Attendees have posted notes in the offline thread, but few are seeing the comments. Here’s the link to the offline, and attendees:
For our 4th annual event we had 31 attendees & 29 unique Oregon Pinot’s from the 2002 vintage. Served double blind in 6 flights. Each attendee was required to bring 2 750’s or a mag.
A bit of history:
The 2007 vintage (which remains controversial) sparked our inaugural event hosted by Jim Anderson at Patty Green. The 2nd annual event was sponsored by Todd Hamina at Biggio-Hamina and featured 2005. The 3rd annual event was sponsored by Marcus Goodfellow at Matello featuring 2004.
The 4th annual event on Monday was hosted by John Grochau of Grochau Cellars at Bjornson’s new winery & tasting room (under construction, but finished enough to host our event) in the Eola Hills.
Here is the list of wines by flight with a few of my comments. Rich Trimpi and others will have better notes than I. Overall I was impressed with the wines, and felt that most needed more time in the cellar to develop tertiary flavors. Many were a bit closed right now aromatically, with few showing any of the dirt & mushroom flavors of aged pinot. The Eola Hills wines in particular came across with significant structure that needs time to soften.
Flight 1:
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Domaine Drouhin, Laurene (mag)
I loved this wine. A great way to kick off the tasting. Great balance, a wonderful expressive nose.
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Eyrie Reserve
I was very disappointed in this wine, particularly after finding out it was the Reserve. It was the least of the flight for me. Perhaps more aging to develop tertiary flavors or longer decanting will help. My pour wasn’t a winner, but others had it on the their top 5 list.
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Prive, Le Nord
On first approach it showed okay, but every time I came back to it I was less impressed. Others liked it a lot.
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Grochau Cellars, Willamette Valley (mag)
I got a bit of Barnyard on the nose, but John’s 1st vintage held up well.
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Cameron, Abbey Ridge
My 2nd favorite of the flight just behind the DDO. Balanced, showing some tertiary flavor development & light dusty tannins. No obvious brett, but others will likely differ. I’m not hyper sensitive to brett.
Flight 2:
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Hamacher, Willamette Valley (1 bottle badly corked)
My first pour was undrinkably corked, and I still had a bit of that tainting my 2nd pour from the other bottle.
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Cameron, Gehrts
Enough brett that I struggled to enjoy the Gehrts. Didn’t have that “cameron funk” I normally love.
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Domaine Serene, Evenstad Reserve
Stewed. I couldn’t get past the nose. It was a winebid.com purchase, so provenance isn’t known.
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Cameron, Clos Electrique
I loved this. balanced, great mouthfeel. I felt it would benefit from time in the cellar.
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Thomas, Dundee Hills (mag)
The baby of the flight. Very structured, dark fruit. A bit was left so I brought the Mag home and enjoyed a glass last night. The day of extra air paid off. Exquisite.
Flight 3:
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Carlton Hill, Yamhill-Carlton
a pleasing pinot.
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Matello, Willamette Valley (mag)
very primary still. Marcus’ first vintage and this was surprisingly youthful and needing time to mellow.
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Torri Mor, Reserve Deux Verres, Willamette Valley
I brought this and it wowed no one, including myself.
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Van Duzer Estate
I found it a bit closed & flat, not enough acid to carry it forward.
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Matello Homage A&D, Willamette Valley
The best wine of the flight. Just lovely.
Flight 4: (My flight of the day. delicious)
Perhaps not surprisingly the first 3 of flight were incredibly similar. This is a case IMO of the vineyard speaking more loudly than the winemakers.
the entire flight including the L&E was young, structured, rather closed during the tasting. I very much would love to have all of these in my cellar for long-term aging. Patience required.
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Evesham Wood, 7 Springs en dessous
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Patty Green, Anden (Anden was once part of 7 springs)
A little was left over and I had a glass last night. With a day of air it was incredible.
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St. Innocent, 7 Springs
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Evesham Wood, Cuvee L&E (probably from Le Puits Sec Vineyard, 100% pommard)
Compared to the 3 from 7 springs, this one just coated & gripped the mouth. Just wasn’t even close to peak.
Flight 5:
Another Eola Hills flight. Did the location of the tasting drive submissions of wine from the area? Not surprisingly the whole cluster of Cristom was obvious across the board. Most showed more oak than any from the first 4 flights. For me the whole cluster for Cristom in this vintage presented as chewy, mouth gripping wines. Which made me want to slow down and share with food vs. rapidly assess.
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Cristom Reserve
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Cristom, Jessie (mag)
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Witness Tree, Willamette Valley
Oak flavors showed through. Very structured, but softer than the whole cluster Cristoms.
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Cristom, Louise (mag)
Immediate blast of dark red/black fruit on the nose & palate. a bit of oak spice also showed through.
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Cristom, Marjorie (mag)
Flight 6:
By flight 6 my palate was shot, which was perhaps appropriate as all of these wines were bigger & hotter than the previous flights. I was surprised to find the Anne Amie just as big as the rest in this group. Not what I expected, but perhaps reflected the winemaker at the time.
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Bergstrom, Cumberland Reserve
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Andrew Rich Reserve, Willamette Valley (mag)
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Shea Shea Pommard Clone (Shea winery & Shea Vineyard - made by Jim Anderson in 2002)
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Anne Amie, Rainbow Ridge
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St. Innocent, Freedom Hills
My top wines of the day
, simply in the order tasted:
DDO Laurene
Cameron Abbey Ridge
Cameron Clos Electrique
Thomas
All 3 7 springs wines from Patty Green, St. I, and Evesham Wood
Evesham Wood Cuvee L&E
The good news is the 5th annual throwdown is already confirmed. Andy Steinman & Ken Pahlow will host at Walter Scott. Most likely vintage will be 2008, but we will collect more votes before making a firm decision. Block Monday July 27th, 2015 on your calendar now.