Find this for Pinot and BDX as well, with the caveat of good storage. I’m not a chemist, but it seems reasonable that the length of time it takes for the interesting chemical reactions would be similar, I doubt growing region has much influence as long as the wine that went into bottle had enough structure.
I have really enjoyed 96 BDX this year and have had some wonderful 96, 98, 99, 2000 Oregon wines. I’ve also opened a couple 15-17 Oregon wines that really don’t seem much more evolved than the 21s I’ve had. Likewise I have the sense that 2000 BDX is still a little on the young side. All this has led me to believe that 20 years is likely a reasonable starting point for a drinking window for me. I’ve had a couple 2010 Oregon that were amazing, but I also believe they will likely improve from here.
While I still feel young, at 43 I’m starting to think my days of purchasing new vintage red wines to age may be ending within the next 5 or so years.
You are more charitable than I am…I chalk most of those notes down to inexperienced tasters who deem anything without exuberant fruit to be ‘tired, over the hill, past peak’.
It is interesting how wine is another gauge of the ageing process. Given your target of 20 years, I’d encourage you to buy reds until you are approaching 60. Optimism says you will live well into your 80s and beyond. I didn’t not set such a goal, but having just turned 60, I am no longer buying any more reds except ones that are intended for early consumption. I realized that I have enough age-worthy reds to last the rest of my predicted life. Part of that is also shaped by the fact that with each passing year I want to drink whites and bubbles more and more rather than reds. Such an interesting journey!
For anyone who didn’t see, Goodfellow Whites were prominently featured in the new write up from Erin Brooks at the Wine Advocate. Great scores across the board, congrats Marcus and Megan.
Is this section contradictory? “ While many styles exist, several top winemakers in the Willamette are profoundly influenced by the wines of Burgundy, specifically the often-reductive characteristics of domaines like Roulot. These producers tend to ferment in barrel and expose the wines to oxygen early on rather than using more protective techniques.”
I presume that’s the same method as hyperoxidation? Even if so, are we sure that’s what she’s referencing? I feel like she was speaking generally and that’s a pretty niche process.
The answer is no, the macro-oxidative phase is pre-fermentation and allows easily oxidized compounds to bind up and drop out leaving the resulting wines less oxidative.
Then if you pursue a reductive environment from that point on, you can really shift into the reductive style of Chardonnay.
As well as a significant number of other producers macro-oxidizing the juice has been pretty common for a while. I started in 2008, though with aromatic whites like Riesling, Pinot Gris, and Pinot Blanc.
00, I believe began calling it Black Chardonnay as they desribed their process to visitors. But it’s been around for quite a while.
Also, for anyone looking for critical review of the soarkling wines, this is the first published scores for them. Erin tasted with Megan and I before we disgorged the wines, and tasted the wines without any dosage added.
A “typical” Chardonnay process would be to pick, bring the fruit to the winery, and load the press as quickly as possible. As juice is extracted during pressing, SO2 is typically added to the juice in the press pan. It suppresses fermentation and microbial issues and is an anti-oxidant, so it also suppresses oxidation. The juice is typically settled for 24-72 hours or so, depending upon how clarified the winemaker would like the wine. Then the wine is racked off the gross lees into it’s fermentation vessel, and goes through the reductive process of fermentation.
Macro-oxidizing juice was being used in the South of France in the early 2000s (and probably before that as well). Grenache oxidizes easily, and producers were having issues with the wines staying fresh.
Macro-oxidizing, the fruit is picked and then pressed sometime after arrival at the winery. As the juice is extracted, it’s allowed to oxidize (no SO2 and no fermentation) and sits until it’s oxidized to a very, very deep brown juice. Easily oxidized compounds bind with oxygen and form bigger molecules, and then settle out of the juice to the bottom of the tank.
Fermentation is a reductive process, basically the opposite of oxidizing. Oxygen atoms typically form powerful bonds, so the concept of oxidation undoing itself can be hard to wrap one’s head around. But it is how fermentation works (cue @Ben_M_a_n_d_l_e_r to fill in gaps and correct my syntax). So while the juice is extremely oxidized, the wines are perfectly fresh, and because the easily oxidized components are gone (settled out) they actually retain their vibrant, fresh nature longer than they would if those components had been retained post fermentation.
I tasted the NV Blanc de Blancs Whistling Ridge Vineyard, a new wine from Goodfellow, shortly before it was due to be disgorged. It’s labeled extra brut, but the only “dosage” it will receive will be the topping up wine; no sugar will be added. “So the only difference between this and the final product," Marcus Goodfellow and his partner Megan Joy explain, is “a small amount of SO2 to counteract the disgorging process.” Grapes for this cuvée come from the 2019 and 2021 vintages, and the base wines were matured in 14% new oak. It’s unique among its peers for its embrace of flinty character and savory bass tones over the brighter, more fruit-forward styles sometimes made in Oregon. Matchstick, coffee beans and toast complement a core of dried apple on the nose. The palate is luxuriously creamy, its super-fine mousse giving the impression of maturity. It’s structured by focused acidity and has a long, seamless finish. 120 cases were made.