TN: 2006 Ken Wright - Pinot Noir - Shea Vineyard

NOSE: very sweet/ripe fruits: strawberry, plum, and blueberry (fruits got darker smelling with air time); initial sulfur note blew-off shortly after opening; earthy pine; hints of pinot funk, brown twigs, and Topps bubble gum. Bouquet was much spicier on Day 3.

BODY: sediment present; garnet core lightening to brick red at the edges; color is of medium-light depth; medium - medium-full bodied.

TASTE: very sweet; very ripe; extremely tart acidity – (was this “spoofulated”?); a bit alcoholic-tasting (comes across as more alcoholic than the labeled 13.5%); lush mouthfeel; earth, oak (a bit more than I’d prefer) and strawberries; this wine is much riper than I expect and prefer from Oregon pinot; not tannic or harsh, but not exactly elegant either; very weak mid-palate; 40-45 sec. finish. A huge disappointment. It was a little better on Days 2 and 3 than it was on Day 1, but it still didn’t rise above disappointing. This was the first Ken Wright I’ve had, so I have no others to compare it to. I am sincerely hoping the '06 Meredith Mitchell I’m still sitting on is better than this.

B: 50, 5, 11, 14, 6 = 86 (86 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

One needs to be VERY selective with 06 Oregon Pinots. There are only a few producers that were able to maintain any elegance/balance in their wines. A few come to mind.

Scott Paul
Thomas
St. Innocent
Drouhin
Belle Pente

i really enjoyed the 06 Privé le nord i had last summer, thought it was tremendous wine alone or with food. thought Patty Green’s 06 Balcombe was quite good though a notch down from Prive. had a 06 Shea i found pedestrian. have not popped a 06 Beaux Freres yet.

I haven’t found most of Ken Wright’s wine to be of my tastes for several years now. I’m no sure if the quality of his fruit selection ( he buys all his fruit) is diminishing; if he’s venturing toward more of a Cali style PN.; or both. Glad he’s not with Domaine Serene any more!

06 produced some very ripe fruit in Oregon. To many of the producers played around and let the fruit get to ripe,imo. That’s why we heard so many stories about water going into the fermenters.

Have not touched any of my top tier 06 Oregon PN’s yet. Dom. Serene is just now releasing over the past month or so. The med range pinots seem to be earlier drinkers. So I may try a few more of those in the coming months. I’m letting my remaining 05 rest for 2-5 more years before starting to relook at them.

KW - don’t get me started.