Drank a 2017 last night. Didn’t knock our socks off but definitely a nice drink and no hurry to drink them up. Will hide the other two for awhile.
We had a bottle of 17 our wines today with some pizzas made on the egg. It was delicious; very pure fruits and somewhat linear but really delicious. Just very crushable.
Glad everyone seems to be pulling corks on those ‘17s. I think they are showing nicely. My wines seem to need that little extra bottle time and the ‘17 Our Wines bottling is no different. Made with the same fruit and in the same style of the Franny Beck, so having a few years under its belt makes sense. I remember bottling the ‘17 Franny Beck wines and just thinking how backward they were. They’re just starting to show their stuff. Great vintage
[Edit] getting lots of rhubarb on the palate as well.
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2017 Our Wines Pinot Noir - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley (4/12/2022)
Lightly colored and kirsch aromas. Cranberry on the attack, wow, good. More tart dark cherry at the finish. Some stem or oak provides the base. Lightly astringent and fine tannins. Really great.
Posted from CellarTracker
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I am clueless re rhubarb and didn’t pick up any oak notes, otherwise my impression of this wine is in total agreement with your notes…
Hi Jon,
Rhubarb pie? Delicious! For me and my notes, Pinot can run the spectrum of red fruitiness. Rhubarb, a vegetable, is at the lower end of fruit in my palate with cranberry, opposed to say a bright ripe cherry. Typically tart although anything can be tart based on ripeness.
The oak I reference is not showing as vanilla, caramel or such but actual woody note which is also why I thought it might be from stems. Don’t know if this was destemmed or not. The light astringency could be from barrel, like terpenes, tannins from skin contact or stems can do that too.
I liked how tart this was without much heat; it was spectacular with pizza.
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Sorry I missed out on ordering a BD deal. The TNs sound terrific at such an attractive price point and from a small, committed winemaker.
Thanks all,
Peter
Thanks, Brig…I doubt I have tasted rhubarb in any form in the past 40-50 yrs…I remember it being included in some apple pies but have no clue what it tastes or smells like on its own…I kinda thought the astringent notes may have been from stems…I am a long time fan of cranberries and, in recent years, have been drinking tart cherry juice and enoying an occasional PBJ with tart cherry jam
Two down, 2019 and 2020 to go
So far so good. 18 seems slightly riper than 17.
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2018 Our Wines Pinot Noir - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley (4/25/2022)
Beautiful crimson color. Ripe raspberry aroma. Attack is dark cherry and quickly followed by tart raspberry. Big dose of acid and the tannins are fine but very gritty. The tartness adds a mouth puckering reflex. Picking up dark plum too. Perfect with grilled salmon.
Posted from CellarTracker
Sadly the Franny Beck wine clubs have been discontinued.
2016 Armstrong (Ribbon Ridge)
Really fine stuff. I could copy Brig’s note for the 2018 Our Wines in terms of tart red fruits, high acidity, and fine but gritty tannins. Still very much on the young side by several years at least. This is yet another OR PN that really needs at least ten years to be in it’s best place.
+1 re Brig’s notes…I found the 2018 more to my liking than the 2017, probably due to the absence of 2017’s bracing astringency, YMMV… Enjoyed the raspberry and plum components of the wine…The acidity and fine tannins , meld well with the fruit to make this wine quite harmonious and enjoyable with the planked salmon at dinner
Good news, the warden is Sicilian! LOL
Crushing this while standing guard at the BBQ.
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2019 Our Wines Pinot Noir - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley (5/11/2022)
Deep crimson color. This wine, compared to the two previous vintages, shows a much more rustic character. Almost like an interesting Sicilian red wine. There’s a hint of cinnamon and spice on the back end. Dark plum and raspberry fruit. Medium plus finish.
Posted from CellarTracker
Nice one here too. Really glad I purchased a case, should have purchased more but that’s the way the game is played.
This was probably the warden’s favorite of the four.
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2020 Our Wines Pinot Noir - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley (5/13/2022)
Dark crimson color. Light Cherry nose and stems. Palate is tart cherry, sour on the attack. Tannins are much softer here compared to '17-'19. Medium acid on the long finish. Vapors swirl around the sinus cavity.
Posted from CellarTracker
Michael, what’s the stem story on these wines? Or is it oak driving that?
Hey Brig, the ‘17s had some once used barrels and the ‘18s had some twice used. By ‘19 I was pretty light on anything but neutral oak. As for the use of whole cluster, in ‘17 I was around 33% and in ‘18 about 50%. By 2019 I’d decided that I was all in on the whole cluster and have been 100% whole cluster fermentation since. Don’t know if that answers your questions or creates more 
Posted as a separate thread, but wanted to include it here as well.
2016 Blue Label WV Blend (50% La Chenaie, 30% Johan, 20% Armstrong)
Nose - blueberry-blackberry, earthy, meat, prune, raisin, ruby port, sourdough starter, tempeh. Maybe the funk comes from from Armstrong; not sure. Day 2: pretty sure the raisin-ness comes from Johan.
Taste - the wine tastes aged, has a brandy-like quality, it’s not dessert-like but headed that way. Has an interesting amarone/ripasso feel. Not much change on Day 2.
Winemaker notes: La Chenaie was the first choice in the blend because it holds acid well.
2016 La Chenaie (suitcase, massale, 115)
Nose - Very faint on Day 1, especially in relation to the Blue Label, classic young Pinot nose
Palate - middle to end has complexity, earthy/pepper back end, a bit bitter on the finish, very Eola-Amity (smooth, peppery). Tastes younger, tannins fade away slowly. Revisiting at the end of Day 1 there is some green pepper. The wine was a bit bigger on Day 2, and was my favorite wine on both Day 1 and Day 2.
2016 Johan (114, 115, but not 828)
Nose - nice; smells like aged Pinot
Palate - similar to La Chenaie but has a much bigger mid-palate; short finish in a good way; makes you want to come back for another sip. There’s still some of that raisin/prune/brandy feel (which comes through in the Blue Label). Had a little more of everything on Day 2; seemed more assertive.
The Twist
I reached out to Michael Sterling, and he was kind enough to chat with us for a few minutes by phone, discussing the vintage and his choices that year. He even offered to send a 2016 Armstrong so that we can experience the full 4-bottle horizontal. Thanks, @Michael Sterling!
Always happy to chat when I have a moment, especially when there is horizontal going on! Next time you can get that Armstrong in and see where it fits.
Pretty much everything from Michael is fantastic. May be I should try to let some of them age a little but it’s tough!
I remember talking to Michael on the phone after their first BD foray. He said that he figured they would get about 10 orders.
lol
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}