Had a well cellared Ken Wright 95 freedom hill vineyard and 97 Guadalupe vineyard last night. Was delicious, tasty and fresh. w/ only 12% Alc.
Welcome to the forums, CCoulson! Nice to hear you chime in and you’re obviously drinking well. Please keep posting!
I picked up some Beaux Freres at the winery last year. Guess they need to stay in the cellar for a while before I think about opening them.
On the money as usual.
02, 04, 05’s, and the good 07s are great right now. My 08s are finally opening up…
06-Jim Prosser poured 06 Gemini at a deep roots coalition tasting and it was dynamite. My 06 Hommage is showing really well…if you enjoy CdP(I don’t).
Knowing the producer and vineyard is key, as is knowing the abv and acidity levels.
I generally start opening our wines around 6-7 years old, but always begin with the wines from the Dundee Hills(Durant now, Winter’s Hill from pre-2010 wines).
Whistling Ridge is a 10 year vineyard, at this point I know that I can enjoy a bottle at 6-8 years, but the sweet spot will arrive around the 10 year mark. It’s also the vineyard that shuts down the hardest and elevates the most with age. (I also don’t open PGC estate wines much before they are 10 years old).
I had a bottle of ‘88 Temperance Hill from Amity recently, and it was alive and well(and delicious). Based upon our first release, I am guessing that it will be well worthwhile to hold for a decade.
I think it would be good to consider having an older flight at the Berserker tasting after IPNC.
Have 10 people bring wines that are from a vintage that is at least 10-15 years old.
Having tasted quite a few vintages of Patricia Green Etzel Block recently, as well as a couple of other aged wines from PGC, I think most of those are not yet at peak at 10 years. 15 is probably more like it for my taste. Of course, producer, producer, producer.
For sure, I have also had quite a few bottles from Cristom where 15-20 years was still on the upswing.
I am partial to the bit of ground that contains Beaux Freres, Patricia Green, and Whistling Ridge, and 10 years is the entry point for wines from those three vineyards but I do think it’s just the beginning.
Of course, Eyrie too. Even their entry level Pinot Noir can still be improving at 10 years.
Agreed, Vincent F. and I had a similar discussion during his NC visit in June, but I’m kinda surprised that the Berserker tasting hasn’t shifted to a 10 year retrospective. I know that Bob Wood was a huge proponent of the 2007 vintage and hence the original tasting, but that was a few years ago. After 2009, I think that the subsequent vintages could provide a wonderful retrospective at the 10 year mark. Based on the Berserker tasting notes it didn’t appear that the 2012’s were well received this year, but I think that the 2012’s will be more accessible in a couple of years.
James
From someone who hopefully has years of enjoyment ahead from many of the makers popular in these forums - I would like to learn more about any Closed Periods of your favorite Oregon Pinot Noirs.
Your experiences on when/if you have encountered Bottles well stored in you cellar that are shut down.
What are the markers that you use to identify a bottle that is closing down? How many years did it take to exit?
Maker, vintage, vineyard, appellation are all helpful - both data and opinions you have developed over the years would be great to hear.
What are your preferences for when your drink, and also try not to drink, your favorite producers?
Burgundy has well established general rules of the road (which can be wrong, yet provide useful general guidelines), so good for Oregon to have the same so we can maximize our enjoyment.
Drank a 2002 St. Innocent Freedom Hill over Memorial Day weekend that was just phenomenal. One of the best domestic pinot’s I have ever had.
Back in the 80s, I thought that Oregon Pinot started to fall apart after about 5 years (with the exception of Eyrie). By the 2000s, I was thinking the outer limits for most was 10 years. Now it seems more like somewhere between 15 and 20 years. I had a 2002 Eyrie Reserve that, to this point, is my wine of the year, and probably the best Pinot I’ve had in five years. I’ve also had several 2005s recently that are tasting great and show no signs of being over the hill. Even the 2007s (remember, the early drinking vintage) are in a great place right now.
Great vintage for St. I, good to know they are holding up well.
I had a 2002 St. Innocent Shea about a month ago and it was really good. Still had some tannic bite. Totally ready for consumption but nowhere near past its prime.
I was lucky enough to have a 1993 Eyrie Reserve earlier this summer and it was terrific. Easily the oldest Oregon Pinot I’ve had and it didn’t disappoint.
We had a 2007 Brittan Vineyards Pinot Noir Gestalt Block last month and thought it was great. We are still sitting on 26 bottles of various producers (Brittan, Ayoub, Ayres, Patty Green, Retour, Evening Land, Andrew Rich, and de Lancellotti) between 2006 - 2009. Looking forward to having a few more this year…
Agreed James and Marcus, would be nice to dig into 05 for example or 02. But will require some procurement that some of us might be able to do for the group.
I do think we’d need to tap the participating winemakers and also see if we can procure wines from some of the other wineries.
I could bring either, and other older vintages too. I bet the group collectively has quite a few 15 yr. and older WV Pinots.