit hot, but comforting for a chilly evening. It seems a wine well suited to the season with lots autumnal character. Pretty damn tannic and bruising right now. Tons of potential locked in a tight box. Yep. Way too young. This needs at least five more years.

Thanks Jim. Thanks David!

Nice. We opened a bottle this week at the winery that had a damaged label and damaged wax and it was just easier to drink it than fix the stuff. I love this wine. 40% of the revenue did go to a local animal shelter (with, afterwards, an unfortunate employee situation). It’s 100% whole cluster. I thought it was drinking but also tight as hell. Love this particular flavor in Pinot where it gets these iodine and bone broth sort of characteristics. It does need 5 years more but for fans of a handful of particular Burg domaines this is potentially a thing. One of my favorite bottling of the past 5 vintages.

[JDavisRoby]

2018 Patricia Green Cellars
Freedom Hill Vineyard
Pommard Clone

Was part of my fall club shipment. Intended to let these sleep but I have two so why not!

Anise, the good kind of licorice on the nose. Maybe some allspice.

The first sip is just classic yummy pommard. Dark cherry is the immediate flavor on the palate. Long finish almost a touch spicy. Not sure if the tannin or the alcohol.

Look forward to seeing how this evolved in the decanter over next few hours. Assuming my wife doesn’t drink it too fast!

[Kris Patten]

I'm still learning how to identify things, so not sure how accurate this is.

Practice and don't be afraid to cheat. Take your own impressions and the look at other tasting notes for the wine and see if you can identify what others might find.

The wheel is great for just looking at while tasting, it'll help you run "down the funnel". That's what we call it, "taking it down the funnel" by starting high level and getting more granular.

I've been meaning to practice more. I think I'm going to try one of those smelling kits - I cant remember the last time I smelled anise for example.

When I was coming up in wine business I went to a lot of farmers markets and specialty grocery and got a lot of weird looks picking up everything in sight and smelling it, including Durian.

That is probably frowned upon now.

[ChrisJames]

Nice. We opened a bottle this week at the winery that had a damaged label and damaged wax and it was just easier to drink it than fix the stuff. I love this wine. 40% of the revenue did go to a local animal shelter (with, afterwards, an unfortunate employee situation). It’s 100% whole cluster. I thought it was drinking but also tight as hell. Love this particular flavor in Pinot where it gets these iodine and bone broth sort of characteristics. It does need 5 years more but for fans of a handful of particular Burg domaines this is potentially a thing. One of my favorite bottling of the past 5 vintages.

Perfect. I was thinking blood-based iron. I'm very impressed that this is a favorite for you considering the past 5 vintages must equate to 150 different wines.
It will be exciting to see this one grow to maturity. Thanks again.

[ChrisJames]

2018 Patricia Green Cellars
Freedom Hill Vineyard
Pommard Clone

Was part of my fall club shipment. Intended to let these sleep but I have two so why not!

Anise, the good kind of licorice on the nose. Maybe some allspice.

The first sip is just classic yummy pommard. Dark cherry is the immediate flavor on the palate. Long finish almost a touch spicy. Not sure if the tannin or the alcohol.

Look forward to seeing how this evolved in the decanter over next few hours. Assuming my wife doesn’t drink it too fast!

E688BAFB-D11B-4173-A0D2-01C81DCE043A.jpeg

E5CD843B-D91E-444E-81A4-A5E4797A98D5.jpeg

Damn Joshua! You should comb your hair more often.

[Jim Anderson]

Nice. We opened a bottle this week at the winery that had a damaged label and damaged wax and it was just easier to drink it than fix the stuff. I love this wine. 40% of the revenue did go to a local animal shelter (with, afterwards, an unfortunate employee situation). It’s 100% whole cluster. I thought it was drinking but also tight as hell. Love this particular flavor in Pinot where it gets these iodine and bone broth sort of characteristics. It does need 5 years more but for fans of a handful of particular Burg domaines this is potentially a thing. One of my favorite bottling of the past 5 vintages.

Perfect. I was thinking blood-based iron. I'm very impressed that this is a favorite for you considering the past 5 vintages must equate to 150 different wines.
It will be exciting to see this one grow to maturity. Thanks again.

