two Oregon pinot tasting notes/questions

Picked up two bottles of Oregon pinot, one each of the 18 Drouhin Dundee Hills and the 18 Bergstrom Cumberland. I like both, although the taste profiles are very different. The Drouhin leans more on the fruit (red fruit/strawberry) and has great acidity while the Bergstom tastes more earth, spice, darker fruit and tannin. I hope this metaphor is understandable, but the Drouhin comes across as more high notes while the Bergstrom is more bass notes.

Curious to get your feedback to help me understand why my preference is for Drouhin and how that relates to winemaking in general and specific producers/regions I may be interested in. Along the same lines, I’ve had two bottles of 2015 Clos Marion Fixin which so far has been one of my favorite wines. Reminds me of the Drouhin in terms of being fruit, acid, clean, mineral, but my memory is that it was better.

Edited: Both wines are nice for sure, much better than a lot of the CA Pinot which felt sweet/heavy in comparison. Also, both bottles were opened last night and have been tasted yesterday and today.

I’m not up to date on these wines, but Bergstrom has in the past used more new oak with darker toast. The Cumberland Reserve is a blend from a number of vineyards, and is meant to be deep and dense. Partial whole cluster may account for the spice.
I’ve tasted a few '18 WV Pinots, and they are precociously attractive, but neither of these two wines will be at their best within the next five years.

2018 was a very dry vintage from start to finish (and we ended the year with some of the lowest soil moisture measurements ever recorded in the Valley and Coast Range). When berries have less water, this increases sugar (and the resulting ABVs), tannins and acids as a percentage of total wine matrix. I’m finding that despite the slight uptick in ABVs in 2018 many of the higher quality, higher elevation vineyards will have produced brighter, red-fruited, balanced Pinots compared to sites with more natural soil moisture at lower elevations. So if you like this style, stick with those drier, cooler Ribbon Ridge, Chehalem, Eola-Amity Hills, Dundee AVA producers.

In 2019 I tried a vineyard in lower elevation Mt Pisgah AVA compared to my go-to Eola-Amity Hills vineyard and it’s really striking: the first is black fruit and soft with a pH of 3.6 and the second is bright red fruit, pH 3.39. So it’s all about terroir vs. wine making (both wines were a blend of destemmed and whole cluster, the Marie-Paule).

Great information, David

Thanks, based on prior feedback I’m not getting a lot of oak flavors, chocolate, vanilla, caramel, but would not be surprised if it’s more whole cluster driving the spice/tannin. I think precocious is a good description at this young stage and I’ll withhold judgement for a couple years. Wanted to taste both before they shut down.

Interesting detail on the vintage, thanks for the feedback. I’ve had a couple producers from Ribbon ridge, Goodfellow, Cameron, Brickhouse, and really like the Goodfellow/Brickhouse, they seemed to have a similar profile to the Drouhin. Also had some Big Table farms and from Eola-Amity that was a similar profile and enjoyed. I think my preference is on the lower pH, red vs. dark fruit, and maybe lower stem content. I was not fond of the Cameron ‘funk’ but maybe with more time it would ‘blow off’, I have another bottle so I’ll try again.

For sure, the “funk” side of a wine’s profile can be attributed to wine making styles, choices and/or unforeseen winery or even barrel circumstances. But also researchers are starting to study vineyards for different levels of naturally occurring Brettanomyces. Here in the Willamette Valley, Oregon State Univ is leading a study and preliminary results show that this is indeed a potential issue. This has certainly been a surprise for me! Finally, this is really getting into the weeds, but new research shows that some strains of Malo Lactic bacteria dramatically increase certain acid precursors that Brett uses to create the off-notes. So if a winery is using naturally occurring ML bacteria, it could be a cause (or a protection against) high levels of Brett aromas.

By the way, the Prince of Pinot has called the 2018 vintage the best of century for Oregon and California. I’m not sure what he meant by this (best in the past 100 years, or best of the 21st Century?) He loves the bump in fruit intensity, balanced with good acidity. Wine Briefs | The PinotFile: Volume 12, Issue 17

I’m a fan of that Fougeray de Beauclair Clos Marion Fixin for value. Been through several bottles over the years, especially the 05. Reminds me that it’s time to try one of their Bonnes Mares.

RT

Just following up, had the last glass of each tonight on day three and my preference has switched. The Drouhin is now coming across as a little sweet, I like the Bergstrom a little more, although I think it’s more the Drouhin moving down as opposed to the Bergstrom getting better.

