such a bright, ripe vintage but i must say i have widely enjoyed the 06 wines i have had from OR. Patty Green Balcombe and Ana in 06 i have tasted and agree, they are largely primary still.
I like my 06 Oregon PN’s alot. That is good since I have about 12 cases of them. I brought back six cases of 08’s from Carlton Friday and I have five more coming in later. Most of the winemakers think the 06’s will be good to go for 3-4 years at least. I imagine some like my J. Thomas’s will last much longer than that.
But I think a case will be gone this Thursday at the civil war at Autzen. Great venue to bring a case of nice 06’s for friends and poor Beavers.
Go Ducks!!!
Thanks for the note on the 06 P-Rob. I actually opened two bottles of 2006 Shea Vineyards East Hill in T-Day and they rocked! There are some diamonds in the rough.
Usually[/i I think of Patty Greens as being on the more fruit forward end of the spectrum for Oregon pinot, but funny thing, the most elegant and graceful ‘06 I have encountered from any Oregon producer is from PG-the Etzel Block. Opened one just last night. Bright strawberry red color, earthy loamy bright cherry and strawberry with slightly elevated acidity-acidity that leaves the tongue wanting more and not too much for my taste but it is slightly noticeable. I have great respect for Patty Green (and Jim if he made any decisions on this wine) given her ability to take the grapes from Etzel and produce a wine so markedly different from the rest of her stable and from what I can tell-different from everyone elses’ '06s.
Mitch and Phillip, perhaps you can help me with P.G. Pinots.
My first encounters were with the 06 Ana and Croft and both were pleasant with more ripeness than my preference. This year I tasted a number of 07s including the Ana, Balcombe, Eason, Estate, Estate Old Vine, Four Winds, and Notorious. All were very soundly made and my impressions ranged from good to very good, with none of the 07s really jumping out. The 08 Etzel barrel sample was probably the most distinctive (and promising) P.G. Pinot I’ve tasted. I’ve heard about a homogeneity in winemaking style and noticed a bit of that pattern.
Questions:
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Do these Pinots show more transparency with age?
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How would you describe the house style compared to other OR producers?
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Which bottlings do you prefer and why?
RT
IMHO the PG wines are (generally) fruit forward and juicy, not as much emphasis on structure. As such, there is (generally) more similarity than variety in her roster of wines. I do believe that this is a similar quality to Ken Wright’s wines. And not a knock on either. (Though I think Jim gets annoyed at the suggestion.) With the general similarities between the wines, I don’t think there is much to choose from between them all. While I would not be inclined to hold all that many years, I do still have Quail Hill and Notorious from her first vintages.