I love 100% whole cluster Pinots. We don’t do a lot of bottling that are actually 100% across the board. Some have 100% whole cluster incorporated into them but only a few since 2014 have been 100% whole cluster in and of themselves.

[Max S.]

2017 Biggio Hamina Johnson Ridge Vineyard

Todd said I could hold this another 15 years, but I wanted to be ready for Berserker Day so infanticide it is! Luckily this was good to go, but in an odd way. The nose was incredible out of the gate. All red berries and earth. There was a black pepper note on day 2 that I didn't notice on day 1 and was gone on day 3, so maybe all those college experiments are catching up to me.

Good acidity, went well with some pseudo Asian bowls the wife made for dinner.



Edit: Santa Claus is comin to town!

Edit 2: Does anyone else feel like they can taste the stems in 100% whole cluster?

[Scott Tallman]

2010 PGC Four Winds Vineyard Pinot Noir

I’ve drank plenty of Crowley Four Winds Vineyard Chardonnay, which is great. Despite owning various vintages of Pinot from this vineyard, this is the first one I’ve actually tasted. Decanted half the bottle for about 45 minutes. On first sniff, plentiful red fruits (cherry & cranberry), a touch of earth and what I can only call the “Cameron funk.” I’ve learned over the years that the Cameron funk is either a love it or hate it thing, but I’m firmly in the love it camp. On the palate, the tannins are well integrated. Lithe with plentiful red fruits, earth, spice, and (yes) the Cameron funk, which dissipated over time, but never quite disappeared.

This wine was really in my wheelhouse (if blinded, I would have guessed Cameron’s Arley’s Leap, which is great company IMO). We only planned to drink half the bottle tonight, but this is going down so easy it may not live to see Friday. Wish I had more than this bottle as it has years ahead of it. Kudos Jim!

Pics below of the wine and our rescue, Noci.

[Jim Anderson]

2010 PGC Four Winds Vineyard Pinot Noir

I’ve drank plenty of Crowley Four Winds Vineyard Chardonnay, which is great. Despite owning various vintages of Pinot from this vineyard, this is the first one I’ve actually tasted. Decanted half the bottle for about 45 minutes. On first sniff, plentiful red fruits (cherry & cranberry), a touch of earth and what I can only call the “Cameron funk.” I’ve learned over the years that the Cameron funk is either a love it or hate it thing, but I’m firmly in the love it camp. On the palate, the tannins are well integrated. Lithe with plentiful red fruits, earth, spice, and (yes) the Cameron funk, which dissipated over time, but never quite disappeared.

This wine was really in my wheelhouse (if blinded, I would have guessed Cameron’s Arley’s Leap, which is great company IMO). We only planned to drink half the bottle tonight, but this is going down so easy it may not live to see Friday. Wish I had more than this bottle as it has years ahead of it. Kudos Jim!

Pics below of the wine and our rescue, Noci.

I could tell Four Winds Vineyard stories for hours. Seriously. I will attempt to quick take the one most relevant here.

We started farming FW in 1997. Farmed it through 2006 and kept buying the fruit through 2011. So, I know it well. It always had funk. Lots of times it smelled of anise and fennel in fermenter. It was never super fruit driven (the 2008 tastes like Nebbiolo actually). One day, probably back in the 2005ish era, we had a pack of UCD kids come to the winery. We barrel tasted and when we got to the FW I could tell there was some whispering and mumbling going on. I knew what they were thinking and talking about. I said, “what do you think (knowing what the response was going to be)” and finally someone chirped up and said, “we think it has Brett.” I took $100 out of my wallet and put it on the table and said, “I will run a panel on this and if it has an appreciable amount of Brett I will send you all $100, if not you only have to get $100 between you all to send to me.” There were like a dozen of them. No takers.

The difference between school work and winemaking.

[JDavisRoby]

2018 Patricia Green Cellars
Freedom Hill Vineyard
Pommard Clone

Was part of my fall club shipment. Intended to let these sleep but I have two so why not!

Anise, the good kind of licorice on the nose. Maybe some allspice.

The first sip is just classic yummy pommard. Dark cherry is the immediate flavor on the palate. Long finish almost a touch spicy. Not sure if the tannin or the alcohol.

