Wanted an Oregon wine that tastes like a Burgundy.

As a weird thank you for sending ventilators to New York, I thought I would buy a couple of bottles of Oregon Pinot.

It has been some time since I bought anything from there. Looking for something in the $50 range that is as close to something Burgundian as possible.

Suggestions please.

Goodfellow
Walter Scott
Kelley Fox
Cristom

Just posted a note from this week on Biggio-Hamina, support Oregon and a Berserker plus he has wines with age on them available.

Goodfellow is the answer here for sure.

What does ā€œtastes like a Burgundyā€ mean to you? As numerous threads have shown, people have different ideas of what a Burgundy tastes like (coupled with the issue that not all Burgundy tastes the same).

My first thought when I saw this was, ā€œOh no.ā€

Second the walter scott, goodfellow and K Fox.

Also:

  • Cameron (my vote for long-term track record) particularly Clos Electrique
  • John Thomas

If youā€™re interested in considering white:

  • same producers and add Morgen Long and Crowley

I would not put Cristom in that listā€¦theyā€™re ā€œVery New Worldā€ to meā€¦

Just my $00.02

I can only assume this song is about Burgundy and how great sous bois is, but I donā€™t speak Portuguese:

I like Cameron.

Interesting note. I meanā€¦ really No oregon wine tastes all that ā€˜burgundianā€™ to me, and thatā€™s not really a faultā€¦ i like Oregon tasting like Oregon.
That said, the stem choices, and the wine makerā€™s Dujac studies makes the wine more burgundian than many many other Oregon pinots to me.

I should say i donā€™t drink a ton of oregon pinot, so limited experienceā€¦

I thought the same thingā€¦ Kudos Oregon! [cheers.gif]

I have not tasted Cristom in probably 6 yearsā€¦so maybe the style has changed. I recall thinking they reminded me more of California Pinot Noir than anything from Burgundy. I have very limited tasting with Dujac so maybe they taste similar. When I talk about Burgundy Iā€™m thinking about the elegance, balance, and poise that I often find in producers like A. et P. de Villaine, Domaine Maume, Jouan, & Lambrays.

For me the producer that Iā€™ve had the most elegant wines from are Cameron, Patricia Green, Thomas, and some older(from the 90ā€™s) Eyrie & Elk Cove bottles. Iā€™ve bought some Kelley Fox after meeting her in a tasting and being curious about themā€¦but Iā€™m hopeful that the bottles I did buy will be something special once theyā€™ve had a little time sideways.

All I can say is that I hope we donā€™t have to take NY up on the double the amount back for our peak offer. Cheers.

Secwines has a strong Oregon selection, you can easily put together a case of oregon reds/whites.

Having started the earlier thread mentioned in the 2nd post for redsā€¦

I have thus far had a couple very young vintage Kelley Foxā€¦ pure, very light touch, red fruited wines, elegant, medium+ acidity. There are differences in the SVD vineyards IMHO, e.g. the flowers block I found a little sweet/almost candied. The Red Barn Block was my favorite of the wines I tried, with more depth than the others I had tried, which appealed to me. Think I gave it a 93-94 at ~$85. I think you can get a good sense of Kelly Fox style in the Momtazi for $50. I think there is a quarantine relief offer in that thread.

The lone Goodfellow wine I have tried was '16 Whistling Ridge heritageā€¦ red fruited, a little riper than the Kelly Fox (but not at all overripe), medium acidityā€¦ enjoyed this a lot and gave it a 92 at $60. I am told the 2018 Whistling Ridge heritage will have a touch more acidity which I think would take the wine up a notch. A nice option for a six pack of somewhat aged SVDs for ~$60/bottle in the quarantine relief thread relief (I bought, havenā€™t received) and I plan on buying the '18 Whistling Ridge heritage when it is released.

Donā€™t know if this was on the list in the original thread, but I had a glass of a LAVINEA ?lazy river? at a restaurant a few months ago, and that perked up my interest. Straining off memory, I recall something blacker fruited than the Goodfellow/Kelly Fox, with medium/medium+ acidity. I just remember wanting to try some more LAVINEA.

And not relevant to this thread at allā€¦ have a Oregon Ceritas lined up next (for scienceā€¦ I know the reputation is not burgundian)ā€¦ after that a Thomas, Cristom, and Walter Scott held hostage in storage. Patricia Green will also be in the stable.

Asking the question: Do Oregon whites get closer to Burgundy than Oregon reds?

1 Like

Couple additional producers for my tastes:

  • agree re: Eyrie- particularly original vines bottling
  • Brick house
  • Evesham wood (current vintages certainly good type-specific but particularly Russ Raney wines (pre 2010) if you can find them)

Some of these get national distribution (cameron in nyc Iā€™m sure, along with a couple others) but not all. A few Portland area retailers to suggest:

  • Sec wines already mentioned
  • Liner & elsen
  • vinopolis
  • Great wine buys
  • Valley wine merchants (appear to have thomas in stock)\

Re: white v. red: Not sure oregon more burgundian for one v. other. In my opinion it is producer dependent. Some overlap varietals with regard to style ( eg cameron)ā€¦ Others favor one or the other ( in my opinion arterberry-maresh whites more so than red for instance).

I would leave out the ā€œtastes like a burgundyā€ part and just ask what some really good Oregon pinots in that price range are.

If you are looking for a particular character, like restrained fruit, earthiness, slow development, and so on with ā€œBurgundianā€ tilt, Iā€™d pay as much attention to vintage as producer.
Try to find '10s and '11s, maybe '13s. Iā€™ll send you some if you canā€™t find any.

I just like the motivation for the thread!

Yes, like the motivationā€“still in some sense being a New Yorker, though Iā€™ve not lived their full time since 1984. I think itā€™s of course true that Oregon is its own thing, but I also think that there are wines that more closely parallel Burgundy for complexity, balance, speaking of their source and so on. For these, what Kirk saidā€“ā€œCameron, Thomas, Patricia Greenā€ā€“seems right, likely also Goodfellow, and a few others Iā€™ve never had. (You can weight for Richard Trimpi to weigh in.)
Iā€™d also add, to Shonā€™s question, that I think the whites genuinely can be mistaken for Burgundy. The Walter Scott Le Combe Vertā€“on offer I think in quarantine thread, or maybe itā€™s a different bottlingā€“is truly stunning juice, especially at <$30.