BP remains my favorite OR producer (and probably my second favorite domestic PN producer). Interestingly, I was in a small local store in CT (that carries a few different bottles of Belle Pente) this weekend, and the proprietor told me that a few weeks back, Brian O’Donnell had dropped in, unannounced and without an escort, to check out / thank a store that supported his wines. I thought that was pretty neat.
2010 Belle Pente Pinot Noir Estate Reserve- USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton (5/25/2015)
Screams willamette valley pinot with a powerful plum/bitter orange nose; concentrated without having sweet fruit or too much extraction; remarkably light on its feet given that concentration. Has a nice iron-tinged finish and some structure to age. Impressive; better than the 2008 was at the same age. (90 pts.)
2001 Belle Pente Pinot Noir Yamhill County- USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley (5/18/2015)
Remarkable quality from what is basically a second wine. Plum, orange peel, a touch of honeysuckle, spice. A prickle of alcohol but no sweet fruit / cola here. Lovely, lively acid. Silkiest texture you can imagine. Loads of umami. Could use a touch more concentration, but that’s a small complaint for its level. Wow. This must be at peak but shows no signs of decay. (91 pts.)
great notes! I’m fascinated by Brian’s Pinots as they seem to age very well even though I wouldn’t call them “structured.” They just deliver textbook Oregon Pinot flavors at a great price.
Is BP a particularly AFWE producer? I’ve never thought so - they strike me as more of a middle of the road producer that lets the vintage speak. Their 2009s got pretty big.
Yup. Vintages like '07 and '11 are AFWE friendly, warmer vintages not as much. Personally, I like that he makes wine that reflects what the weather and sites gave him rather than trying to force everything into one style. I have strong preferences for certain wines, but they all taste delicious and well made to me.
If AFWE ranges from 1 as the extreme of austere, and 10 as goopy, I’f put Belle Pente about 4 or 5, depending on the year. 2012 provided a test, where there was plenty of opportunity to pick on the ripe side.
The 2012 Belle Pente Pinot Noirs I tasted recently were right in with Matello in terms of restraint. They will be best held at least five more years, and will easily last ten.
Brian does sometimes make leave Pinot Gris with a bit of residual sugar, more in the Alsatian style. His other white wines OTOH are bone dry.
Belle Pente is not an AFWE poster child…and it’s hard to use the word “child” since they’ve been at it since the mid-90s. Their wines probably appeal more to AFWE Pinotphiles, on average. Ripe examples aren’t hard to find (2003, 2006, 2009, etc.). The oak can sometimes protrude more than my preferences, but overall they’re certainly one of my favorite OR producers. Jill and Brian are excellent people. The Pinots are usually delicious and sell for remarkably fair prices.
+1 on all of the above, and their Rieslings are excellent - the sugar levels change with the vintage. We buy a lot of them and are holding onto a number of them from various vintages. Great wine, really nice people.
Had the '10 Murto with some friends over dinner last week and it outshined a 2006 Faiveley Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Champonnets to all at the table. To be fair, the Faiveley was still wound too tight.
I think that the wines do a remarkably good job of being . . . Burgundian is the wrong word, but they’re one of the few domestic producers who has figured out how to make wine that doesn’t have “sweet” fruit without resorting to the tart red/rhubarb profile of simply picking early. The wines strongly speak of OR terroir (the transparency of the wines are terrific - the Murto and the BP estate vineyard taste NOTHING alike), but the manner in which that terroir is expressed reminds me of Burgundy.
Nicely said. The theory of Burgundy isn’t really that “wines from everywhere else should taste exactly like Burgundy,” but that wines should speak to their site and terroir, right? That doesn’t mean that every wine that speaks to its terroir is a good wine, of course, but I like your view of the meaning of the term.
