The 2015s are starting to show up at retailers. I’ve got a McKinlay WV I just picked up on deck for this weekend. Any opinions on what to expect from this vintage?
Hot vintage, extremely ripe wines. Some are almost Californian.
Despite some handwringing about another warm vintage, I think it is a really good vintage in the right producer’s hands even if I prefer more recent vintages ('10, '11, '13). I’ve enjoyed the whites more than the reds.
Not a vintage I’m buying a lot of or one where I’ll stray from my favored producers, mainly because I just don’t need to buy a lot of wine with my current cellar size. I think '15 will hold up better in the long run than '14.
Like with '14, I would taste before you commit to buying in any quantity.
Hot, yes, but this is a really broad generalization. Many producers made very nice wines that are not extremely ripe or Californian. Riper than other recent, cooler vintages? Of course. But not OTT IMO. Again, taste before buying. YMMV
If you look at weather records for 2015 harvest, you’ll see that late August to mid-September had mostly below normal temps. More like normal for late Sept/early Oct when harvest normally happens. That weather defined the vintage for me, so that sugars never rose fast at the end. Harvest brix were between 21.5 and 23.5 with great natural acidity and lovely al dente ripeness. I’d caution calling this simply a hot vintage with extremely ripe wines. It’s really something different than that. For me, it’s my favorite vintage since '10 and '11.
Well, I am basing that impression on the wines I’ve tasted so far. It isn’t that the alcohol levels seemed particularly high, but I’ve consistently gotten a very ripe fruit profile in everything I’ve had at this point.
The 2015’s I’ve tried (from ~12 producers, so far) seem to be mostly brighter and fresher tasting, by a not-insignificant margin, than their counterparts in 2014. It seems as though the cooler run in to the harvest (combined, I think, with growers hanging more fruit as response to what happened in 2014/because they could) allowed for bit longer picking window and the preservation of acid in the grapes. Some producers, obviously, just let things hang because the could and then they watered back, but if I think if you were a winemaker who wished his/her 2014’s had more brightness and freshness, you had the ability to preserve that in your wines in 2015.
Anecdotally, I heard from one producer that in 2014 they had fully lignified stems in almost everything they brought in (and at not huge brix levels). In 2015, however, most of the stems were green at similar levels of sugar, which is more typical for them. That’s definitely an indicator that acids hadn’t dropped as fully.
I really like the vintage, especially compared to 2014 (and probably 2016). “Big/ripe” winemakers made as big of wines as they wanted to, but I don’t buy those wines as it is, so that affects my judgement. It also seems to be a really nice Chard vintage.
If you were to a play a tricky golf course on back to back days odds are you would perform better on Day 2. Even if you did well on Day 1 you would certainly have earned knowledge and confidence the second time around. In some ways, it is that simple.
Sample set of two: a Longplay Lia’s Vineyard and a Cameron WV. Have some Cameron Ribbon Ridge in the basement but haven’t cracked one yet. Anyway, purely based on literally two wines : very ripe and very delicious. Each a good bit higher alcohol than previous year’s model. I’m interested to taste more.
What have you tasted? 15s are just hitting the market and this is not the experience I’ve had so far. As of now the wines are much more balanced than 14s.
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2015 McKinlay Pinot Noir - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley (4/30/2017)
Ready to drink right from the get go. The ripe character of the vintage is readily apparent here. This had good acidity and true Oregon Pinot aromas and flavors. I enjoyed it but it’s probably too bold for many Oregon purists. (89 pts.)
This seemed a little riper than the 2014. I tend to prefer middle-of-the-road ripeness (in all wines, really) and I think this just crossed the line into the too-ripe category. I still enjoyed it, but by the last glass, this started to seem a bit ponderous. I thought the 2014 was at a perfect ripeness level for my palate. Both had pretty good acidic balance. Haven’t tried other vintages.
Evesham Wood Willamette, Elk Cove Mount Richmond, and several others that I don’t remember. I tried the Elk Cove Mt Richmond '14 and '15 side by side yesterday, and the '15 had a much riper fruit profile. Every '15 I’ve tasted so far has had that element. I’m not talking about ABV or balance. I’m talking about how the fruit tastes and the overall style of the wines. Clearly from the posts here, I’m not alone in my experiences so far.
With 2016, looks like that’ll make 3 back-to-back-to-back rounds on the same course.
RT
On the basis of my early comparisons it seems that '15 is riper and bigger though I haven’t tasted anything that made me think of California. Some of them had a lot of glycerin in the mouthfeel early on, so I guess there was that. However, the ‘14s seem to be settling in and showing more poise and balance recently than they did early on, so I am sure that the best producers’ '15s will do the same in time. However, given the similarity to '14 I didn’t feel the need to buy much. There are some interesting '13s in my local market and I may yet go back for a few of those, specifically eyeing good pricing on '13 Evesham Illahe.
2016 wasn’t nearly as hot as the previous two vintages. Just super early so picking mostly in late August to mid-September.
Based upon weather to date I am excited for the '17s. It could be a cooler year.
To paraphrase a hero of mine, Winston Wolf, “Well, let’s not start sucking each other’s long term weather forecasts quite yet.”
I didn’t know Jim was superstitious…he just called a jinx.
A great movie. A masterpiece IMO. In almost any other year, it would have won best picture–I think it still should have . . . but Forrest Gump was pretty damn good, too) And Samuel L. Jackson, what a performance. Should have won the Oscar.
An aside, is May/June a good time to come up for a tasting, Jim?
Forrest Gump was the Caymus SS of the year.
As far as weather, it isn’t just averages; extremes and distribution play a major role.
P Hickner