The vintage of the century, except for 2001, 2005, 2010, 2017, and 2019?

I like 2018s a lot, but 2016, 2017, and 2019 are easily it’s equal in my cellar.

Regarding 2018 abvs, our finished alcohols range from 12.1%-13.6%. Most things between 12.8% and 13.3%. Not trying to be contrarian but that’s actually a touch lower than 2016 and 2017. Though not by much.

Always happy to hear that you enjoyed our wine, and Brickhouse is a fave at our house as well. Doug is also liberal with his use of whole cluster and I really enjoy the wines.

I read your post earlier and was going to caution against trying to make inferences about specific producer cellar practices based on two single bottles… but you seem to have made the point perfectly on your own.

Of the wines listed: Goodfellow, Brickhouse, Big Table Farm, and Bergstrom (as well as Kelley Fox, PGC, and Cristom) are all producers who use whole cluster fermentation as an integral part of their fermentation practice. We all go about differently, and I am not certain of what percentage everyone trends towards, but it is definitely a defining aspect to the wines(ours being mostly 100% whole cluster fermentations, with a few 60%s, and sometimes a 30% for younger vines). It is a perfect example of a single cellar practice (whole-cluster fermentation) that is often one of the few things that a consumer might know about cellar/fermentation practices for a winery, and which within the context of all of the other myriad of choices and influences a producer makes, can produce wildly different and distinct cellar styles… in the most miraculous and beautiful way possible.


[Other impacts would include: site(such a big impact for a small word), pick date, character of the fruit at picking, fermentation vessel (size, type, controlled temp or not) cold soak or no, pump over, punch down, and pigeage: which of these methods and how much and when, length of time in fermentor, how the character of the fruit that came in interacts with all of these variables, and how the variables interact with each other. Elevage (in what, for how long, settled before or not, racked? and if so how often) and more importantly, how the elevage interacts with all of the other variables listed above… and likely a whole bunch more that I left out. Since each variable affects the expression of the other I never suggest isolating any of these to figure out whether you will like a producer or not. Just understand that all of it together will help build the complicated web that is a winery “house style”. And even then you may find that for a single producer some wines from some sites will be your thing, and others from the same producer (with the exact same cellar practices) will not, because site does matter too- especially with regards to fruit tone.]

Marcus beat me to the punch on posting (a few times over) but I am glad you like the wines, and happy exploring!

Marcus and Megan - thanks so much for the feedback. I am enjoying the process of learning about Oregon winemaking, as well as exploring producers, sites and vintages. Really appreciate the information.

I find it highly controversial that you left 2007 and 2013 off your list. What happened to your AFWE creds?

the PoP liking 2018 doesn’t surprise me at all. I feel like they lean more towards CA pinots, so 18 makes sense. I think I will much prefer 17s and 19s in the long run to 18s, although I am happy to drink the 18s from Oregon until those two are ready.



Brian, as far as the producers you mentioned go, those are are good choices. You can’t go wrong with GF, Cameron, BTF. I feel like Walter Scotts Pinot falls into that slightly sweeter fruit forward pinot category as well. Lingua Franca is also a personal favorite in this group. On the flip side, if you’ve been liking the spice of the Berstrom, I’d suggest Patricia Green all the way. not really so much because theyre made the same way but because thats who I think in Oregon when I think of bass notes and spice. it also makes sense that this style shows better on day 2. PGC wines typically need a good amount of bottle time, or a whole bunch of air time.

I love 2007 and 2013, but they are not really AFWE, both vintages were warm vintages bordering on hot before wet weather hit at harvest. I feel like those are really, really lovely vintages with balanced wines that I prefer to the hot vintages like 2002, 2003, 2006, and 2009. But I do think that I prefer 2005, 2010, 2017, 2018, and definitely 2019. It’s splitting hairs as the 2007s and 2013s are very good wines as well. But it was a comment addressing VOTC foolishness…

VOTC=how to wind up with an unbalanced cellar and miss out on wines that will often wind up every bit as good or better. See 2002 Oregon which was held up that way for a minute vs 2005 Oregon which was reviewed by many as hit or miss and needing caution(or 2010).

Do you mean 2019 over 2017? Good thing I have a truck to backup.

And also it sounds like this should be read with some caution…

Not 2019 over 2017. But 2019 holds it’s own with 2017, and 2017 is a dynamite vintage. Very classic, with a great savory side and, IMO, built for aging.

2019 is so pretty, with tremendous elegance but like 2017, IMO, a vintage that shows how good Oregon wines can be, and to consume over the next 15-20 years.