Oregon aging rule of thumb

With a concurrent burgundy thread, would be good to hear general rules of thumb, and perspectives on adjustments for Oregon Pinot Noir vintages, vineyards and favorite makers.

Has anyone perceived differences in own rooted site’s aging curves? I suspect they have longer aging potential, although they seem to be more restrained in the early years from my own tastings and looking at maker’s scores across their wines.

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I think this is very producer dependent. I will say that in the 1980s we used to figure that the drinking window on Oregon Pinot was about 4-6 years. In the 1990s is was more like 6-10 years. Now is seems like it’s 10-20 years.

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And bottling and vintage…

I’ve been surprised how many have aged nicely in to that 10 - 20 year window. They seem to get more tired after 20 years than Burgs (GCs at least) with plenty of
individual exceptions. Also plenty that are better < 10 but hard to know before it’s too late.

RT

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Based on my last two years experience, I will try to wait 5 to 6 years post vintage (which lines up with the Bistro Maison wine list https://bistromaison.com/wine-list/ ). Some, such as Goodfellow and Thomas, I will try to wait 8 years.

I must acknowledge that many can drink well earlier than that, and most of the current makers I buy do not have their own track record, so it is a speculation. They all work in an artisanal style that ages in other regions.
I generally prefer Oregon makers who drink a fair amount of Burgundy (and grower champagne) as a reference, and stay away from the higher alcohol California style makers.

I have had some Kelley Fox 2015 Star of Bethlehem that seemed closed in the last year while her 13 and 14 Maresh are starting to add weight and complexity. Have also seen some cellar tracker notes for other 15s that sound similarly shut down.

The good 2002-12s have generally been drinking very well with mid life integrated fruit characteristics (Arterberry, Beau Freres, Evesham, Shea Homer, Drouhin Laurene) with the exception of 2006 which Ken Paltrow called a hot mess. An Arterberry Maresh 2005 on my wife’s birthday was just lovely this summer.

Have also had a fair amount of 1999s and older that have aged wine flavors. Panther Creek, Drouhin and Ken Wright from the 90s have all offered nice bottles.

My outside limit was a fantastic 1985 Sokol Blosser Red Hills that was beyond lovely. That said a few other 80s bottles have been kaput.

So my range is 5 to 35 if well stored and no shipping issues. Still working on the individual adjustments and waves.

I suspect 2017s may need more than 5 years. Luckily have a fair amount of 15 and 16 to enjoy first.

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It’s definitely still a work in progress to determine which sites, producers, and vintages aging potential.

I don’t have a perception of a difference based upon grafted or own rooted. I’ve handled both, and the aging curve seems similar based upon the vineyard.

General ideas for me(and my palate):

All of the sub-AVAs can age for significant periods of time. But I find the need/reward for aging the wines more in Ribbon Ridge and the Eola-Amity Hills, than in the Dundee Hills and Yamhill-Carlton.

Breezier vineyards on shallower soils are most likely to need longer cellaring(8+ years) to show well, but often are among my favorite wines.

Older vines also often have a need for cellaring that young vines do not, and also offer longer potential for celllaring. This may be why Rick’s cellaring times have extended so much.

Acidity is a HUGE part of the ability to age. Producers with mature acids(more tartaric, less malic) will make wines that naturally cellar longer. Tartaric is a much more powerful acid than malic, and also tastes better. And “mature” does not mean picked later, as acids decrease over time and pH rises.

Whole cluster-wineries with stem inclusion will generally have wines that require more patience but, IMO, they also often have extra layers of nuance from the compounds stems offer. They also, again IMO, often seem to develop an extra layer of texture with significant time in bottle.

While my wines are sometimes seen as AFWE, all but the coolest of vintages tend to become significantly more substantial with cellaring.

Just like Burgundy, I think it’s important to remember that amazing wines were made here when our farming capabilities were MUCH more limited. If your vineyard looks perfect, the the wines will also probably be perfectly boring. Lots of sugars and deep purple flavors are awesome…in a grape slushy.

Off the top of my head, some of my favorite older Oregon wines have come from:

Amity
Arterberry
Belle Pente
Bethel Heights
Brickhouse
Beaux Freres
Cameron
Evesham Wood
Westrey
McKinlay
Thomas
Patricia Green
Cristom(especially from the 90’s vintages)
Domaine Drouhin
Eyrie
Grochau(especially his Bjornsen bottling)

Additionally, wineries that I would like to have older vintages from would include: Hundred Suns, Ayoub, Kelley Fox, Arterberry Maresh, Lundeen, Vincent, Violin, and Franny Beck.

Also, from back in the day Fred Arterberry was making tremendous wines that aged incredibly well.

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My sweet spot has been 8-12 years from vintage date and I generally drink Belle Pente, Arterberry Maresh, Ayoub, Patricia Green. The 2010’s are beautiful wines. I wish I had saved more. 12’s are starting to show real nice. I also enjoy Cameron, Kelly Fox and have some recent Thomas and Goodfellow but don’t want to touch those for awhile.

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Pretty much agree completely…Unfortunately, this is a long road and hard to know when to stop.

J. Christopher (now J.C. Somers)
Crowley
Walter Scott

All warrant a mention IMHO.

RT

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Hi Cromwell,

I think you are correct about the 2015s being shut down. While the vintage had quite a bit of fruit and weight, it is still feeling closed to me. I would guess that further cellaring will definitely be rewarded.

