Older wines from Oregon?

Opened a 1994 Panther Creek. Did not have much fruit left, soft tannins, a little earth. OK, nothing special, certainly had not developed much complexity. Is this what one can expect from older Pinots from Oregon?

No… I’m actually drinking a 99’ Evesham Wood regular cuvee right now that is still slightly closed.
I have often found that some older Oregon Pinot is better on the second day, as weird as that sounds. A couple of years ago I opened a 95’ Ken Wright Canary Hill and it was shrill and weak and seemed almost dead, it was a water soaked vintage after all. I drank about a third of it and came back to it the next day and it did exactly what I assumed, it blossomed into a very complex, scented wine that had a lot of life left.

See my post on '94 St. Innocent Seven Springs tonight.

I’ve still got some 99’s that are doing well. It certainly depends on the vintage (and the producer), but I think Oregon PN is capable of aging far longer than is conventionally given credit. 99 was a near-perfect vintage - I wish I had more than I do.

(I’m a fan of the Panther Creek Wines from 94 through around 99 - what was the vineyard on that one? I have a Freedom Hill vertical going back to the first vintage (92?) back in Oregon, that I look forward to tasting through one day.)

About 10-12 years ago, I attended a retrospective tasting of Ponzi Pinot Noirs back to 1973, and there was no problem with the vitality or quality of any of those wines. As in Burgundy, producer, producer, producer.

I’ve had the 1992 Ici/La Bas La Cougoule from Montinore Vineyard three times in the past year. Has been excellent each time, but once opened needs to be consumed within about 2 hours.

Cheers,

Steve

I had a '94 Bethel Heights Estate PN a while back that was revealing to what an older PN could deliver. The bright berry fruit renewed my appreciation in PN. While it may not have been a mind blower, I have not had a more enjoyable drink. Like those burg-hounds, I now can search out those astounding PNs. Actually I am too old to search aggressively, and just wait for a passing one I can snag unawares.

As Tanzer said about the 94 OR pinots back then, many of them reached their peak while in the barrel. Searching for OR pinot that ages well has been perhaps a bit hit or miss over the years, but that is true in CA too. I have had some great Evesham Wood Cuvee J’s at 15 or more years of age, and my last bottle of 1993 Domaine Drouhin a couple of years ago was still going strong. As Claude said, producer, producer, producer.

Here’s a Cellar Tracker blurb on the Eyrie South Block Vertical 1974 - 2007, tasted July 2011.

I believe there was a fair amount of screening and prep before this tasting. Something like 20% of the older bottles were reportedly flawed (most oxidized). I’m not sure that’s a whole lot different than Burgundies would be from the mid 70’s to early 80’s.

Oregon Pinots don’t yet age quite as well as Burgundies. They’re getting there, faster than CA in my biased opinion.

RT

I had a 94 Panther Creek maybe two years ago that was great. Complex, still showing some fruit but very developed. The Burg lovers at the table loved it. At 18, hard to find consistency.

I attended this tasting, and some of the most profound wines were the older ones. The 1983 South Block is the best Oregon Pinot I’ve ever tasted (and I’ve tasted it three times), with the 1982 South Block is right behind.