Birthday Tasting - White Burgundy vs Oregon

Several Board members and others (Marcus Goodfellow, Megan Joy, Mike Passo, Andy Steinman, Doug Tunnell) joined me for a Zoom tasting of Oregon Chardonnay and White Burgundy. The focus of the tasting was 2017 wines, with six wines from that vintage, along with one from 2018 and one from 2008. I packaged up 4oz bottles of each wine (thanks Marcus) and I delivered them to the participants. I knew the wines in the tasting, but no one else knew more than the wine they contributed, if they contributed one. I think everyone could assume that I included wines from affiliated wineries. The wines were all excellent to superb - the quality level of all the wines was very high. I tended to note differences more than a more complete tasting note.

A - Lemons with a floral note. A leaner wine - more Chablis-like. 2017 Vincent Brick House Chardonnay.
B - Medium intensity, somewhat reductive, with a sharp acid note in the mid-palate. 2017 Francois Carillon Puligny Montrachet
C - Lemons and green apples, more intense, somewhat reductive, some oak. 2017 Walter Scott X-Novo
D - Very intense, high tension, some fruit sweetness, a little fatter. 2018 Goodfellow Willamette Valley
E - Lemons with a hint of mint, more intense, slightly drying on the palate. 2017 Jean Marc Pillot Chassagne Montrachet Les Vergers Clos Saint Marc
F - More intense, a little salinity. 2017 Brick House Cascadia
G - Mature, lemons and a hint of mint, slightly over the hill IMO, good acidity but losing freshness. 2008 Ramonet Chassagne Montrachet Les Ruchottes
H - More intense, a little reductive, same hint of salinity as in F. 2017 Goodfellow Whistling Ridge

Thoughts on the tasting: Beside the Ramonet, no one could pick the Oregon from the Burgundy. Some thought the Carillon was a Walter Scott wine, some thought the Vincent was a Chablis. I had the opportunity to follow the wines through the evening, and my favorites were the X-Novo and the Carillon, with the Goodfellow WV punching way above its weight from a QPR standpoint. My wife just took pretty much all the Goodfellow wines after the tasting and wouldn’t share. I would love to have tasted the Ramonet a couple of years ago. To me, it had tipped over the edge and was beginning to pick up more oxidative notes than I care for.

Wow, wow! That’s very interesting to read. If you had one bottle of the X-Novo, when might you open it?

Great idea for a zoom tasting / celebration. Quite a lineup and showing. And Happy Birthday to the person who turned a year older. Cheers.

Very cool. That Chassagne sounds tasty!

I would wait at least another year. It’s not in a bad place now, but I think the oak will integrate a little bit more with time.

Thank you! We usually do a big Oregon Chardonnay tasting later in February. I don’t think that’s going to happen. We talked about doing something similar to this every month until the pandemic is over - maybe even do a little Pinot Noir…

There was quite a bit of citrus through the line up to be honest. Wintergreen/mint in a couple of other wines as well.
Weight, balance, and acid was remarkably similar throughout the line up. And determining region was a challenge(except for the 2008).

I generally declassify a lot of the new wood into the Willamette Valley and in 2017 and 2018 I bought a higher percentage of new barrels knowing that we had 1.5 acres of Temperance Hill coming on line the next year. That said, even the 2018 Willamette Valley was only marginally richer than the other wines in the first flight.

The Vincent was exceptional.

I have been a fan of Carillon since it was just Louis Carillon, and the 2017 Puligny-Montrachet was lovely but not a stand out.

Ex-Novo was perhaps my favorite wine of the firet flight, primarily for the finish. But the wines were all so close that ordering them seems unfair.

The WV was excellent, at $25 retail this and the Vincent were easily the best qpr.

The Pillot Chassagne was very good, it was linear and had some nice nuances that kept it interesting. Acidity was just enough to keep it refreshing.

The Brickhouse took a bit to open. It was a bit quirky at first, and then really settled into a nice spot. Texturally silky with orchard fruits, and good juicy acids. Just enough weight, and a nice finish.

I agree with Rick on the Ramonet but really felt it showed well. That said, I also think global warming is real, and white Burgundy that used to need 10 years in the cellar to be ready to drink is now surviving 10 years in the cellar. I drink most of the medium to warm vintages between 3-8 years old and cool vintages from 5-10. I also am buying mostly 1er Cru and lieu dits these days, YMMV, and Grand Cru may still be a different world. In 10 years as a somm, I always felt that Chevalier/Batard/Bienvenue were a significant jump up from the top wines of Puligny-Montrachet(such as Carillon).

The Whistling Ridge performed much as I expected it to, and was a nice addition to the group.


I always take a moment as tastings end to see which wines are gone and which are not. As the group wrapped up, we took a minute to catch up with each other. I haven’t seen the Passo’s or Doug and Melissa since the quarantine went into effect. It was really nice to hear how everyone is doing, and as I peeked at the sample bottles it was nice to see that only 1 had any significant amount of wine in it.

That really frames my take away from the tasting. I like Chardonnays from both Burgundy and the Willamette Valley about equally, and for similar reasons. I’m biased in this, but I also try to see things as they are. And Carillon is a bit of a sacred cow for me, those are among the few white Burgundy wines I still routinely buy. And I liked the Carillon P-M well enough to keep doing that…but only because it’s a sacred cow for me. There’s no way in hell that I would be buying it at $125/bottle vs. the other wines at $25-$80, if it didnt have a special place in my cellar. The Pillot C-M was also delicious, and at $60(showing online at MacArthur Beverages) I would buy some.

But the line up was the star of the show last night. I didn’t have any particular wine as a favorite at all.

Thank you to Rick as well!

Happy Birthday once again and thank you Rick for including us in the celebration!

This really was an excellent opportunity to celebrate, taste and catch up. I’m hoping we can do this monthly and, once we’re all vaccinated, be able to do it in person.

My thoughts on the wines echo those above. This was a really strong line-up. The Carillon and Marcus’ Willamette Valley were standouts for me. The later is an extraordinary value at $25!