I opened a bottle of the 23 Berserker Pinot last night. Way too early I know, but I have plenty. It was definitely all wound up, but still really enjoyable. It’s going to be great with more time. I noticed the cork is different. Still a composite cork, but it doesn’t say DIAM on it. Is it a different brand, or did DIAM change their name or logo?
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Marcus mentioned in the Diam thread that he’s “experimenting now with Portocork’s technical closure because they use 100% cork rather than a portion microspheres (which are microplastics).”
Perhaps it’s one of those? Looks similar:
It looks like it could be the CWINE cork from that company.
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We had our third bottle of out of a case of original release Durant BdB. This is probably the eighth time I’ve tasted it. I felt that this was the best bottle yet. I did not open this in advance and it was inviting from the get go. It held its mousse like any good Champagne for the several hours of consumption. It also was the least reductive bottle I’ve had (a positive for me). Based on this bottle, I can still see further positive development and the potential for years of life ahead.
We usually drink Champagne on Friday night. My wife nailed this as a Goodfellow at the first sip. Terroir? Producer? Highly identifiable.
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Hi Frank,
The cork in the 23 Berserker Cuvee is a technical closure produced by a company called Portocork. It’s a similar process as the closures made by Diam, grinding the cork to finer particles, sanitizing them, and reforming them. But where Diam uses microspheres in the rebinding, the Portocork version is only cork.
While I really like Diam as a product and it works well for us, there are two drawbacks. 1) the corks are very stiff and 2) the microspheres are plastic.
I’m making a committed effort to reduce plastic wherever we can in the winery. I don’t think I can possibly eliminate using plastic as almost everything is packaged in it, but we ‘re looking to minimize it’s use.
We began trialing the Portocork technical closure in a number of cuvees last year and this year, and so far it is working extremely well.
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This is 100% correct, though the Cwine3 is a parallel to the Diam 10 for density.
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Popped a a 2011 Souris and followed it over s couple evenings. Took a couple hours to flesh out and then was really tasty. Strawberry, full texture a hint of cola late. Really liked it.
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TN: 2014 Goodfellow Ribbon Ridge AVA PN
An opportunity to pull out a nicely aging midweek gem since SO (who is hankering for a Nebbiolo, even a Rhone for a change) is OOT, and a recent convo with Marcus on this forum, inspired the PNP. Under a “humble” DIAM5, this wine gives a dried plum aroma that continues from nose to drinking. Juicy acids throughout, the fruit is happily present – reminding me that this was a hot vintage – along with a hint of mushroom and the subtlest twist of pepper. Finishes with a welcome dry moment at the roof of the mouth and then walks away with juicy acids to spare. A pleasure now and surely for a year or two.
I find it nice to compare these notes with @Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m’s of a 2014 Durant vineyard wine. Mine is 13.8% alcohol. And it feels heavier bodied than what Brian describes in his TN.
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Well, I thought I’d posted earlier but it doesn’t look that it came through.
Had a tasting with Marcus and Megan this afternoon and it was amazing. The discussion between them was awesome. Marcus describing his decision making process and the technical aspects of the wine, Megan weighing in with a different perspective. It felt like a masterclass on wine and winemaking while also holding true to the perspective of a small winemaker.
We tasted through the recent sparkling releases which show the potential of world class sparkling wine, their Riesling which hit all our notes, their Pinots which showed the structure and fruit that we love. We only tasted a couple of still Chardonnay, but I’ve always been a huge fan and didn’t need to be sold.
All in all 10/10 would recommend. Went to a nearby restaurant and will post pictures on the next post.
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Went to Thistle in downtown McMinnville and they had some 2013 Goodfellow on the menu. I was lucky enough to try it earlier during our tasting and was excited to have some more. The night and the new bottle did not disappoint.
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Eric,
Thank you so much for the kind words. It was great to meet you and Emily, and we really enjoyed talking wine(as well as fish, jam, and liquidity issues) with you.
I’m glad that you had a great experience at Thistle, the owner is an old friend and we love the restaurant.
Take care and I hope to see you again soon!
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I am glad that you enjoyed the 2014 Ribbon Ridge!
I feel that almost every vintage has some aspect that is a bit odd about it, in one way or another. While 2014 was quite warm, the 2014 Durant is one of the most fruit restrained versions of that wine, even at 14.2%. But I also feel that as Whistling Ridge wines age, they seems to gain a density to them (our Ribbon Ridge bottlings are declassified Whistling Ridge fruit). In warm/hot years there’s also fruit weight to them and I would guess that the Ribbon Ridge is bigger at 13.8% than Durant at 14.2%.
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• 2021 Goodfellow Family Vineyards Whistling Ridge Vineyard Pinot Gris.
I loved this New World rendition of Pinot Gris. From CT review:
Superlative Pinot Gris. Crisp and lovely. Surprisingly rigid acidity, avoiding my usual problems with flabby or light or just downright bland Pinot Gris/Grigio. Lemon, pronounced gravel, petrol(?). Very refreshing. Different from, and in no way inferior to, the Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris that I love.
Score: 93. Relative to expectations: ++
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I am still getting my palate around Oregon chards generally, so bear with me as I inarticulately describe the great experience we had in drinking a 2019 Goodfellow Ribbon Ridge Chardonnay last night and today for lunch. The pairing was with South Carolina crabcakes and was a glorious one. The impression we had on Night 1 was upon popping and pouring, a little funk and thinness of palate. Then, as the wine warmed and was further exposed to air, about hour 2, the wine began to open to reveal that delightful mineral/saline feature that I treasure with good Chardonnay, but of a more elegant nature. On Day 2 with lunch and the remaining crab cake, the Ribbon Ridge is much more open, with excellent racy acidity, and a bit of an oily texture and a slight whiff of petrol? Intriguing and original, and we loved it. Lesson learned—these Goodfellow Chards are built to age. I wish I had laid off and retried on Day 3.
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Marcus and Megan are also doing magnums for another sparkling this triage, but I don’t remember which bottling. 
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2017 Whistling Ridge Pinot Noir
Cork pulled, into Glasvin Burgundy stems, and 30 mins of air. Delicious red fruit, black tea, spice and this faint sappy/pine needle note. Palate is well integrated with strawberry, cherry, pomegranate in nice harmony with more savory and earthy notes. Brilliantly evolving, but no rush to drink up — this has the structure and acid to run a long distance.
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Anyone opened a 2018 Whistling Ridge Cabernet Franc lately?
I drank mine years ago. They must have been good.