I have had both a 2011 and a 2012 Oregon Willamette Valley Pinot Noir and found the '12 to be ‘over the hill’ and the '11 to be quite good - thoughts?
Is the sweet spot for Oregon Pinot Noir like 5-8 years?
Go!
Ben
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Willakenzie was closing out some 2006 and 2007 Pinots on Winebid last year for $20. I picked up a bunch of them and enjoyed them. I thought they were still fresh and not over the hill in any way.
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Aren’t we discussing this in another thread…but with 2005 and 2009?
It all depends on the wine, but 5-8 years is barely even in the drinking window for lots of the better stuff.
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Isn’t this currently being discussed in another thread (2005 Oregon vintage)?
The simple answer is: like any variety/region, it depends on the producer, the vintage, the vineyard, and the winemaking techniques. There are over 700 producers in the Willamette Valley, most of whom make PN. You didn’t mention the producer, the AVA, the vineyard, etc. So lacking other data, many OR PN are in a “sweet spot” on release. Many need at least ten years. The 2005 Goodfellow I just had was in a “sweet spot.” The 1993 Bethel Heights Flat Block Reserve was in a “sweet spot” two years ago. I’d say any 2012 that was over the hill was either crap to begin with or suffered from poor storage.
Provenance and producer quality is everything.
Within the last month I opened a 2001 Shae Wine Cellars Chardonnay that was fantastic. Drank like a 10+ year old Premier Cru White Burg. I still have ~5 more that I am confident will be drinking well for the next year or two though not much longer.
On Friday I drank a 2003 Domaine Drouhin Louise Pinot Noir that needed a decant and was absolutely singing after 45 minutes. It drank well for the next three hours until fully consumed.
I would caution any hard and fast rule regarding the ageability of Willamette Valley wines.
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Good thoughts here - so much of this ageability is ‘depends’!
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Yes - and without the specific wines you mention tasting we can’t really make any informed comments.
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Since I do some work in tasting rooms, I won’t be posting specifics on which wineries.
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Then it’s not much of a discussion.
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And you are making a sweeping generalization about an entire wine region based on one or two bottles of wine? It might be more convincing if you said you had gone through dozens or hundreds of bottles and provided some useful data. This thread is DOA. Those are my thoughts.
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1000% this. I get your position of not wanting to list the producer…but without that, your comment is WAY too general to even have a relevant conversation
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A to Z?
I can’t completely remember the '11 and '12 but I’m quite sure they were of different nested AVAs here in Oregon - likely Eola-Amity Hills and Chehalem Mountains.
I had an ‘06 Beaux Frères two months ago and it was great. Definitely in a great drinking window.
Still not nearly enough for an assessment.
Anyway, your original premise about the ageability of Oregon Pinot is simplistic at best and badly flawed at worst. Depends on the wine.
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I’m holding some Beaux Freres in my collection - that’s good to know!
Eola Amity and Chehalem aren’t nested.
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Are you talking about Willamette Valley Vineyards? If so, I don’t think those wines were made for long aging. I had some of the 09 Hannah Vineyards and Signature Cuvee, and they were showing very marked oak eight years out. I drank mine up five or six years ago. I was seduced by them young, but I think they were very commercial wines – not serious agers.
I certainly wouldn’t generalize about the Oregon pinot category from one producer, if that’s what you’re talking about.
A couple of St. Innocent from this year. Both stored the same since release.
2002 Shea, held a couple of years too long. Starting to fade.
2005 Seven Springs Special Selection, going strong, will hold, maybe improve.
As you have not provided specifics, I’ll respond with generalities. I believe there is a large group of producers that are making dry farmed, terroir driven, wines that can age as long as you want to hold them. This makes up the bulk of the wine that is discussed on this forum and includes (but is not limited to) producers like Eyrie, Goodfellow, Walter Scott, PGC, Vincent, Brick house, etc. When to open is a function of how much age you want on your pinot, but I believe the general concensus for drinking windows on these wines are decades too short. I know it’s a burgundy thread, but I can’t help but thinking it applies to the older vine wines from WV as well, Ageability of Burgundy.
I’ve had enough 20ish year old Oregon pinot this year to realize they were mostly still primary wines with no risk of falling apart. I’ve also had enough 21 OR pinot to think these wines will last forever, e.g. PGC wind ridge (I derive serious pleasure from expecting what this will taste like in 25 years).
When you get outside of producers in this vein of winemaking all bets are off. There is a lot of rich, low-acid wines that I’m sure won’t age well. By volumne this may even be the norm for OR pinot, but among the producers we discuss here, 5-8 years is a floor not a ceiling.
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