On our recent Oregon Coast road trip, we stopped in the Eola - Amity Hills for an exquisite picnic with Shelby and Peter (thanks much once again!). Sitting in the shade of oak trees on a hot day, we tasted rarities, current, and up & coming wines, with a spectacular view.
The common thread was a fresh, lively, more natural leaning interpretation of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir than you’d typically find in the Willamette Valley. Black tea was the most pronounced descriptor for me in the Pinots besides dark red fruit, especially in the excellent, very savory 2022 Bracken. If you’ve received this week’s mailing list email, you can read how well it did vs. other Willamette Valley Pinots, winning a bracket of 64 esteemed producers. The 2023 needs time, and showed its potential on the second day.
This was one of the last bottles of the 2021 Ancestral Sparkling Pinot Noir. As it turned out in the end, it was the remainder of a dosage trial with maple syrup from McMinnville. Very dry, and well structured with subtle yet noticeable tannins, outstanding,
Bracken on a Sunday afternoon in June.
Shelby was very generous with the bottles we opened, so much so that we could bring them to Violin for a side by side on the Sojeau and Bracken bottlings. It was fascinating to experience the stylistic differences in direct comparison of the same vineyard and vintage - the more traditionally Burgundian Violin wines, vs. the edgier and more giving Perkins Harter.
