2010 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir

WINE TALK
21

Jim,

It isn’t a big year, I get it. I was up there, made the wines…I get it. But it isn’t a red herring to point out inaccurate information, either.

Chris,

As far as the year goes, personally I think the vintage has ripe flavors but lacks mainly alcohol (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing). We haven’t spent a lot of time looking at pHs yet (would be interested in comments from those who have finished ml, Doug, etc, if they have)…but one thing that I always worry about (and I always worry about something) is that when 60+% of your acidity is malic, what acidic backbone does the wine have post-ml?

Adam Lee
Siduri WInes

22

Thanks for the post Doug. Great to see you post on stuff like this and great to see Scott Paul chime in too. Can you give us some idea what the BH production will be in comparison to a “normal” year.

23

Sorry. Kneejerk reaction on my part.

24

BA –
Our 2010 wines are showing a good bit of earth and briar, although those notes are not overwhelming.

DJ –
I haven’t even put a thief in the whites yet…last I checked they were still finishing.

Gordon –
Interesting comment from Dick. I would put our 2010’s in the black cherry/cassis/briar range, at least more so than our 2008’s, perhaps because of the tiny yields. …but that’s not to say they come across as “sappy.” They are extremely lithe.

Adam –
I, too, was worried about the inevitable pH spike, so I pushed a couple of barrels through early just to see where we would end up. Those and a number of others I have checked are around the 3.80 mark…higher than my ideal…but the wines do not come across as fat and unfocused in any way. We included up to 100% whole cluster in our ferments.

Mitch –
Yield is the bad news…We went from just under 4,000 cases of 2009’s to just above 3,000 cases of 2010’s…and that includes fruit purchased from another vineyard for the first time ever ( Mo Momtazi’s Biodynamic vineyard outside McMinnville.) I’ve already started trying to prepare our distributors for the shortfall that will hit a year from now…My understanding is that most folks in the valley are down 30% to 40% across the board.

25

I agree, 2010 should be a really nice Oregon Pinot noir year. I’ve tried barrel samples from a few producers in addition (of course) to my own wines. More soon.

My Ribbon Ridge stuff from down the road from Doug’s place is a mix of red and black fruited wines, redder fruits from the 667 clone on a more exposed knoll. Darker, more typical AVA notes from 777/Wadenswil mix and especially some 115 clone that’s pretty burly. Alcohols are in the low 13s. pH relatively higher, 3.7 to 3.8 after high malic levels caused big shifts in ML. Press wine higher still and I hit that with some tartaric just because it’s too soft. A learning point for me. A cool year, bright acids at harvest and…some lower acid, soft wines, but in a good way if that makes sense. Pure fruit, good earthiness, some downright briny qualities in my 777/Wad that I hope work out a bit, and overall I’m really excited.

My barrels of Zenith vineyard are high in the stacks and I haven’t sampled them in a while, but I’m going to a dinner there on Saturday where all producers bring 2010 barrel samples. So we’ll get a good look on what I have and what others have, in process anyway. Still a lot of time for the wines to change during elevage. As it should be. Hoping to see Todd Hamina there and ask about his recent tropical vacation that, um, provoked a little raw jealousy in some fb friends. But not me…no, no, no…it’s been so lovely here in Oregon, sunny, 70F days, like island living. [whistle.gif]

26

Good news on the quality. Bad news on the yields.

It looks like I will laregly pass on the 2009’s and instead concentrate on the 2008’s and 2010’s.

27

I am curious as to why none of the wine makers who have posted , have come to the defense of their 2009’s, or the vintage. Maybe it is a vintage to buy with caution. Joe

28

Joe,

I ended up liking 2009, required saignee to get there (topic of another thread), but thought they turned out pretty good. — we are sold out of the WIllamette, 2/3 sold out of the Chehalem, and only have a small amount of single-vineyard 2009s…so didn’t make much sense to come to the defense of 2009 since a) it wasn’t the topic of the thread and b) we are just about out of them.

Adam Lee
Siduri Wines

29

For those who have tasted the 2010 wines, I’d be curious to know which past vintage you feel they most resemble. Based on the descriptions it sounds like 1999, but I don’t think 2010 had the same weather pattern. Thanks in advance.

30

I’m still selling the tailend of my 08’s. Love my 09’s and they will be beautiful, restaurant friendly wines as my alcohols top out at 13.6%.

