Another Shitty '07 Oregon Pinot Noir

[Gordon Fitz]

Dear Bob;

By your own accounts you have bought no wine for two + years. No 08s in the cellar and probably no 07s, unless you begged them from someone. Having stratch in the game matters. I have a lot of bottles, from multiple wineries, setting in my cellar from these vintages, and the length of their drinking window matters to me. If I blow it, it's money down the drain on wine over the hill, if you're wrong (a) you'd never admit it and (b) it won't matter because you have no chips at the table.

Lay out for us which, and how many, 07s are sitting in your cellar, and how long you plan of cellaring them. Let's see your walk that goes with all the talk! We'll see how large your data set is! . Otherwise, you define the term full of s...!up

Bed time now, with a super filled Saturday of wine and friends. So it will be Sunday because I'll check the ole WB board again. Should give you plenty of time to assemble your cellared list and estimated drinking windows!

Have a great weekend all!

[Bob Wood]

Dear Bob;

By your own accounts you have bought no wine for two + years. No 08s in the cellar and probably no 07s, unless you begged them from someone. Having stratch in the game matters. I have a lot of bottles, from multiple wineries, setting in my cellar from these vintages, and the length of their drinking window matters to me. If I blow it, it's money down the drain on wine over the hill, if you're wrong (a) you'd never admit it and (b) it won't matter because you have no chips at the table.

Lay out for us which, and how many, 07s are sitting in your cellar, and how long you plan of cellaring them. Let's see your walk that goes with all the talk! We'll see how large your data set is! . Otherwise, you define the term full of s...!up

Bed time now, with a super filled Saturday of wine and friends. So it will be Sunday because I'll check the ole WB board again. Should give you plenty of time to assemble your cellared list and estimated drinking windows!

Have a great weekend all!

Gordon, get over yourself. No, I've bought no wine to cellar . I've had a tough few years financially and things are pretty lean still, so I have no "scratch in the game" as you say. I'm not sure that matters when you get to taste as many wines as I do and have for the last fourteen years. You obviously think differently. Your call.

I'm leaving the rest of this alone because I promised my employer I'd be a good boy and not bring shame to him.

[Jim Swayze]

Go Bob.

[Bob Wood]

[B.A. Blevins]

Was picking up some wines for an engagement party for my sister in law and low and behold I spied some 2007 Cameron Pinot Noir Abbey Ridge that had just arrived in a shop. So If anyone had any doubt it was extra shitty, especially on day 2. I will have to save all the other poor consumers in the area from having to suffer through a bottle of this by buying it up.

[Bob Wood]

That's great and so magnanimous of you. Saving the world from shitty wine! Are you sure it wasn't abominable?

[Jim Swayze]

Please don't save me. I deserve shitty.

[M. Linzbach]

• 2007 William Hatcher Pinot Noir Willamette Valley - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley (7/23/2011)
  As Mr. Wood would say, another sh*tty 2007 Pinot. Decanted 2 hours. Dark color, nose of sandal wood, forest floor, cherries, and a hint of herbs. Taste of bing cherry, mineral, slight oak and cola. Yes there is oak but it is reserved and it plays a delicate dance with the fruit and acid. The oak only really comes out at hour four. Nicely balanced. I probably paid too much but oh this is a nice bottle of wine.

Posted from CellarTracker

[Bob Wood]

For those who are attending Monday's soiree and want to compile a list of the shitty wines that will be there, send your wine info to me at peenoenvee@aol.com and I'll put together the list.

[K John Joseph]

Make sure to post the outcome of the tasting along with some notes. I am really looking forward to hearing the general consensus on the wines (come on, there won't be a consensus) and how the tasting goes. I am very much wishing I could be there.

[Jim Anderson]

Bob Wood. You are apparently lacking in understanding the concept of a blind tasting. You are not supposed to know what is going to be there until you taste it and see what it is. Do not send Bob Wood what wines you are bringing folks.

[Bob Wood]

Oh . . . double blind.

[Steven Miller]

Bob can have the list after the event... looking forward to seeing everyone on Monday!

