Brooks Winery visit - some excellent wines

WINE TALK
1

During a recent trip to Oregon I had a very nice visit at Brooks Winery. They poured a large range of wines many of which were excellent (NYC people will probably have the chance to drink several of them once they get shipped). Very nice people and tasting room.


2012 Amycas White Table Wine
Very nice! A blend of Pinot Gris,Pinot Blanc, Riesling and Muscat. Steely with a long finish, great value at $18. Excellent choice for a dry white table wine to pair with fish. I would have bought some if I had any opportunities to drink dry wine at home these days.

2013 Brooks Estate Pinot Gris
Planted in the last '90s, nice enough but a little heavy.

2012 Runaway White Pinot Blanc
A nice honest wine.

2012 Brooks Gewurtztarminer Oak Ridge vineyard Columbia River Gorge
Doesn’t have an expansive gewurtztraminer nose but quite tasty on the palate. More on the rich, spicy end of things rather than emphasizing roses or lychee. Rich long finish.

2012 Willamette Valley Riesling
Now we have 2 of what I think of as Lyle wines. By this I mean it’s made in an uncompromising trocken style which I don’t always appreciate. This particular wine has a beautiful nose and is minerally, impressive, but has a bit too much lemon juice on the palate for me. This is intentional as apparently the winemaker is a fan of Trockens and GGs.

2012 Ara Riesling
another uncompromising trocken. Again, not my style. Given the choice I’d take the Wilamette for the wonderful aromatics.

2012 Bois Joli
What a fun little wine! grapefruity, medium dry, delightful. I bought.

2011 Terue Muscat
fermented dry, lots of orange rind, very long, I like it a lot. they recommend it for oysters, not my first thought but maybe I’ll give it a try. I bought.

2013 Pinot Noir Rose
very nice! Reminds me of a good (e.g., Cotat) Sancerre Rose. I bought two bottles so I can try aging one. It seems like it might go the distance. It’s rare to find such a top notch, delicous, serious Rose.

2011 Janus Pinot Noir
Mostly neutral oak barrels. biodynamic, dry farmed, 12.5% Beautiful nose, mushroomy fruity, medium richness, some old oak flavors, my favorite of the pinots. I bought.

2010 Temperance Hill Pinot Noir
Lighter nose, good enough, but less interesting and less complex than the Janus.

2010 Rastaban Pinot Noir
very nice in a lighter, more delicate style. A little more new oak used but it doesn’t show. At first I placed it midway in enjoyment between the Janus and Temperance but with some air, time and attention it grew on me. I liked it quite a bit. I bought.


2008 Red Letter (open 1 day when we tasted)
The most tannic/structured of the pinots, very good. I considered buying but given the high price and limited storage I ended up passing.

2012 Tethys Frozen Ice Moon (100% old vine estate riesling)
a sweetish wine made with cryoextraction. Not too sweet but not too interesting either.


Seems like they’re doing interesting work. Not all are in my personal style preference but IMO some are definitely top notch and worth a look.

2

Jay,

I appreciate this write up. Not familiar with this producer until now, and this helps greatly.

3

Never hear much about these folks since Jimi Brooks’ untimely passing. I never got to meet him, but I hear he was a character.

We see “runaway red” and a couple of the whites distributed around here. Haven’t tried them in a while, but I’ll pick up a bottle.

4

I stopped by a month ago and was fortunate to get a really nice tasting of their library wines no longer for sale. Aged rieslings back to 03 and some pinots going back to 07. I was quite impressed.

5

I love the people at Brooks, and do agree with Jay in that some wines are not for me while I really love others. Recently the Tethys and Sweet P rieslings have been marvelous, as well as the rose. Their new facility is gorgeous and well worth a visit.

6

At this years IPNC sat at the Brooks Winery table for one of the dinners. Janie (Jimis sister) and winemaker Cris were delightful and had a lot of fun tasting there wines and hearing stories.
Highlight for me were the bone dry Rieslings and all of the pinots. Your right about the Rieslings being Lyle style - bone dry but so pure and refreshing. They also had the sweet pea which was more of a spatlese style but equally as delicious. Count me as a fan.

7

I’m wondering if I would have liked the dry rieslings more if I had them with a meal. I wouldn’t be surprised.

8

The Bois Joli Riesling is outstanding. Best in OR?

9

One of my favorites.

10

Of the three people in our group that was probably the wine that we bought the most of between us. That or the rose.