Look forward to seeing how this evolved in the decanter over next few hours. Assuming my wife doesn’t drink it too fast!

E688BAFB-D11B-4173-A0D2-01C81DCE043A.jpeg

E5CD843B-D91E-444E-81A4-A5E4797A98D5.jpeg

Damn Joshua! You should comb your hair more often.

You don’t like my Afro?

[Marcus Goodfellow]

2017 Biggio Hamina Johnson Ridge Vineyard

Todd said I could hold this another 15 years, but I wanted to be ready for Berserker Day so infanticide it is! Luckily this was good to go, but in an odd way. The nose was incredible out of the gate. All red berries and earth. There was a black pepper note on day 2 that I didn't notice on day 1 and was gone on day 3, so maybe all those college experiments are catching up to me.

Good acidity, went well with some pseudo Asian bowls the wife made for dinner.



Edit: Santa Claus is comin to town!

Edit 2: Does anyone else feel like they can taste the stems in 100% whole cluster?

I sure hope you can taste the stems in 100% whole cluster! Because it’s so much more work than destemmed, or even partially destemmed, fruit that I would cry(shoot myself) if you couldn’t!

[Max S.]

I sure hope you can taste the stems in 100% whole cluster! Because it’s so much more work than destemmed, or even partially destemmed, fruit that I would cry(shoot myself) if you couldn’t!

Ha! Just in the past couple days I'm actually placing that taste. Now that I do taste it, it amazes me how present and obvious it feels. Looking forward to drinking more of your wine over Christmas!

[ChrisJames]

2018 Patricia Green Cellars
Freedom Hill Vineyard
Pommard Clone

Was part of my fall club shipment. Intended to let these sleep but I have two so why not!

Anise, the good kind of licorice on the nose. Maybe some allspice.

The first sip is just classic yummy pommard. Dark cherry is the immediate flavor on the palate. Long finish almost a touch spicy. Not sure if the tannin or the alcohol.

Look forward to seeing how this evolved in the decanter over next few hours. Assuming my wife doesn’t drink it too fast!

E688BAFB-D11B-4173-A0D2-01C81DCE043A.jpeg

E5CD843B-D91E-444E-81A4-A5E4797A98D5.jpeg

Damn Joshua! You should comb your hair more often.

You don’t like my Afro?

Uh, er, yeah, of course I do! And you are very handsome with it combed back too.

[JDavisRoby]

I sure hope you can taste the stems in 100% whole cluster! Because it’s so much more work than destemmed, or even partially destemmed, fruit that I would cry(shoot myself) if you couldn’t!

Ha! Just in the past couple days I'm actually placing that taste. Now that I do taste it, it amazes me how present and obvious it feels. Looking forward to drinking more of your wine over Christmas!

I probably taste it in Todd’s wines more than any other whole cluster wine I drink. Not sure why.

[James Lyon]

2014 Patricia Green Cellars Balcombe Pinot Noir

A little darker than the 2013 PGC BC. Nose is more expressive. Darker fruited, more blueberry notes than anything to me. Not a lot of spice or volcanic soil notes for the Dundee Hills to my taste. Perhaps a little on the nose and some spice on the back end. Although it's starting to build on the back end. Overall, a wonderful wine and interesting contrast to the 2013 PGC BC last night. The BC did fill out tonight and added some orange rind notes.

Once again, the 2018 Goodfellow Dundee Hills Chardonnay paired perfectly with our dinner of fish tacos featuring leftover Sea Bass from last night's dinner. Mouthwatering and definitely a candidate for best value Chardonnay in the world.

Full disclosure, the 2017 PGC Dry Muscat Ottonel was opened on Sunday night before the Christmas show gathering at the local restaurant.

And I'm a big fan of the 2016 PGC Balcombe Mortimer Cooke Memorial Pinot Noir as well. Structure for days and should be kicking for a long time. I was planning to open one this weekend. Needs lots of time or decant.

[Max S.]

I sure hope you can taste the stems in 100% whole cluster! Because it’s so much more work than destemmed, or even partially destemmed, fruit that I would cry(shoot myself) if you couldn’t!

