2007 Cameron Clos Electrique Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills, OR
Wow, scintillating from the moment the bottle was opened. No more juvenile jumpiness yet still remarkably fresh with red raspberries, wild strawberries and cherries that surge from the glass and have somehow gained a savory depth of flavor. Layers of baking spice and Oregon fir. The balance is pretty much perfect…almost like the wine is expressing confidence. Mouth watering acidity that adds to integration. Traces of leather and aged tobacco. Perhaps the faintest trace of Cameron funk. Outstanding length. This is a fall-in-love kind of wine. Honestly, I don’t believe Oregon Pinot gets much better. 2 bottles left. I rarely regret not backing up the truck. 20-20 hindsight.
Thanks for the lovely note, Richard!
These are some of the few pinots from Oregon that I want to and have yet to source or try. Your note really makes me want to go out and find some.
Cameron is usually worth the extra effort. That said, like any producer, only a fraction of the production rises to the top tier. Dumb luck is involved. The odds improve based upon winemaker skill/experience, vintage, bottling and style (which you’ve got to click with).
Some Cameron Pinots can be ridiculously stinky (reduction). Very tough to know beforehand, although I regularly hear they’re doing better at decreasing it.
I gravitate towards cool Oregon vintages. That said, overall, it’s likely that a greater number of inferior wines are made in a vintage like 2007 (rainy harvest) vs. 2008 (Steady dry warmth). Even the better more experienced producers can whiff. The trade off is the that the heights are higher for my palate. YMMV.
I’ve been buying since only the 2018 vintage. Curious how long Cameron’s wines stay open if I wanted to check in on them? And if they are showing funk, how often does it take to blow off (if it does)?
I don’t think Cameron Pinots shut down like Burgundy. I try to let the Clos Electrique and Abbey Ridge Pinots age at least 6 -8 years before checking in on them. Vintages like 2010 and 2011 are probably just now entering their prime drinking window IMHO. I’ll open the Reserve and Dundee Hills at any point after release…and both can age.
The funk does blow off…but sometimes it’s so intense that it requires double decanting (or triple) with lots of air and a few hours of patience. Not ideal if you’re short on time and want to pop & pour. The transformation when the funk clears can be surprising.
Curious how you treat the Arley’s Leap. I’ve found (at least since the 2008 vintage, earliest I’ve had) is that it rewards aging. Not sure it can age as long or well as AR or CE, but a 2008 I had in early 2020 was outstanding.
Arley’s is a favorite, along with Gehrt’s. I believe both are no longer produced. The 05, 07 and 08 Arley’s are in the cellar…as an aging experiment, so we’ll see. Arley’s can be pretty darned funky FWIW.
Just finished drinking an 08 Gehrt’s. Call the initial funk about a 2 on the 10 scale. A very enjoyable Cameron with controlled ripeness. Not in the same league as the 07 CE Pinot IMHO.
Last time I went to John’s Open House (Nov 2019), they were still making Arley’s, though the price had been bumped up a bit. Gehrts hasn’t been made for a number of years.
Thanks, RT. Agree on the funkiness note, but that is fine by me.
To Rick’s point, I know John released a 2018 Arley’s and said it was his favorite Pinot of the vintage. I missed out on buying any, but hope to snag some 2019s (assuming it’s made). It does seem to disappear much faster from retail than his other wines, presumably because he doesn’t produce much.
Have never tried a Cameron Gehrts. Bring one on your next Oregon visit and I’ll bring a 2014 Clos Electrique Massale, which I’ve yet to try.
I have 2015, 2017, and 2018 Arley’s Leap in the cellar. As I understand it, it is Abbey Road vineyard, but planted with Clos Electrique massale cuttings in 1990 (young vine). One reason it might disappear quicker is that it is 3/4 the price of the AR or CE.
Have had the luck to try a number of old bottles, including 1994, 1998, 2000 and 2003 Clos Electrique out of mag. Not a less-than-stellar bottle among them. Their newer projects (Italian whites, spritz rose) are wonderful and well made, but not long agers. Almost any of the pinots can go forever though. And their whites are phenomenal.
They’ve gotten very expensive on the secondary market, in the rare case you can find them. Wine for Whales.
Realized I had 5 bottles of 2010 Abbey Ridge Pinot, so, because of this thread, we opened one. A little meaty when first opened but that blew off and was replaced by black cherries, with a raspberry note chiming in with time. Some spicy notes, predominantly cinnamon. Low funk level. A lot of tension. Probably needs another five years at least.
Yeah, I stumbled upon a case of the 1999 Cameron Arley’s Leap a few years ago. We opened one last holiday season and it’s still going strong. We are hosting a dinner party for the Charlotte Humane Society Gala on Saturday night and I might open another one, but I’ll probably save the Cameron’s for a separate wine tasting offered in the silent auction. And yes, 2018 Arley’s Leap was available last fall. Opened the first bottle of a case 2-3 weeks ago. Too young. The final pour is still corked in the fridge. I didn’t catch the Cameron bug until a few years ago, but I try to buy a few bottles every year including 2015 and 2017 Massale and 2016 Julias. Great wines.
I can’t give away all of the Cameron secrets. Just kidding. I was in the right place at the right time. Older Cameron bottles make it to auction from time to time.
Also, I would suggest Wizers for recent back vintages and Luce Portland was offering verticals of Clos Electrique Blanc and Rouge during the height of the pandemic last summer.
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