[Bob Wood]

It's not like I was going to publish it. I was going to compile it and make it available afterward. Might have saved someone some work.

[Richard T r i m p i]

Do not send Bob Wood what wines you are bringing folks.

Managed to resist.

And my apologies Jim if a very dynamic young lady has been sending you heated texts about Monday. Not a Berserker but certainly whacky enough to qualify and more than a little Pinot passionate.

RT

[Jim Anderson]

Sadly I lack in heated texts from passionate young ladies.

Kidding. I mean, I do lack in heated texts from passionate whacky young ladies but I would think those days would be in my past anyways had their been texting 35 years ago.

[Richard T r i m p i]

Sadly I lack in heated texts from passionate young ladies..

So she visited you instead!

RT

[Steven Miller]

Today's 07 Throwdown was simply amazing. A longer report to come. For now let's just say the event was extra shitty!

[K John Joseph]

Can't wait Steve. Thanks for helping put that together. Looking forward to the results and overall impressions.

[Bob Wood]

The assembled multitudes with Rich Trimpi dominating the shot as usual.



"Murderer's Row" of winemakers. From left, Jay Somers, Doug Tunnell, brewer Rick Allen, John Grochau, Andrew Rich (partially hidden) and Todd Hamina. I don't know who the guy with the goatee is. Missing: Jim Anderson, Brian O'Donnell



Some group and personal highlights from 44 wines. I'm sure I'll miss some group favorites:

Jay Somers calling the Cameron Abbey Ridge blind.
Kate Bolling calling the Evesham Wood Les Puits Sec. She got only the winery but still impressive.

Beaux Freres, Beaux Freres Vineyard
Lemelson Stermer
Lachini Estate
Scott Paul Le Paulee
White Rose Quiotee's Lair
Westrey Reserve
Matello Hommage
St. Innocent Shea
Biggio-Hamina Ana
And yes, Cameron Abbey Ridge
2002 PGC Singularity

Some lowlights:

Archery Summit Red Hills Estate
Domaine Serene Evenstad Reserve
St. Innocent Momtazi
Rascal
Copain Kiser
Auteur

Biggest surprise:

For me, the Belle Pente Murto. Most others liked it more than I did but my note read, "Oak, oak and more oak." A big departure from the bottle that started this thread. I've loved this wine for 13 years and I was shocked when it was revealed, so I'll hope it's just in a bad place.

Rascal. This couldn't have been from the same lot sold at Berserker Day. That was a nice wine, while this was not at all good.

[Jim Swayze]

I am just heartbroken I couldn't make it. Ouch.

Thanks for the notes, Bob. When are we getting the big writeup? Did I miss the thread?

[Steve Saxon]

The assembled multitudes with Rich Trimpi dominating the shot as usual.



"Murderer's Row" of winemakers. From left, Jay Somers, Doug Tunnell, brewer Rick Allen, John Grochau, Andrew Rich (partially hidden) and Todd Hamina. I don't know who the guy with the goatee is. Missing: Jim Anderson, Brian O'Donnell



Some group and personal highlights from 44 wines. I'm sure I'll miss some group favorites:

Jay Somers calling the Cameron Abbey Ridge blind.
Kate Bolling calling the Evesham Wood Les Puits Sec. She got only the winery but still impressive.

Beaux Freres, Beaux Freres Vineyard
Lemelson Stermer
Lachini Estate
Scott Paul Le Paulee
White Rose Quiotee's Lair
Westrey Reserve
Matello Hommage
St. Innocent Shea
Biggio-Hamina Ana
And yes, Cameron Abbey Ridge
2002 PGC Singularity

Some lowlights:

Archery Summit Red Hills Estate
Domaine Serene Evenstad Reserve
St. Innocent Momtazi
Rascal
Copain Kiser
Auteur

Biggest surprise:

For me, the Belle Pente Murto. Most others liked it more than I did but my note read, "Oak, oak and more oak." A big departure from the bottle that started this thread. I've loved this wine for 13 years and I was shocked when it was revealed, so I'll hope it's just in a bad place.

Rascal. This couldn't have been from the same lot sold at Berserker Day. That was a nice wine, while this was not at all good.