Ha! Just in the past couple days I'm actually placing that taste. Now that I do taste it, it amazes me how present and obvious it feels. Looking forward to drinking more of your wine over Christmas!

I probably taste it in Todd’s wines more than any other whole cluster wine I drink. Not sure why.

Interesting, I'm definitely going to pay a lot more attention to this in future bottles now that I know what I'm looking for.

[Marcus Goodfellow]

Trio of Oregon Rieslings tonight.

Ours was open from a “to go” tasting, and I just liked having it in the photo with the Paetra and Pierce Rieslings, but I am going to skip a TN on it.

The other two are two excellent producers of a grape that is under recognized in Oregon. Germany is Germany, but I enjoy being able to be both a homer and have my Riesling itch scratched by these wines.

The 2016 Paetra Yamhill-Carlton Riesling is a more golden color and moving into secondary tones as well. There is a lovely meld of orchard fruit, diesel, and bees wax. It’s a bit luxurious in the palate, and definitely has the feeling of being very much in the window. Soft throughout the palate, with very pleasant acids and a light touch on the finish.

2018 Pierce Riesling-a bit of backstory. Jess Pierce is an awesome person, who also was a Portland somm for quite a few years(Ned Ludd), and is now the Oregon sales person for Walter Scott. She also makes a few hundred cases of dynamite Riesling. The vineyard is Van Horn in the Columbia Gorge AVA. 18g/l of RS is balanced by a pH of 2.95(TA is 9.2 g/l).
I love this wine. It’s clean lines, beatiful texture, super refreshing acidity. Just the right balance of acids to RS for my palate. It’s quite bright and citrusy refreshing finish makes me just want more. And it was a perfect partner to the Thai green curry mussels we had after the oysters. I usually trade Jess a case or 6-pack and while it may age, I am always out when we trade the next time.

[Scott Tallman]

Trio of Oregon Rieslings tonight.

Ours was open from a “to go” tasting, and I just liked having it in the photo with the Paetra and Pierce Rieslings, but I am going to skip a TN on it.

The other two are two excellent producers of a grape that is under recognized in Oregon. Germany is Germany, but I enjoy being able to be both a homer and have my Riesling itch scratched by these wines.

The 2016 Paetra Yamhill-Carlton Riesling is a more golden color and moving into secondary tones as well. There is a lovely meld of orchard fruit, diesel, and bees wax. It’s a bit luxurious in the palate, and definitely has the feeling of being very much in the window. Soft throughout the palate, with very pleasant acids and a light touch on the finish.

2018 Pierce Riesling-a bit of backstory. Jess Pierce is an awesome person, who also was a Portland somm for quite a few years(Ned Ludd), and is now the Oregon sales person for Walter Scott. She also makes a few hundred cases of dynamite Riesling. The vineyard is Van Horn in the Columbia Gorge AVA. 18g/l of RS is balanced by a pH of 2.95(TA is 9.2 g/l).
I love this wine. It’s clean lines, beatiful texture, super refreshing acidity. Just the right balance of acids to RS for my palate. It’s quite bright and citrusy refreshing finish makes me just want more. And it was a perfect partner to the Thai green curry mussels we had after the oysters. I usually trade Jess a case or 6-pack and while it may age, I am always out when we trade the next time.

7801BEE6-C87C-44FC-BAB3-EAF5A7674268.jpeg

Thanks for the Pierce note. I tasted some of her first vintage at Walter Scott a few years ago at the end of a long tasting day, so didn’t have a great take on it. Need to try again. Agree with you that even though I love German Riesling, Oregon Riesling (yours, Paetra, Ovum, Love & Squalor) absolutely scratches my Riesling itch.

[Scott Tallman]

2010 PGC Four Winds Vineyard Pinot Noir

I’ve drank plenty of Crowley Four Winds Vineyard Chardonnay, which is great. Despite owning various vintages of Pinot from this vineyard, this is the first one I’ve actually tasted. Decanted half the bottle for about 45 minutes. On first sniff, plentiful red fruits (cherry & cranberry), a touch of earth and what I can only call the “Cameron funk.” I’ve learned over the years that the Cameron funk is either a love it or hate it thing, but I’m firmly in the love it camp. On the palate, the tannins are well integrated. Lithe with plentiful red fruits, earth, spice, and (yes) the Cameron funk, which dissipated over time, but never quite disappeared.

