Not much to say about this wine other then it smells and tastes like cherry cough syrup. There is decent acidity and a slight hint of earthiness underneath the fake fruit. Perhaps as it ages and looses it’s fruity ebullience it will turn into something drinkable. I don’t plan on buying anymore bottles to find out. I found this comparable to a bottle of Woodbridge Pinot. Yuck! Worst bottle of wine I opened all year.
I had a couple bottles of this back in October, and I have to say this must be going through some changes because from what I remember, I would describe it as anything but fake. My notes say something along the lines of full bodied without being thick or heavy and great fruit without being sweet or sappy. I haven’t had Woodbridge Pinot in a long time, but I wouldn’t think of comparing the bottles I’ve had to any kind of supermarket pinot.
If I had to choose between the two I think I would prefer the Woodbridge. This really suprised me given all the hype. This is my first bottle so I have no frame of reference. I recorked the bottle and will try again tomorrow. Did you get any spice notes in this at all? Nada for me.
No spice in my notes… and I don’t remember. And I haven’t purchased more since I had those 2 bottles, so I wasn’t such a huge fan that I’m buying by the case. I’m just saying I can’t see the comparison to cough syrup, that’s all.
Well, I am sure you won’t be the only one to take issue with that point! I should clarify that I don’t think the wine tastes medicinal, just generically fake in a way that reminds me of cough syrup.
Surprising. Almost the complete antithesis of the bottle that I had in early October. Don’t misinterpret, I’m not doubting your word. Intriguing enough to have me considering pulling another one of my bottles to see if it shows similarly right now.
We’re all entitled to our individual tastes and impressions, but this would be the first time I’ve ever heard of Russ’s Pinots described this way. There are few OR grower/producers who can match his experience and passion for creating Pinot Noir that provides both purity and transparency. Just my opinion.
RT
Hey Scott did you give the wine any air? Just curious about how much time you spent with the wine.
Ouch. I imagine this is meant to be a friendly bottle in what I think is a warmish vintage but I would not expect that from EW. I wonder if it is just the primary fruit all bunched up right now and it will settle down.
Considering the price, you should track down a bottle of the 07. Maybe be more in your wheelhouse. Count me as someone who thinks EW is not a producer to right off too quickly.
Jason
Interesting, saw these locally around $20 and passed, even though the clerk was hawking them pretty hard.
What is the winemaker’s background?
24 vintages in the Willamette Valley and mentoring from Henri Jayer and Michelle Niellon.
One thing to note is that the EW WV bottling sees zero new oak, so people who are used to (and like) the spice notes and other qualities imparted by new oak may find this wine lacking. Not saying that’s the case here, nor that oak is the only source of spiciness, but just something to consider.
My bottle was a 375 and I gave it no air. I have half the bottle in the fridge. I will try again tonight. I don’t buy pinot in this price range generally but thought this was a no brainer given the producers reputation and the vintage hype. I think new oak would have helped this wine. I will admit to missing it.
I had a bottle about a month ago. Found it to be about what I expected from a great vintage, well known producer, @ $17.
Fruity, ripe, some heat, easy to sip, but not too much complexity to write home about. Not bad for an entry level pinot.
Had this twice recently at Farm to Fork in Dundee. Delicious, soft, simple, fruity - but nothing cough-syrupy in these two bottles. This is generally my favorite QPR OR Pinot. Nowhere near as complex, concentrated and silky as Russ’s upper-end cuvées, but delicious juice nonetheless from my overall favorite OR producer (next to Scott Paul, of course 
Had to pop one. Starts out a touch confected and very red fruited with some ripe strawberry and touches of red briar fruit. The invisible oak allows some pleasing minerality to surface. The attack is gentle and feminine featuring sour cherry acidity. There’s some slight bitterness that could be construed as “medicinal”, which fades with air. The bitter notes transform and soften to subtle white pepper and a slightly saline undercurrent. I agree with Scott that it lacks the complexity of the higher end EW bottlings. It’s truly an OR version of the Bourgogne level, and better than most. As the glass nears the bottom, the OR sous bois and fruit aromas merge and play. No heat or sign of unbalanced alcohol. A classy expression of OR Pinot at a working man’s price.
RT
Tasting it again right now. Cough Syrup might be a little harsh, it definately doesn’t taste like medicine, but I still find this to be very fake tasting. Perhaps Hi-C or Kool Aid would be a better way to describe the flavors. This wine doesn’t really taste like Kool Aid either but I think that gets the point across about the fake fruit. This wine doesn’t taste off, I can see why it might be enjoyable to some, but for $18.00 this is a joke! If this was a Merlot of comparable quality it would cost $8.00-$9.00. I don’t care how expensive Pinot is to grow. If I pay $18.00 for a bottle of wine, I want an $18.00 bottle of wine. This wine just isn’t.
I will agree that there aren’t any better pinots from Oregon at this price point. That isn’t a defense of this wine. It is a condemnation of the absurd lack of value in Oregon Pinot.
This too is almost always my favorite QPR wine from Oregon (Cameron’s WV also comes to mind). I buy a lot of this wine year in and year out b/c it always drinks well up front and also seems to improve in the bottle for years. Recent examples of the 05 were delicious, the 06 perhaps flatter and less complex, the 07 just beautiful–balanced, aromatic and refreshing…but the 08 is definitely on the chunkier side. There is a consistent full, cottony mouthfeel about many 08s I’ve tried and it is definitely noticeable in the 08 EW WV. But for $17 there is still the pleasing pure Pinot fruit that seems to always come through in Russ’s wines…I’ll be fascinated to see how this, and other 08s with similar qualities, will age–will the fruit mellow out and result in a more elegant wine, or will the 08s across the valley go down as corpulent super-sized PNs? Certainly Brickhouse’s crisp, elegant and bright 08 PN Select is a terrific example of an affordable 08 w/ plenty of verve and interest…and at $25 fairly priced. My $.02.
best,
Doug
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. And, IMHO, these statements are as far off the mark as one can get.
I’m just looking at my wine stash right now. At the $18.00 price point I have good to excellent wines from Trimbach, Franocis Pinon, Jacky Blot, Leon Beyer, Kientzler, Christoffel Jr, Markus Molitor, Bernard Baudry, and a great Gewurz from Belle Pente. I would have to spend over $30.00 a bottle to find a Pinot that would even come close to matching the depth of any of these wines. Overpriced pinot certainly isn’t lmited to the Willamette Valley, I certainly don’t see a lot of bargains from Burgundy or California either, but sadly they aren’t an exception to the rule. I have tasted nothing in Oregon Pinot that makes a good argument in favor of crowding out my other purchases. That doesn’t mean I don’t think there is any good Oregon Pinot being made, just that I think there is shockingly little that represents good value for my palate. A true Pinot partisan probably takes a much different view