A Little Help Willamette Pinot?!?!

Hey everyone, posting for a favor to myself. I need a recommendation on an available Pinot that I can buy for a wedding coming up? The father of the groom and I are both into wine and we agreed to grab a special willamette pinot (wedding is in Oregon) and bring it. I am on the hunt for a truly special bottle (probably with a little age…maybe 08 or 11)! Any recommendations, or better yet…leads?

Thanks so much!

2008 Thomas Pinot or 2008 Cameron Clos Electrique Pinot would be my recommendations. I’m sure both are readily available from someone on this board.

If no one has access to these, any idea where I could find them? Are either of the winemakers on here by chance?

I hope so as I can’t find either on wine searcher!

Thanks for the tip though!

"08 and '11 are very different vintages, with '08 more likely to be in the prime drinking window. As always on open questions like this, what style are you seeking? That is a necessary starting point.
Adam must be tongue in cheek with the Thomas rec. It is scarce even among WB forumites. You will probably need to search auction and secondary sources, as the '08s are unlikely to be found on retail shelves.

I have both and would guess plenty of other forumites do as well. If you run out of options PM me.

The 08’s have started to emerge from their long slumber. We enjoyed a 2008 Ken Wright Abbot Claim a couple of weekends ago. For the most part, I’m still holding my 2008’s, but sadly I do not have any 2008’s from Thomas or Cameron. I would hold 2011 (and 2010) and look for 2002, 2005 and 2007. If you are in the Charlotte area, I would be more than happy to share a bottle with you.

James

Also, if the wedding is in the Portland or WV area, there are a few local retailers that have some older Oregon bottles. I’m thinking of Woodard Wines in McMinnville and Wizer’s in Lake Oswego. I’m uncertain of either’s status during the pandemic. There are probably more local retailers that have access to older stocks.

Eyrie would be another thought as they offer library releases. Expensive, but guaranteed from the winery. 1987 South Block Reserve would be nice.

I didn’t catch it in time before the end of shipping season, but Luce in Portland was offering some older bottles of Cameron. Might be able to pick up if the wedding is in the Portland area.

The wonderful Oregon producers that contribute to this site may have some other suggestions or library wines available.

James

Buy an older bottle of Eyrie…

KOGARD: 2005 Original Vines Reserve $170

Or strait from Eyrie themselves you can spend $238 for the 1999 Reserve.

Eyrie is a good call.

Thanks James! The wedding is in Bend, but we might visit the Willamette area (McMinnville) for a couple days beforehand. If so, I will check out Woodward Wines.

Hi Nate,

When is the wedding? Our library is off site and not easily accessible. We generally pull wines from the library once or twice a year(it’s about 10 pallets of wine, mixed in boxes to keep it efficient for space but not finding anything, and atored at the back of a friends case goods storage business.) We are planning a trek to get a few things, but for vintages older than 2012 we don’t have that much.

What style of Pinot Noir do you prefer? Or maybe better, what producers do you like? I can probably find something depending upon timing.

Other options: Eyrie for sure. And in Portland add Great Wine Buys to the shops that may have older wines you can pick up.

That said, if Adam has older Thomas or Cameron he can hook you up with, that may be your best bet!

I think that going straight to Eyrie would be cool. Sure, there are other fantastic options, but throw down the coin and taste something that really had a lot of age and has been with the winery for the duration. It’ll be memorable for sure.

Geez. I wish I had never bought any '08 and I have a boatload. Not crazy about '06 either.
'99, Ought two, four, five, seven, nine, and ten are better food wines. Just my humble.
You’re going to want a magnum I think from a good producer. There are too many to list. The trick will be procurement.
Valley Wine Merchants in downtown Carlton would be a decent bet for something good kept in their back room.
My wife and I wandered in one day and found back vintages of EW’s Cuvee J for very reasonable prices.

Yeah, I completely forgot about Valley Wine Merchants. Good call. Andrew is good peeps and has some back vintage items in the wine fridge. However, they are in DT Newberg just across and down the street from the Painted Lady.

James

It’s not until December! I’m just trying to get an early jump as we both agreed to bring something spectacular:)

Thanks for the opinion. I might agree with you if I had tried all those vintages and understood Willamette more.

Long time lurker… First time poster.

Vinopolis has added quite a few 2011 WV Pinots as of late, including a 2011 Cameron Abbey Ridge.

Maybe you could get something directly from a producer. Goodfellow would be one to check out. Adelsheim would be another, especially since they’ve been around forever. I bought a 2010 Adelsheim Elizabeth’s Reserve at their tasting room in late 2016.

Be on the lookout for the 2007 vintage. It was particularly shitty.

Agreed. I had a 2007 Biggio Hamina Deux Vert last week that was very nice. Bob Wood would have approved.