Phil and Carey Franks sucked it up yesterday and allowed me to inflict myself upon them and a series of wineries as we tasted our way through the Yamhill-Carlton and Ribbon Ridge AVAs. I didn’t take notes but will offer a few quick impressions.
Seven of Hearts
Valley newcomer Byron Dooley is quickly making a name for himself by producing wines of elegance, finesse and balance. I’ll leave the impressions of his 2007s to Phil because I didn’t taste them yesterday but, having tasted them previously, I can tell you they’re all lovely. All this crap about the 2007s being bad is just that - CRAP. They won’t appeal to those looking for thick, unctuous in-yo’-face pinot, but they have elegance and structure for the long haul. Byron’s 2007s were made from fruit purchased from two different Eola-Amity vineyards and show their place very well.
For 2008, Byron offered us his blended wine from his own vineyard, which was three years old and had just delivered its first crop. I can only say that it’s stunning as are all of his 2008s which I had the opportunity to taste a couple of weeks ago. On top of it, they’re fairly priced.
Belle Pente
Most of what we tasted with Brian was from 2006, including the Murto and Estate Reserves. Somehow Brian manages to keep his elegant style even in a fruit-forward vintage like this one. One of the more interesting things about visiting Belle Pente is observing the evolution of the livestock herds. There are now cattle on the “ranch” to go with the sheep and goats. Surprisingly, we tasted the only bad wine of the day at BP, a 1999 riesling that was DOA. Too bad. A 2002 riesling was okay, but apparently other bottles have shown better due to some issues with cork variability.
We also tasted two 2007 offerings, the Estate Reserve and the Yamhill-Carlton bottling. All are yet to be labeled, but that will be taken care of soon and the wines will be released sometime around Thanksgiving - though the ER may be held back longer. The Yamhill-Carlton is an interesting story, because originally there was to be no Y-C in 2007 with the lots going into the Willamette Valley bottling. Later, when going through the remaining lots of fruit from the Estate vineyard (the Y-C is Estate fruit that doesn’t make it into the Estate Reserve), it became clear to Brian that there were really two different wines, so he went ahead and separated them into the Y-C and ER. Both are really indicative of the vintage, still somewhat tight and reserved, but with the balance and structure to go the long haul. Really lovely stuff. We may have also tasted the 2007 Murto Reserve but with all the wines we tasted my memory is a little fuzzy on that one. As Phil said, the wines didn’t suck.
Ayres
Brad McLeroy is one of the most enthusiastic, outgoing people you’ll ever meet and his wines have been, ever since I tasted his first vintage (2003) in 2004, outstanding. They’re made from purchased fruit and Estate fruit in the case of his Willamette Valley wine, and all Estate fruit from Ribbon Ridge for the others.
For 2007, Brad offers the Willamette Valley, Piper and Pioneer. Once again, these are wines of finess, elagance and balance, not sheer power and weight (is anyone noticing a theme here?). Brad tends to pick at lower sugars than some folks and he does it to intentionally keep the alcohol down.
The Willamette Valley is, as mentioned, a mix of Estate fruit and fruit he buys from the Eoly-Amity hills. It’s a nice combo of red and black fruit and a real value at $24. The Piper is a blend of several clones (don’t remember which - sorry) from the Estate Vineyard and the Pioneer is all one clone - 667 I think. They’re both outstanding examples of Ribbon Ridge’s black fruit spectrum and fairly priced at $38.
For 2008, there were the Willamette Valley, Pioneer and a Lewis Rogers Lane bottling. I’m having trouble remembering how the LRL differs from the Piper (there’s no Piper in 2008) except that it’s $32. Whatever, it’s absolutely singing right now. All the bottlings have the stuff to go the distance, but there’s something compelling about the LRL right at the moment. Once again, these 2008s show the beauty of the vintage. The critics who liked the 2006s will probably like the 2008s almost as much, but as far as I’m concerned from what I’ve tasted so far, 2008 is the best we’ve had since 2002 and is perhaps the best Oregon has ever seen.
Brick House
I almost pleaded palate fatigue and skipped BH. I’m glad I didn’t. Doug Tunnell, who we thought was going to be gone on a short vacation trip to the beach, was there for our appointment and he didn’t disappoint. Bottled wine? Hell no, let’s go straight to the barrel room. Okaaaaaay!
First up were two different one-year-old barrels of 2008 chardonnay. Doug gives the chardonnay the full-meal deal - barrel fermentation, lees stirring . . . the whole enchilada. He’s aiming for white Burgundy and damn if he’s not close. Just lovely stuff, though I’d probably yank it out of the barrels right now, whereas Doug will probably leave it in there for a bit longer.
We then tasted . . . damn, I can’t remember how many but around 8 or 10 . . . different barrels of 2008 pinot noir. Doug only works with his Estate fruit and it’s incredible how many different wines he’s able to make from different blocks and clones. Every wine we tasted was outstanding and every one was different. These will all go into the upper-end bottling(s) as the “select” (regular or Willamette Valley) wine has already been blended and bottled. There will most certainly be a Cuvee du Tonnelier and whether there will also be a Les Dijonnaise bottling has yet to be determined. Sensory overload has set in, but it seems to me he also said he’s thinking about bottling the Pommard from the “Boulder Block” separately. Maybe Phil and Carey can help. Their brains are younger and aren’t subject to senior moments. If that wine does get bottled separately I’ll buy all I can afford. I’m a big Pommard fan and this is the quintessential Pommard clone wine.
After that it becomes a bit fuzzy. We tasted the 2007 chardonnay which Phil likened to a 2003 white Burg and which I thought was a little short on fruit, but still lovely; exactly the kind of chardonnay I’ll buy and drink. We then tasted two wines out of decanters, which explains why I can’t remember which they were - having no clear visual memory of the labels. I think they were the Select and Cuvee du Tonnelier, but they were both 2007s and, once again, outstanding.
Next up was the NV wine. Having a bunch of press wine from 2007 left over that he didn’t know what to do with, Doug decided to blend in some 2008 to give it color (it’s still pretty pale) and bottle it to sell for $20. Well, just wow here. I won’t say it’s better than some other “low end” 2007 pinots I’ve had - the $21 Westrey Justice, the $22 Ayres Willamette Valley (discounted retail) and the $20 Belle Pente Willamette Valley being notable examples - but it’s at least their equal. Just outstanding stuff for the tariff and a perfect example of why color in pinot noir is meaningless to me.
Then the surprise, blackberry wine! Made from the wild Himalayan blackberries on the property line and fortified with neutral grape spirits, I thought at first this was just some experiment that was way over-ripe and had an aldehyde problem. Once Doug told us what it was and explained that the “aldehyde” was just the alcohol showing off, I was able to enjoy it. Problem is, he doesn’t know how to label it within regulations without calling it some stupid name that will not only keep it from selling, it was vetoed by his wife. Really fun.
And that, boys and girls, was our day. Phil and Carey ran off to pick up a crab lasagna from Nick’s Italian Kitchen and to watch the Tide roll over the Hokies, while I trundled my way home, picked up some salmon and cracked a Brick House NV pinot. Some days life is just good. And today, I’m going to taste more wine - Vincent Fritzche’s garagiste efforts.
