2007 Willamette Valley Vineyards, “Willamette Valley” Pinot Noir - Overwhelmed with maple-flavored, overely-sweet oak. Slightly green on the nose. Epic Fail. I dont get how people like this kind of wine.
Even more astounding when, for close to the same price, you can get bottlings from Cameron, Evesham Wood, Westrey, Belle Pente, McKinlay, Broadly etc . . …
I have never liked their product. 2007 was difficult year, I imagine this winery picked early before the big rains and bad weather hit.
There is some good 2007 juice out there, you just need to trust a taster or do it yourself. Glad I backed up the truck on the 06’s.
Not sure about the 08’s, they should be life changing experiences but I am getting mixed signals.
You dont think 06s are lacking in acid Dennis?
The 06’s don’t have the acid of the 05’s, 07’s and apparently the 08’s. They are not a long term cellaring wine but they are sure drinking nice right now. Most are New World/Calif PN type styles, big fruity PN’s but they are tasting pretty good.
Leaving my few 07’s alone, my 08’s will be stored for a couple of years. After we polish off about 10 cases of the 06’s I will start working on some of the 04’s and 05’s.
Dennis - nice comments. What do you like from 2007? I bought a lot from Oregon from the mid-90’s to 2002. Eased up except on favorites for a few years (way too much in the cellar). Bought more 06 again and was out there earlier this Fall and tasted a lot - but I really disliked the 07s, except for Ken Wrights. 07 started reminding me a lot of 97.
FWIW, I have never sought out a wine from WVV.
While not trivial, this is just one aspect of of issue, IMO. As you mention, there are good '07’s; and, most of them harvested before the rains. Thomas is just one example.
I have been selling wine retail here in Oregon for about the last 25 years. I have seen our industry grow. I can still remember when we had less than 10 wineries. We are now over 600 different brands and virtual labels. I pretty much feel the same way about the entry level WVV Pinot Noir 2007. I tasted it again about a month ago and it is OK but should be selling for under $20. But they seem to move through most of their wines in a timely fashion. Here in Oregon they are very well known. They are at most any of the festivals here and are in many out of state markets. I think that they have done a very good job on the marketing end. The more I taste of 2007 Pinots, the more I find to like. Early on I was afraid it was going to be another 1997 vintage. Many winemakers have learned much in 10 years from many aspects. One thing that seems consistent with 2007 is that they needed a bit more time in bottle to begin to show themselves. We just have not had a vintage like 2007 for many years. Some of my favorite 2007’s include Ayoub, Le Cadeau, Seven of Hearts, Coeur de Terre, Witness Tree, and Evesham Wood. These are just to name a few. The other issue here is how they are priced in our current economy. Many people are dropping prices because they need the cash flow. I think there is so much juice out there with no place to go. The producers who have good name recognition will weather this storm. But there are so many people who expect to sell all their wine here in Oregon. I don’t think that will work.
Except that no one here (or anywhere else for that matter) who knows wine buys the wines. Their swill, being widely available, only contributes to the widely-held view among average consumers that Oregon pinot noir is not worth the tariff or the effort.
+1
I actually really love a slew of 2007 and am getting rather tired of the bashing. What crappy wines are people drinking to come to this conclusion? Folks, please step away from the Ken Wright’s of the world.