This wine was really in my wheelhouse (if blinded, I would have guessed Cameron’s Arley’s Leap, which is great company IMO). We only planned to drink half the bottle tonight, but this is going down so easy it may not live to see Friday. Wish I had more than this bottle as it has years ahead of it. Kudos Jim!

Pics below of the wine and our rescue, Noci.

I could tell Four Winds Vineyard stories for hours. Seriously. I will attempt to quick take the one most relevant here.

We started farming FW in 1997. Farmed it through 2006 and kept buying the fruit through 2011. So, I know it well. It always had funk. Lots of times it smelled of anise and fennel in fermenter. It was never super fruit driven (the 2008 tastes like Nebbiolo actually). One day, probably back in the 2005ish era, we had a pack of UCD kids come to the winery. We barrel tasted and when we got to the FW I could tell there was some whispering and mumbling going on. I knew what they were thinking and talking about. I said, “what do you think (knowing what the response was going to be)” and finally someone chirped up and said, “we think it has Brett.” I took $100 out of my wallet and put it on the table and said, “I will run a panel on this and if it has an appreciable amount of Brett I will send you all $100, if not you only have to get $100 between you all to send to me.” There were like a dozen of them. No takers.

The difference between school work and winemaking.

That’s a great story. Need to see if I can source any of your older vintages from FW, and pop some of the Crowley FW Pinots to get a better sense of the vineyard.

Now that I’ve drank a bit more, it definitely has funk, but not the kind I’d associate with brett.

[Marcus Goodfellow]

2006 Cameron Nebbiolo, Bottle #031

Nice bright dark red color with a touch of bronze. Dried herbs, tobacco...hold the roses and tar. For Cameron, there's a noticeable slug of neutral wood. Sappy integrated fruit with focused acidity, moderate length and rubbing tannins. Good bones/structure and plenty of life....probably another 10+ years in front of it. No heat (13.4% abv). Reminds me of a rich, new worldy Valtellina, minus the terra. Paired well with roast leg of lamb (garlic butter, fresh rosemary, salt and pepper) cooked on top of a bed of yukon gold potatoes. Pretty sure Cameron was an original member of the D.R.C.?



RT

He and Russ Raney are the co-founders. And John still sits on the board.

[Marcus Goodfellow]

Trio of Oregon Rieslings tonight.

Ours was open from a “to go” tasting, and I just liked having it in the photo with the Paetra and Pierce Rieslings, but I am going to skip a TN on it.

The other two are two excellent producers of a grape that is under recognized in Oregon. Germany is Germany, but I enjoy being able to be both a homer and have my Riesling itch scratched by these wines.

The 2016 Paetra Yamhill-Carlton Riesling is a more golden color and moving into secondary tones as well. There is a lovely meld of orchard fruit, diesel, and bees wax. It’s a bit luxurious in the palate, and definitely has the feeling of being very much in the window. Soft throughout the palate, with very pleasant acids and a light touch on the finish.

2018 Pierce Riesling-a bit of backstory. Jess Pierce is an awesome person, who also was a Portland somm for quite a few years(Ned Ludd), and is now the Oregon sales person for Walter Scott. She also makes a few hundred cases of dynamite Riesling. The vineyard is Van Horn in the Columbia Gorge AVA. 18g/l of RS is balanced by a pH of 2.95(TA is 9.2 g/l).
I love this wine. It’s clean lines, beatiful texture, super refreshing acidity. Just the right balance of acids to RS for my palate. It’s quite bright and citrusy refreshing finish makes me just want more. And it was a perfect partner to the Thai green curry mussels we had after the oysters. I usually trade Jess a case or 6-pack and while it may age, I am always out when we trade the next time.

7801BEE6-C87C-44FC-BAB3-EAF5A7674268.jpeg

Thanks for the Pierce note. I tasted some of her first vintage at Walter Scott a few years ago at the end of a long tasting day, so didn’t have a great take on it. Need to try again. Agree with you that even though I love German Riesling, Oregon Riesling (yours, Paetra, Ovum, Love & Squalor) absolutely scratches my Riesling itch.

