Oregon

• Columbia Gorge
• Dundee Hills
• McMinnville
• Willamette

This is a 100% Pinot Noir from Oregon.  Lightly colored ruby, clear and bright.  The nose has a friendly cherry candy quality.  Light to medium bodied. On  the palate, cherries, and tart red berries with a slightly bitter note on the finish.  Light tannins.  This is an easy drinking Pinot Noir that would be a nice choice for parties.  Drink on its own or with lighter foods over the next few years.  

An excellent take on Gruner but very distinct.  Light golden in color.  The nose has lots of minerality with slight granny smith apples and maybe a hint of lime.  Medium bodied with a slightly oily texture.  On the palate, the minerality comes thru with a touch of lime.  Long finish.  This should be consumed over the next three to five years.  It drinks well on its own and will work well with lighter foods.  

At age 10, this is drinking great.  Deep ruby in color, clear and bright.  The nose is nice with cherries, slight sour cherries, and spice.  Medium bodied.  This seems to be closing in on maturity.  Nice cherry fruit with a bit of underlying earth and slight char.  Nice acidity.  Long finish.  There is a nice complexity to this wine but it is also delicious.  It is nice on its own but even better with food.  Salmon would be a nice choice.  

From the idiosyncratic wine maker John Thomas.  While 2008 is considered a great vintage in the Willamette Valley, it was ripe and not really up John's wheelhouse, yet, he adapted and made a wine consistent with his style and taking what the vintage offered.  Ruby in color, clear and bright.  The nose is nice with cherries, slight Kirsch and just a hint of spice.  Medium to full bodied.  On the palate, big cherry fruit with underlying spice.  13.5% abv.  There are also firm tannins, not something you get much with Pinot Noir.  It was be interesting to let the tannins resolve and there is pl

At age 19, this is doing just fine with no signs of being past prime.  The vineyard has since been bought and is now part of the Burgundy producer's Louis Jadot winery in Oregon.  Darker ruby in color, mostly opaque and looking a bit flat at this point.  On the nose, there are cherries, black cherries and spice.  Medium to full bodied.  On the palate, this has nice cherry fruit with some underlying dry forest floor.  Long finish.  It has a nice depth and complexity.  At this age, all bottles are different (it uses a natural cork), but well stored bottles should last another decade.  It drin

This is the best vintage of this wine and that is saying something.  The top Pinot Noir uses the best barrels of all of his single vineyard wines to craft this wine.  Normally, a very fruit forward wine, this is more ephemeral in nature.  The term "Burgundian" gets thrown around a lot but is not far from the mark here.  Deep ruby in color.  Clear and bright.  The nose is great with raspberries, black cherries, cherries, spice and slight clean earthiness.  Medium to full bodied.  Light tannins.  On the palate, this unwinds slowly in the glass.  Deep and complex.  Cherry and black cherry frui

2018 seems to be a very successful year for Sineann.  This is the basic Pinot Noir from one of the top producers of single vineyard Oregon Pinots made from the declassified juices from five different vineyards.  Deep ruby in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose is deep with sour cherries, hay and slight black pepper.  With air a slight minty note emerges.  It has a very nice mouthfeel.  The abv is listed at 13.4%.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, black cherry fruit that is ever so slightly jammy at this point.  It is delicious.  There is some warmth on the finish.  This really needs s

This is a great take on Gruner.  Very different from the Austrian versions but every bit as good.  Pale silvery green/gold in color.  The nose has apples, slight lemon peel and slight white pepper.  On the palate, this has just a hint of sweetness to it.  Nicely balanced with acidity but there is still some green apple fruit.  Nice finish.  This drinks well on its own especially outside on a hot day.  It works nicely with lighter foods.  It probably should be consumed in the next three to five years.  

This is really drinking in a great place right now.  Deep ruby in color, mostly clear and bright.  The nose has sour cherries, slight spice, slight cherries and just a bit of earthiness.  On the palate, this  is juicy with a smooth texture.  Layers of sour cherries and cherries with a bit of earthiness.  Long finish.  This is probably at peak but should easily be at this level for another five to seven years before slowly going downhill.  A great match with roasted fowl but drinks well on its own too.  

Always one of my favorite Zin's, in part for its uniqueness, it was wonderful concentration.  Made from vines that getting close to 100 years old.  This vineyard had been abandoned and then resurrected in the 1980's.  Style wise it is middle of the road for Zin.  Deep ruby in color.  The nose has cherries, black cherries, baking spices and just a bit of char.  On the palate, this is full bodied.  At 14.8% Alc, this is not super high for a Zin.  Lots of cherry and some charred cherry fruit.  Very concentrated.  Lighter tannins.  Nice finish.  This drinks well young but does age nice with goo