What does ātastes 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).
Interesting note. I meanā¦ really No oregon wine tastes all that āburgundianā to me, and thatās not really a faultā¦ i like Oregon tasting like Oregon.
That said, the stem choices, and the wine makerās Dujac studies makes the wine more burgundian than many many other Oregon pinots to me.
I should say i donāt drink a ton of oregon pinot, so limited experienceā¦
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 Iām 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 Iāve had the most elegant wines from are Cameron, Patricia Green, Thomas, and some older(from the 90ās) Eyrie & Elk Cove bottles. Iāve bought some Kelley Fox after meeting her in a tasting and being curious about themā¦but Iām hopeful that the bottles I did buy will be something special once theyāve had a little time sideways.
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, havenāt received) and I plan on buying the '18 Whistling Ridge heritage when it is released.
Donāt 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.
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 Iām 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).
If you are looking for a particular character, like restrained fruit, earthiness, slow development, and so on with āBurgundianā tilt, Iād pay as much attention to vintage as producer.
Try to find '10s and '11s, maybe '13s. Iāll send you some if you canāt find any.
Yes, like the motivationāstill in some sense being a New Yorker, though Iāve not lived their full time since 1984. I think itās 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 saidāāCameron, Thomas, Patricia Greenāāseems right, likely also Goodfellow, and a few others Iāve never had. (You can weight for Richard Trimpi to weigh in.)
Iād also add, to Shonās question, that I think the whites genuinely can be mistaken for Burgundy. The Walter Scott Le Combe Vertāon offer I think in quarantine thread, or maybe itās a different bottlingāis truly stunning juice, especially at <$30.