Rick, thanks for the note. I was just wondering the other day when we’d see this bottling. I have really enjoyed the 2014 WV and had to bury my remaining bottles to keep from just running through them. Cameron did really good work this vintage. Your strategy here mirrors my own, but I picked up a decent bit of the WV as well. I haven’t tried the Ribbon Ridge yet but I have some of that as well.
The wine that got a good dose of Abbey Ridge fruit that normally doesn’t was the Willamette Valley. John felt that some of the barrels were lacking in the mid-palate (due to over-cropping in one section of the vineyard) so they were declassified to WV. The Dundee Hills and Reserve bottlings have always had a lot of Abbey Ridge fruit in them.
I’ve heard a lot of good things about the 2015 Giovanni from our beer/wine accounts in PDX but I haven’t tried it yet.
How are Storyteller’s shipping rates? Have ordered (and visited) Vinopolis, love the selection but shipping rates are a bit steep (but probably not out of whack).
Looking forward to the Dundee Hills and Reserve. Could they even be better than Ribbon Ridge? I enjoyed the latter so much, went back and purchased a second case–from a different wine retailer–cause the stuff is selling out. Paid $21.95 per bottle this time, vs $19.37 for the first case . . . but the salesperson threw in a bottle of WV for free. A step down from the RR-- a bit less funk, layering, and complexity, but still very tasty juice and a bargain at its price.
How are Storyteller’s shipping rates? Have ordered (and visited) Vinopolis, love the selection but shipping rates are a bit steep (but probably not out of whack).
I used to buy from Vinopolis before switching over to Storyteller. Hard to remember as it’s been a few years but I think Michael’s is less. The best part of buying from Mr. Alberty is that he always has the most in-demand stuff. I recall constantly being told by Vinopolis that the wine I was interested in was out of stock. I don’t think I’ve been told that once by Michael. It no doubt helps that I am generally reacting to his emails and so I am asking for wine when it has just come in or been offered.
Michael’s rates are good.
Thanks guys. Will have to give Storyteller a go.
I buy mostly from Sec, Story Teller and occasionally from Vinopolis, all in town for pick up. If Michael had a real website I might buy more. He has always matched prices and I usually buy something to try when picking up an order. He seems to like working off an email blast and sells enough wine that way. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
I have to confess that I’m having a hard time “getting” this vintage. I’ve sampled the Cameron WV, the PG reserve, the White Rose Blackthorn, and several others, but I’m getting a lot of the same thing: a fireworks explosion of many kinds of fruit that just goes all over the room, sometimes with intense tartness at the same time that it has darker fruit. I don’t get a sense of balance, just incomprehensible richness that is all over the place. The favor is so explosive that I can’t pick out the mid-palate from the rest of the rest of the explosion. And the finish is more like a recovery than anything else.
Maybe it’s because I’m drinking the last of my beloved 11s, with their aromatics and subtle linear unfolding and their orderliness and their leaving me wanting more–more wine, more understanding. The 14s I’ve had are definitely not this. It’s very hard for me to guess how they will develop. However, from what others have said, I am either just way off in my taste or I have had some unusual bottles. I’ll have to go to my reliables for more testing: St. Innocent, Belle Pente. I’ve got a 14 villages cuvee, but after what I’ve tasted so far, I think I’d rather leave it alone for a while.
Nathan, I’m curious as what others will say to your post but my initial response is it could be a number of things i.e. travel shock, recently being bottled, to just needing time for the wines to settle in and and get past their awkward adolescent stage. I think your observations are good and sort of mirror my thoughts on the wines I have tasted from the 2014 vintage from both Oregon and California- lots of fruit but still needing “something” to get to the wow factor.
2014 is a warm vintage. The wines will not be like 2007, 2010 or 2011. Cameron does better with ripe vintages than most (disregarding the funk). I plan to taste them more widely this Summer so judgment reserved.
RT
Had a glass of the '14 Ribbon Ridge last night. As good as I remember two weeks ago. If the Dundee Hills and the Reserve weren’t on the horizon, I’d probably add to the 2 cases I already have. A pop and pour wine that tastes like a really good $40-50 bottle of Oregon pinot with some age on it.
Just popped a '15 Giovanni. First iteration of this wine I’ve ever had and I like it quite a bit. It’s fairly fat but still manages to be crisp and refreshing. Apples and pineapple. I liked the far more distinctive – but arguably less crowd pleasing – 2014 Vincent Pinot Blanc I recently had more than this, but for $13 I’d consider this very high qpr, if not a transcendent wine.
I recently tried my first Cameron wine - the 14 WV and call me an instant fan. Personally love the small amount of funk in this wine - gives it so much character. In my humble opinion this wine drinks way above its modest price ($18 + $25 del for case from Vinopolis). QPR of the yearso far for me.
2014 Cameron Pinot Noir Willamette Valley (USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley)
At $18 a great wine. If this was $35 and came from burgundy, I would be impressed. Well balanced between fruit, earth and acidity. Winner. Back up the truck.
I really like it too. That is a good price for delivery from Vinopolis. Their delivery rates to me in St. Louis are prohibitive, nearly double their competitors in the same area. It’s a shame as they sometimes have wines that I like listed.
Nathan, if you like 2011 then 2014 may be an adjustment. 2011 is Oregon’s coolest vintage, and 2014 is quite warm. Additionally, where 2015 had some very, very hot days and skins on the fruit were much thicker, so there is good structure and cut, in 2014 it was a lot of very nice days and IMO the wines are more straightforward. Again just IMO, you might look to producers using quite a bit of whole cluster, more neutral barrels, and who picked earlier. It is a good vintage for the AFWE focused producers.
I just tasted a number of Walter Scott 2014 wines and was really impressed with the line up, particularly regarding balance, linear quality, and fruit restraint(there’s no lack of fruit but it has both acid and tannin in the proper places). The Sojourner vineyard designate was absolutely beautiful.
Do 15s come off like 08s? I didn’t love a lot of 08s.
2015 is its own beast. You would have to explain what you didn’t enjoy in the 2008s for me to know for sure. However 2015 is a power vintage.
Where the 2014 wines seem to me to primarily be a “plush” vintage, 2015 is “dense”, but strangely still has very good precision in the wines.
08 had a bit more dense than I enjoy, but they drank well young, and have many years ahead of them to lose the clunkiness they seem to have now. 15 may behave similarly.
When I think of 2008s my main dislike is texture. A bit richer and fuller than I like. I guess that might be correlated with high pH or alcohol. While they never reach levels of “candied” that I find in CA Pinot, they get close.
I would agree regarding 08 texture, and prefer the 2010s myself. Although last summer at the WB tasting after IPNC there were still a number of very nice wines.
Most of all, the 08s make feel that vintage ratings are highly over rated beyond the first couple of years.