31

Thanks,Adam and Todd for your input. I am looking forward to trying the 09’'s in bottle and 2010 barrell samples this Memorial weekend in the Willamette. Joe

32

As Adam indicated, I was also focused on the topic at hand, the 2010s. We released half of our 2009s in late fall with the remainder coming later this spring and summer. So far they’ve been very well received. In general, this is an easy vintage to put out there as most of the wines are very approachable and accessible early on. However, many of the wines have the stuffing for the long haul too (unlike, in my opinion, a lot of the 2006s). In general, I’m one to appreciate the strengths and unique character of each vintage, after all that’s what makes this so interesting, and am enjoying the '09s for what they are. While recognizing that most folks understandably view 2008 as a superior vintage to 2009, I think many of my '09s are better than my '08s (but that’s only because I’ve learned a bit along the way and have more and better vineyard sources).

33

I’m nearly out of my 2009s. And it wasn’t the topic here. And producers defending vintages they have for sale rarely goes well. That said, I’m very pleased with what I made in 2009. Elegant despite some extra ripeness. Definitely pinot, though honestly I wasn’t always convinced during elevage. And in the bottle I love how the texture has emerged. Nice tannin that frames the juicy fruit and earthy elements in the wine. Are they everyone’s cup of tea? No. Neither was 2007. Some will love. Some will pass. Happily, sales are going well so obviously there are plenty of fans!

Vincent

34

Some of my favorite wines we have ever made come from the 2009 vintage. I have no reason to defend the wines. There is opulence but plenty of balance. It is easy to flop the 2009s into the 2006 or 2003 category but I don’t think the 2009s have much in common with those vintages as they do with 2002 (for instance). Couldn’t be happier with what we ended up with. I have more from 2009 for my personal cellar than I do any other vintage other than 2008.

35

Haven’t released any of our 2009s yet, but will start next week with the '09 Audrey. Like Jim says above, they are rich and opulent but well-balanced. Not on the same planet with '03 or '06. Definitely more '02, with even more attractive fruit. Very similar to '09 Burgundy in many ways - ripe fruit, not over the top, wines built for pleasure and the medium-term, I would think…

36

[quote=“scottpaulpn”]Haven’t released any of our 2009s yet, but will start next week with the '09 Audrey. Like Jim says above, they are rich and opulent but well-balanced. Not on the same planet with '03 or '06. Definitely more '02, with even more attractive fruit. **Very similar to '09 Burgundy in many ways - ripe fruit, not over the top, wines built for pleasure and the medium-term, I would think…[/**quote]

So by most of the posts here from ITB it seems like good fruit, decent acid compared to the other 2 hot vintages, no real cellaring needed for the wines to be accessible. Should make for a decent stopgap drinkers while the 07’s, 08’s, and 10’s sleep.

37

I have had a couple of bottles of the PG 09 Reserve, and though it is super tight on night one, night two shows a nice array of red fruits, excellent acidity and foresty notes. If this wine is any indication of the vintage, it’s way more structured and delicate(pure) than 06, with a racier, more complex demeanor. In some ways(at least for right now), I actually prefer the 09’s to the 08’s, though that’s not a fair comparison as the 08’s are just not showing what they have.

38

I thought of you when I wrote it. grouphug My comment was only partially in jest. I’ve pretty much finished buying '08’s, but still grabbing '07’s.

39

Interesting thread so far. The thread is about 2010, but a lot of winemaker’s are up defending their 09"s [shock.gif]

Truth be told, I have only tasted a couple of 09 whites to date. Have ordered several based on some very good friends reviews of what they have seen. However, delivery of 09 whites has been slow! I have not tasted an 09 pinot yet. Got a club shipment from Lemelson last week and they said to let lay until early fall. Don’t buy the early birds, so can’t say how they are drinking. Dick Shea, said I should hold his until fall, at least, even though it would be a early drinking vintage. Other 09s are just shipping!

Now to the 2010s. Will be in the WV in June. The locals will get to do barrel samples over Memorial Day, but I will wait for the crowds to subside and do them in early June. The buzz is good, but I’ll wait for the barrel samples to report. Oregon is getting far too much like CA in reporting that every year is the vintage of the decade! [pillow-fight.gif]

40

Looking forward to the Zenith Winemaker dinner Saturday where Vincent and all my winemakers show what they did with Zenith from barrel and what they did in 09 from bottle. It is an amazing learning experience for me - looking at the broad range of styles the wineries we supple do with the Zenith fruit.

I too have been into a number of 2010 barrels recently, Ponzi, Adelsheim, Antica Terra, St. Innocent included. I’m not going to “call the vintage” but the wines are terrific and what little of them that exists should be very well received.