I’m looking for something that really has that prickly electric forest floor quality that good oregon pinot noir can have from that area. Anyone recommend names for me to look for?
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We are open 
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Tons of great options in the area. If you’ll be going through McMinnville, I’d say make a stop with Marcus Goodfellow at Goodfellow Family Cellars, and then a visit with Will Hamilton at Violin. Outstanding wines, both red and white.
Can you please elaborate what this means?
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You ever get that prickly quality from oregon pinot noir? To me it’s like a forest floor that has a vibrant prickly movement, like little tingling needles of foliage and underbrush and pine
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Maybe a whole cluster producer? Can you give an example?
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I’m not sure what that means. I’m just looking for names of wine makers from the willamette valley that people like. But as an example of the thing I was describing, J Christopher’s entry level Pinot noir does this for me.
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I hosted a tasting of 2021 Oregon pinots last week. I haven’t had time to write them up yet, but the two Goodfellows (Temperance and Whistling Ridge) and the Arterberry Maresh - Maresh Vineyard were standouts for me. I’m not quite sure what your descriptors mean, but these leaned toward earthy/sous bois aromas and flavors, rather than very overt fruit.
They’re fairly tannic and will need time (for various reasons, 2021 yielded small grapes with thick skins), so these three might not be everybody’s cup of tea (not everyone in the group ranked them high), but I thought they had the concentration and balance to age very well.
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I think you are talking about lean with low alcohol, low ripe fruit and high acid. I wouldn’t categorize that as particularly good Willamette Valley Pinot, but more a byproduct of mass production. I would try some wines that might have a little more complexity and body and ripeness along with the acid core. Franny Beck has a good profile and of course some Goodfellow, but probably in a cooler vintage.
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I’m one of many fans of Goodfellow, but I’ve liked the Arterberry Maresh Pinot Noir wines I’ve had (Chards, too). Great vineyard, but he also buys some fruit from other nice vineyards.
-Al
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Check out De Ponte and Brigadoon.
Virtually every Eyrie I’ve ever had has a savory and/or forest/leaves component. Even new releases but especially with some age.
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My daughter lives in Eugene, and was telling me about Beaux Freres.
I think Robert Parker rated them highly.
Can anyone tell me about their Pinots?
TIA
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I wonder if Patricia Green could scratch that itch
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FWIW, Robert Parker was one of the original owners of Beaux Freres (he was Michael Etzel’s brother in law). Don’t recall whether Parker rated the wines, I’d be surprised.
-Al
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Jay does mostly (all?) destemmed fruit, and works with a lot of Dundee vineyards. Maybe try his new label J.C. Somers. Other producers in that style include arterberry and Cameron (although Cameron is reductive). Another possibility is evesham wood as it’s destemmed volcanic fruit just from further south.
Lots of other good producers mentioned as well.
Parker never rated the wines.
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I’ve liked the J Christopher wines I’ve tried and JC Somers is a good winemaker. Evesham Woods is also quite good.
-All
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They’re a producer of larger-scaled Pinot Noirs with darker fruit profile, generally speaking. They’re usually well-scored by reviewers, too. I imagine they’re not the typical style that many on these WB boards would seek out, but they have fans for sure.
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Kai, I think I might know what you are taking about. I’ve often used the term, ‘Electric’ to describe the PN from Eola-Amity. Something about that soil (Volcanic I believe) that gives it that sensation.
My blind tasting skills are nowhere near where I’d like them to be, but I usually nail within about 10 seconds when a wine is from EA.
A few I’ve had that stand out:
Roserock (Drouhin)
Penner-Ash EA
Evening Lands Seven Springs Vineyard
Domaine Serene Jerusalem Hill
Lingua Franca
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