Those are my go to producers as well, but the Pierce is a favorite even among them. Ovum, when it’s on, is on another level. But we drank a case of 2017 and 2018 Pierce and every bottle was just delicious.

[P@u1_M3nk3s]

Had this with a first night feast of matzo ball soup, latkes, brisket and fixins, and sufganiyot for dessert.

• 2014 Patricia Green Cellars Pinot Noir Balcombe Vineyard Dundee Hills - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills (12/10/2020)
  Dark red color. Nose is funky, along with pine and cherry. Palate has spice and dark cherry with a bit of savory character. Excellent.

Posted from CellarTracker

Matzo ball and Patty

[D@vid Bu3ker]

Now how do I source some of that Pierce Riesling, and then smuggle it into the house...

[Jim Anderson]

2010 PGC Four Winds Vineyard Pinot Noir

I’ve drank plenty of Crowley Four Winds Vineyard Chardonnay, which is great. Despite owning various vintages of Pinot from this vineyard, this is the first one I’ve actually tasted. Decanted half the bottle for about 45 minutes. On first sniff, plentiful red fruits (cherry & cranberry), a touch of earth and what I can only call the “Cameron funk.” I’ve learned over the years that the Cameron funk is either a love it or hate it thing, but I’m firmly in the love it camp. On the palate, the tannins are well integrated. Lithe with plentiful red fruits, earth, spice, and (yes) the Cameron funk, which dissipated over time, but never quite disappeared.

This wine was really in my wheelhouse (if blinded, I would have guessed Cameron’s Arley’s Leap, which is great company IMO). We only planned to drink half the bottle tonight, but this is going down so easy it may not live to see Friday. Wish I had more than this bottle as it has years ahead of it. Kudos Jim!

Pics below of the wine and our rescue, Noci.

I could tell Four Winds Vineyard stories for hours. Seriously. I will attempt to quick take the one most relevant here.

We started farming FW in 1997. Farmed it through 2006 and kept buying the fruit through 2011. So, I know it well. It always had funk. Lots of times it smelled of anise and fennel in fermenter. It was never super fruit driven (the 2008 tastes like Nebbiolo actually). One day, probably back in the 2005ish era, we had a pack of UCD kids come to the winery. We barrel tasted and when we got to the FW I could tell there was some whispering and mumbling going on. I knew what they were thinking and talking about. I said, “what do you think (knowing what the response was going to be)” and finally someone chirped up and said, “we think it has Brett.” I took $100 out of my wallet and put it on the table and said, “I will run a panel on this and if it has an appreciable amount of Brett I will send you all $100, if not you only have to get $100 between you all to send to me.” There were like a dozen of them. No takers.

The difference between school work and winemaking.

That’s a great story. Need to see if I can source any of your older vintages from FW, and pop some of the Crowley FW Pinots to get a better sense of the vineyard.

Now that I’ve drank a bit more, it definitely has funk, but not the kind I’d associate with brett.

Maybe you’ll get one as your replacement bottle. I’ll have to ask Wine Santa if you’ve been naughty.

[Rick Allen]

We did a Zoom dinner with with Board member Mike Passo and shared a couple wines from Mike's cellar:

2007 Patricia Green Pinot Noir Balcombe Block 1B Somewhat cloudy, medium garnet color. The aroma was cherry, raspberry with some Cristom brett showing. On the palate, the wine shows cherries, raspberries, the same brett note, a hint of Cameron funk, very smooth, no noticeable tannins, great mouthfeel, very nice finish. This wine is well balanced and IMO fully mature.

2007 Patricia Green Pinot Noir Bonshaw Similar appearance to the Balcombe. The aroma was more dark-fruited - blackberries, cherries with the same brett showing. On this palate, this wine showed the darker fruits along with the same brett note. This wine was slightly chunky, with some tannins peeking out, great mouthfeel, somewhat acidic finish. I don't think this wine improves from where it is right now.

I preferred the Balcombe, but both were very nice wines and represented the much maligned 2007 vintage very well. I generally like my wines a little younger, but these were great!