I'm shocked, shocked to see the 07 St. Innocent Momtazi was one of the lowlights. Anyone going to post a note on it?

[Bob Wood]

I am just heartbroken I couldn't make it. Ouch.

Thanks for the notes, Bob. When are we getting the big writeup? Did I miss the thread?

That's all you get from me except to say that, with a few exceptions, the wines were in no way thin, dilute or green. Maybe someone else will chime in but that's how I see it. No surprise there, since I've been ridiculing the naysayers for quite some time.

And, having forgotten to do so earlier, big thanks to Jim Anderson for making this happen. I don't think we could have done it anywhere else. I doubt there's another place that would have had either the room or the 12 dozen or so Riedel Oregon pinot noir glasses.

[Rick Allen]

My favorites were
Cameron Abbey Ridge
Brick House Cuvee du Tonnelier
Brick House Dijonnais
Belle Pente Estate (several of us at the far end of the table thought this was Cameron Clos Electrique)

followed closely by
Lemelson Stermer
Beaux Freres
Matello Hommage
Westrey Reserve
Eyrie Reserve
Patty Green Estate

I thought the Archery Summit was a ringer from CA - so extracted, so ripe and so oaky.

I was sorry that both wines brought by Jay Sommers were corked at our end of the table, although I'm intrigued enough to seek them out.

Only a couple of "green" tasting wines in the bunch, both from inexpensive entry level cuvees.

[Andy Steinman]

What an awesome afternoon!

My favs were:

Cameron Abbey Ridge
Lemelson Stermer
Brick House Tonnelier
Beaux Freres
Thomas
Impassionata (sp?)

The biggest surprise to me was the two Ken Wright bottles (Carter & Savoya); much better than I would have expected.

While there were a few sub par bottles, most everything was drinking well. While many were in a lighter style than their adjacent vintage equivilants, it was a very solid line-up. I'm happy to have quite a few '07's in storage.

Thanks to Jim for hosting and organizing the day. Great to see/meet everyone!

[Todd Hamina]

What a fun and informative tasting. I too did not pick up on green notes in the wines, sulphide and reduction issues occasionally, (I screwcap and am probably overly sensitive), but no under ripe tones. Certainly the vintage is no train wreck.

My favorites in no particular order:

Lemelson Stermer
BF BF
PGC Bonshaw
BH Les Dijonais
BP Murto
ASW Red Hills
7 of Hearts Eola-Amity Reserve
BHC Ana (I know...)
Cristom Eileen
Matello Hommage A & D
Westrey Reserve
Andrew Rich WV


Thanks again Jim for putting this on, let's revisit them in another three years???

[John Osburn]

Excellent tasting, well-organized thanks to Jim. It was fun to meet everyone.

I found most of the wines to be shitty and very few in danger of collapsing soon. It's a throwback vintage that in the aromatics and refreshing acidity brings up memories of wines I have enjoyed over many years of drinking Oregon PNs.

Some that were un-shitty and seemed to stick out like sore thumbs as thick, flat and syrupy - not bad wines, but not the same type of wines were the Copain, Auteur, St. Innocent Shea and Archery Summit Red Hills I found Rascal to be quite unsuccessful as well.

Shitty + wines (very typical '07s - elegant, exciting acidity):

Westrey Reserve
White Rose Quiotee's Lair
Matello Hommage
Andrew Rich Willamette Valley
Cristom Eileen
Lemelson Stermer
Patricia Green Bonshawe
Lachini Estate
Biggio Hamina Ana

Extra Shitty (not completely typical but very nice with an extra component to them):

Ken Wright Carter
Ken Wright Savoya
Belle Pente Murto
J Christopher Appassionata (the uncorked one)
Beaux Freres Beaux Freres

Very Shitty Indeed (the top wines):

Evesham Wood Le Puits Sec
Cameron Abbey Ridge
J Christopher Dundee Hills (the uncorked one natch)

Glad that some were surprised by the KWCs. I knew when I offered them up they would be a bit controverisal but Ken makes great wine even if not everyone prefers his winemaking style.