To a few of your other thoughts:

1985 was a monster vintage for cellaring. I have consumed mine, but at 10-20 years all of those bottles drank really well.

For my wines, and I very much appreciate being paired with John Thomas for being worthy of a little longer aging, the eight year mark is the perfect place to start trying the wines. Most of them will want some air, but it’s generally a great age for Durant and Fir Crest, and Whistling Ridge will give an idea of what’s to come.

16, 17, and 18 will all be excellent in the cellar, but I suspect that 2017 will be the most highly regarded of the three…in part because 2016, when picked correctly, is so delicious that little of it will see 10 years in the cellar. The 2016s finally closed up a bit, but I would guess a big dent was put into the long term supply. All three should be fantastic vintages for 10-20 year consumption with good possibility of going longer for some vineyards and producers.

If I had a time machine, I would be stocking up on:
1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004(picky here), 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012(picky but the well done wines are world class), and 2013(picky again).

And any old McKinlay, any Cristom from 1993-2005, and Bethel Heights Southeast Block and Flat Block wines from 1991-now, Evesham Wood Cuvee J and Temperance Hill as well.

For my wines, right now the 2004, 2005, and 2007s are lovely.

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Marcus,
With your love of burgundy and grower champagne, it would be just plain wrong to drink your wines early! Completely agree on your and Richards lists of makers. In that group, I have my last bottle of 1996 Evesham Wood Cuvée J standing up in my wine cellar waiting for the appropriate moment to enjoy. It is defending the younger makers you list bottles being consumed before their time.

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Marcus, thanks for your input and insights. Now how can I procure back vintages of your PN’s?

[cheers.gif]

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i would only add St Innocent to Marcus’ list/post.

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Awesome! 1996 is my “most underrated” vintage for Oregon. I will definitely be looking for the TN on that!

Oh man, I totally forgot St. Innocent.

We did a small library sale last November, from the limited amount of wines in the early library.

I think we have a few things from that. I also promised another Berserker that I would dig around for some older Whistling Ridge the next time I am in our off-site library storage(harder to do than it sounds).

And last we have a bit of 2011 Souris that we are selling for inquiries on older wines. It’s my favorite cuvee from the vintage and the one that has really been the star of the vintage for us(2011 was the Willamette Valley’s coolest vintage on record). It is at the 10 year mark and just entering the window for drinking, but does still typically need 3-4 hours open. What it does when it blossoms is pretty magical though. Pale and pretty when it’s first opened(and occasionally a bit of bottle funk) a nice wine suddenly starts to darken and fill in with an array of autumnal atomatics and the palate just becomes more dense in a very old world way.

We’ve opened it a bit this last fall, and had one funky bottle, but the test have performed within a reasonable spread of consistency for a 10 year old Pinot Noir under cork.

And I should have added this before, but as important as vineyard, vintage, and producer are, a bottle is only as good as it’s closure…

Maddening. There’s no other way to put it. We opened a bottle of the 2011 Clover Pinot Gris two nights ago, and as I started to pull out the cork I absolutely KNEW it was going to be one of the best bottles of that wine. Arguably the nicest, firmest, most pristine 10 year old cork I have ever pulled out of one of bottles. Looked and felt like it was 6-12 months old at most. And the bottle was absolutely the best bottle of that wine I have ever opened. In the way that Usain Bolt wins races…way out in front and celebrating across the line.

Sadly, that does not happen often enough.

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There are no good wines, just great corks!

In addition to the above lists, I am hopeful that these newer makers will gain complexity with age:
Big Table Farm
Hope Well
Martin Woods
Shiba Wichern
Sequitur
Trathen Hall

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You inspired Megan to grab a couple of older bottles tonight.

The 2004 Drouhin took a minute to blow off the bottle funk and is a lovely silky expression of mature Dundee Hills Pinot Noir.

The Grochau Willamette Valley is lovely. Bright red fruits, earth tones, spice, some savory notes keep it intriguing. Really good layering, and lots of life. The supple texture is mouthfilling but balanced. It’s carrying a bit of weight, but handles is pretty well, and is in no way cumbersome.

This is where it gets a little tough in the Valley. These are both excellent wines, and as a consumer I would be happy with both, but the Grochau was probably under priced(John began producing in 2002 the same year that I did) and the Laurene is at the top of the food chain for Willamette Valley pricing back then.

I have to admit that I’ve cut back my Oregon Pinot buying because I’m concerned about whether I’ll still be around to drink them! Luckily I have enough 2005-2015 bottles to carry me over for the next decade…

What are you buying instead that doesn’t benefit from a similar cellar routine?

As I’ve gotten older (I’m 68 now), I don’t drink as much red wine. I not really drinking less, just drinking more whites (Chardonnay and Champagne) and fewer reds. I still buy a little Pinot and get gifted occasional bottles, but over the last five years, I’ve reduced my inventory of Oregon Pinot by about 5 cases, leaving me with roughly 16 cases. At current consumption and replacement levels, I have plenty of Pinot to last me until I’m at least 80. Over the same time frame, my inventory of Oregon Chardonnay and White Burgundy has largely replaced the reduction in Pinot, so everything still fits on the rack I have, but the mix has changed. I think I actually have more Oregon Chardonnay in the cellar than Pinot now. My drinking window on Oregon Chardonnay is more like 4-8 years, so it works out well.

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