Ten days ago, my monthly blind tasting group convened to try eight small-producer 2021 Oregon pinot noirs, a category I have rarely explored. Six came from a store in Portland. The Goodfellows came straight from the winery.
It was an unusual vintage, by all reports, with a heat dome in the summer, then near-perfect weather in the fall. The grapes tended to be small and had thick skins, and alcohols were very modest (most listed at 13% or less).
In an email, Marcus Goodfellow said he was very happy with the vintage, but said his wines were vin de gardes. He recommended substantial decants (these got at least 90+ minutes) and said they show even better a day or two later (true).
Overall, the quality was very high, and my scores were in a relatively narrow range for my six favorites, so Iāve simply put them in bands here. Preferences in the group ranged widely, with some people being put off by the tannins in a couple of wines that I liked precisely because of their structure. Many in this group mark down young wines with a lot of structure. I tend to judge serious wines by what I think their future will be.
I loathe that synthetic candy cherry cough drop fruit you get in so many New World pinots ā the cloying kind. While a few of these had a bit of candy cherry, I didnāt find any cloying. Instead, many had damp leaf/sous bois/earthy notes on the nose. Yay!
I sampled the (refrigerated) leftovers on days 2 to 4.
I was very pleased with these, but many people in the group kind of shrugged.
My favorites:
Goodfellow Family Cellars - Temperance Hill Vineyard Heritage No. 18 (my #1, the groupās #8!): Less giving on the nose than most. But complex, concentrated and tannic. Earthy flavors with a bit of oak showing (thereās no new oak). Not for the faint of heart. Less approachable than the Whistling Ridge. Still pretty backward on days 3 and 4, but all seems to be in balance. I thought the two Goodfellows were very similar in quality, but the Temperance will need more time.
Goodfellow Family Cellars - Whistling Ridge Vineyard Heritage No. 19 (my #2, the groupās #3/4): Faintly herbaceous note on the nose on day 1, but something more earthy (dare I say āBurgundianā?) came up over the next several nights, which I liked a lot. In the mouth, this has tremendous concentration/depth, and lots of grip (read: tannin). The fruit is a bit in the background now, but I thought everything was in balance and this should evolve beautifully ā¦ with time. āLong, deep, balanced,ā I wrote, and on day 3, āGreat grip and fruit.ā
Patricia Green - Hyland Vineyard Coury Clone (my #3, the groupās #3/4): More oak showing on the nose than most (itās 50% new), but I didnāt find it excessive or dominating. At the tasting, this was another dense, concentrated, tannic wine, but I felt confident there is ample fruit for this to develop nicely. It opened up to show more cherries in the mouth on days 2 and 3; by day 4, there was a little (non-cloying) candy cherry.
Good middle band:
Arterberry Maresh - āMareshā (my #3/4, the groupās #1): On day 1, this was quite earthy on the nose, but had some red cherry fruit on the palate. The next night, lots of nice red cherry aromas showed up ā a quite different profile than day 1. This was quite approachable during the tasting, notwithstanding a faint hint of hard tannins at the back. It seemed to close down on the following nights. Slightly rustic, and seems to be a bit less complex than the best.
McKinlay - Pinot Noir Estate (my #5, groupās #2): Some oak showing on the nose and in the mouth. Nice, classic pinot sour cherry in the mouth. Quite fruity and open on day 1, but with good structure. Day 2: Closes up a bit. Day 3: Pleasant but has less depth and fewer layers than the best.
Kelley Fox - Maresh Vineyard (my #6, the groupās #6): Lighter color than the others and nice, bright red cherry on the nose on day 1. Lighter, fruitier, more red-fruited in the mouth than most, and also less concentrated, but thereās decent structure there. Stayed broadly the same on days 2 and 3: lots of fruit, approachable, balanced, but less deep.
Outliers:
Martin Woods - Hyland Vineyard (my #8, the groupās #5): Bright red cherries on the nose. Sort of simple and a little candied red cherry in the mouth, with candy cherries on the finish. Sort of simple. Similar on day 2. On day 3, I wrote: āFruit soda. Tutti-frutti.ā At 13.4% marked ABV, this was the highest in alcohol.
Cameron - Pinot Reserve (my #7, groupās #7): Much darker color than the others. Oak/leather on the nose. A big, ripe, black cherry thing going on on the palate. Seemed a tad sweet and lowish on acid. On the finish, more sweet black cherry and some oak, maybe some stems, and a touch of candy. Well made in a bigger, riper, easy-to-drink style. I could be contented drinking this, but itās not my preferred style.