[S L Clayton]

Sorry I had to bail at the last minute but finding a house in Portland made up for it. Keith had several wines north of 90 pts from this tasting sounds like a killer time. How were the bubbles?

[Keith A k e r s]

shane you were definitely missed. IMO the bubbles were really good, great capper to a great day


thanks again to jim anderson for putting this all together and bob wood for being the impetus behind it all. Words really don't describe the experience and it was a great treat being there and tasting all of those great wines. Hopefully I'll have my notes up friday night

[Greg Malcolm]

This was a very enjoyable afternoon. Great fun meeting many Berserkers and a special thanks to Jim for hosting. I think that one of Brian O'Donnell's comments summed-up the wines perfectly. He said, "I would be perfectly happy taking 90% of these wines home for dinner."

Overall, as others have stated, the wines were not thin or green. In fact, the clunkers tended to be big, oaky and jammy -- the exact opposite of the rap on the '07's.

My highlights, (no particular order) . . .

Matello Hommage a' A&D
Evesham Wood Le Puits Sec
Belle Pente Murto
Thomas
Beaux Freres Beaux Freres
Brick House Cuvee du Tonnelier
Lemelson Stermer
Scott Paul La Paulee
Ken Wright Savoya
Cameron Abbey Ridge

Dissapointments . . .

Auteur Shea
Archery Summit Red Hills Estate
Rascal
Domaine Serene Evenstad Reserve
Copain Kiser 'En Haut' (The lone Cali Pinot)

The total list of wines tasted (in order served):

FLIGHT #1
Matello Hommage a' A&D
Westrey Reserve
Grochau Willamette Valley (I think it was the WV. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.)
Auteur Shea
Andrew Rich Willamette Valley

FLIGHT #2
Amalie Robert "The Reserve"
Evesham Wood Le Puits Sec
Seven of Hearts Eola-Amity Reserve
Ken Wright Carter
Cristom Eileen

FLIGHT #3
White Rose Quiotee's Lair
Belle Pente Murto
Thomas
J. Christopher Appasionata
Archery Summit Red Hills Estate

FLIGHT #4
Beaux Freres Beaux Freres
Patricia Green Bonshaw
Brick House Les Dijonais
Shea East Hill
Brick House Cuvee du Tonnelier

FLIGHT #5
Le Cadeau Cote Est
Prive Le Sud
Lemelson Stermer
Willakenzie Aliette
Grochou Toute de Suite

FLIGHT #6
Lachini Estate
Rascal
Scott Paul La Paulee
R. Stuart 'Autograph'
Matello Souris

FLIGHT #7
Cameron Abbey Ridge
Eyrie Reserve
Winderlea Estate
J. Christopher Dundee Hills
R. Stuart Ana

FLIGHT #8
Ken Wright Savoya
Domaine Serene Evenstad Reserve
St. Innocent Shea
Biggio Hamina (WV?)

FLIGHT #9
Biggio Hamina Ana
Copain Kiser 'En Haut'
Belle Pente Belle Pente Estate
St. Innocent Momtazi

[DurstinS]

I think the Grochau in Flight 1 was Des Amis, not WV.

My WOTFs were:

F1: Grochau Des Amis. Westrey Reserve was also contender.

F2: Evesham Wood Le Puits Sec. My tasting notes said White Pepper and Super Yum. It still needs time though, so I'm hanging on to mine. Christom Eileen was runner up.

F3: White Rose Quiotees Lair. Thomas was all bent out of sorts. "Mineral spirits, oak, some wet dog, in a good way." In a good way?!? "Spritzy, sour palate...is it off? CRAZY" I missed out on the Appasionata.

F4: The two Brickhouses took the spotlight, with wonderful aromatics. Several people suggested Le Dijonais was a French ringer...Doug among them??

F5: A very dark flight. Lehmelson Sterner took the flight, with Willakenzie Aliette coming in 2nd place.

My notes mention something about palate fatigue...I can't imagine why?

F6: Scott Paul Le Paulee. I thought it might have been Westrey Abbey Ridge, which shows the grapefruit or blood orange that was on display and tends to be of a lighter style. Matello Souris took 2nd.