We also drank,

2014 Walter Scott Chardonnay Cuvee Anne Clear, pale yellow, lemon curd and pear aromas and flavors with some toasty notes coming through on the palate, balanced acidity, great mouthfeel, very nice, long finish. This wine has a few years to go, though it's drinking great right now.

[Fred Bower]

Because it hadn't been properly put away, the 2017 Domaine Drouhin Laurene got opened last night. This wine always benefits from some cellar time to my tastes, but it is often a very compelling try-at-release wine too.

This one was aromatically showing cherry and strawberry with some spice notes. Palate was all raspberry/strawberry/cherry at first and started to show some black cherry and something floral between violet and rose after a time. I left half for tonight and will report back if there is a drastic change but this one bodes well for future enjoyment. Recommended now and later.

Cheers,
fred

[Dennis Atick]

A couple form last night:

• 2015 Goodfellow Family Cellars Pinot Noir Fir Crest - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton (12/11/2020)
  FWIW- this one appeared to be in a better spot than my first bottle last spring. Some mild stem notes and wispy red fruit scents. While still somewhat tight, it has a good bit of finesse. Excellent weight and texture. Tart and tight through the middle, with a lingering tart and red fruited finish. Nice wine with some upside still.
• 2015 Longplay Pinot Noir Jory Bench Reserve Lia's Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains (12/10/2020)
  Full throttle. Not really speaking of a place. Rich. Ripe. Nose shows some oak and baking spices. Red berry fruit and some cola. It has nice weight on the palate, just a bit fruit forward (for me) right now. I Can see it being a crowd pleaser.Maybe can age a bit? See how it unwinds tonight.
  Posted from CellarTracker
  
  

[Keith A k e r s]

• 2017 Drouhin Oregon Roserock Pinot Noir Zephirine - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola - Amity Hills (12/10/2020)
  Nose: The nose is perfumed, fresh, and lifted with red cherries, strawberries, plums, raspberries, clove spices, rose petals, crushed rocks, baking spices, herbs, and potpourri. As this opens up, it shows more and more depth with a good bit of elegance.
  
  Taste: The feel is Medium/full bodied with medium acidity and silky, medium+ tannins. The feel is polished and elegant with red cherries, plums, raspberries, clove spices, rose petals, crushed rocks, potpourri, and herbs.
  
  Overall: This really began to open up after 4 hours. There is an elegance to the red fruits that is really deep and enjoyable with a long lasting finish. There is definitely room for this to grow with 5+ years of aging. (92 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

[Sean_S]

• 2019 Paetra Riesling - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley (12/11/2020)
  Great Dry Riesling. This wine is beyond bone dry and light pale yellow in the class. No petrol notes here, maybe a hint of flint. Bright lemon and green apple with chiseled acidity end to end. Nothing complex but a really quaffable wine.
  

Posted from CellarTracker

[Richard T r i m p i]

We did a Zoom dinner with with Board member Mike Passo and shared a couple wines from Mike's cellar:
2007 Patricia Green Pinot Noir Balcombe Block 1B

I preferred the Balcombe, but both were very nice wines and represented the much maligned 2007 vintage very well. I generally like my wines a little younger, but these were great!

I remember that Balcombe 1B being seriously tasty. Probably my favorite PGC Pinot bottling. Glad to here it's held up nicely.

RT

[Lee Short]

The 2016 Paetra Yamhill-Carlton Riesling is a more golden color and moving into secondary tones as well. There is a lovely meld of orchard fruit, diesel, and bees wax. It’s a bit luxurious in the palate, and definitely has the feeling of being very much in the window. Soft throughout the palate, with very pleasant acids and a light touch on the finish.

Heh. I also jumped on the Paetra bandwagon and opened the 2016 Yamhill-Carlton Riesling. Here's my note: there's great acidity showing in this wine, leading to a persistent mineral / petrol streak on the finish. The attack shows clean white fruits, and the mineral notes come in quickly on the midpalate. There's just a hint of sweetness, but more than enough acid to offset it. Very pleasing overall. I like this better than a bottle tasted shortly after release. Drinking so well now, it seems like it could be at peak --- but I have no track record with the wines, so it's hard for me to judge.