F7: Cameron Abbey Ridge and Eyrie Reserve battled it out, but I gave honor to Eyrie for its salt spray and violet on the nose. Salt spray? I've never experienced that before. I had the corked J Christopher Dundee Hills :(

F8: Dark flight, very big wines, especially for 07. I didn't pick a winner.

F9: Belle Pente. As others have noted, reminiscent of Cameron Clos Electrique, but the taste ran too sweet for that. Honestly, though, by this point I think everything was tasting sweet. My nose apparently has better stamina than my palate.


Anyway, great fun all the way around. Props to Jim for hosting.

[Richard T r i m p i]

Kudos to Jim et al. for a great afternoon. An exceptional tasting shared by some seriously devout Oregon Pinotphiles. Very fun meeting so many of the OR Berserker contingent. Standout wines (these were starred in my notes before the reveals):

Matello Hommage
Andrew Rich Willamette - for entry level...WOW. Top 3
Evesham Puits Sec - Top 3
Belle Pente Murto - I've bitched a bit about the oak previously, but this pour seemed fine
Patty Green Bonshaw
Brick House Tonnelier - with the caveat that finish faded a bit quickly
Matello Souris
Cameron Abbey Ridge
J. Christopher Dundee Hills - another WOW for entry level (non corked). Top 3
Ken Wright Savoya - didn't want to like it, but I did
Biggio Hamina Ana

Lots of wines to like. The St. I Momtazi was not that awful: Interesting bramble fruit partially hidden by furniture polish. Soft acidity with a decent finish but overall the fruit had a somewhat soil stained quality. One winemaker described it as a "dirty sock" character. There were worse wines: Auteur Shea, Archery Summit Red Hills and the Copain Kaiser en Haut to drop a name or two. I actually thought Bob Wood's Rascal offering wasn't bad, being VA tolerant.

It continues to be clear to this taster how egregiously the pundits f*cked up the call on this vintage. I'm confident they'll love the 09s.

RT

[Dan McCallum]

It continues to be clear to this taster how egregiously the pundits f*cked up the call on this vintage. I'm confident they'll love the 09s.RT

That's the part that bemuses me too. And, to add interest to examining their befuddled state, if you look more closely there was actually a lot of positive recognition at the level of individual wine reviews. No shortage at all of wines rated 90-93 points. The reviewers didn't really fail to recognize more or less what so many here recognized. Rather, they developed early on the notion that 2007 was severely challenged and they didn't let their own findings get in the way of the prejudice. I think it all arose as an apology in advance that they were not 2006's, as though 2006 was some high water mark.

Any case, nice now to see 2007 love blossoming. And nicer yet to see it expanding post-tasting to a few wines that weren't really a positive part of the earlier discussion.

[J Diven]

Been right back to Seattle, work, and evening event last night - notes at home this AM, so very limited comments.
Great job by Jim A, who was doing all the work opening mainly double blind wines for us until Brian graciously helped out.

Like others, the two Matellos, the Evesham Wood, both Brickhouse wines, PGC, and most of all the Cameron Abby Ridge stood out. Liked the Cristom and several others too. The (mainly) Ribbon Ridge flight was to me, the best, esp. the Cuvee du Tonnelier - really good.

The Thomas had some issues (reduction?) but I think it will be good.
Same with one of Todds wines I think - showing reduced, but good stuff I think - sorry need notes.

Agree that the wines that did not show well were the biggest, ripest.
The Copain did not belong in this tasting - sorry, but I was curious. I realize this group does not drink much cali wine.

Steve S - the St I Momtazi we served was from 'good provenance' bottles and was not dead, pickled, whatever as it was from the bottle we had. It was certainly the earthiest wine opened. It had a nose and taste ala a couple bottles of 99 DDO Laurene i've had recently - I wondered it if it was a DDO. I liked it even a bit more than Richard. But, no it was not a standout and certainly not a favorite of the group. I preferred it to the St I Shea however.

[Rick Allen]

Just picked up several 2007 Belle Pente Estate Pinots based on the tasting.