Greatest Vintage of Oregon Pinot

[John_Osburn]

@Todd Hamina

The one I am currently selling…

A couple of winemakers have told me they believe 2012 will turn out to be in the top 3 since 1979 for them. It was certainly easier than 2011, anyway!

[Richard_T_r_i_m_p_i]

For 2012,

ITBers = 2008 or better
AFWE buyers like me:

THE WARMTH OF THE SUN ~ THE BEACH BOYS.

RT

[Ian_Dorin]

1994 and 1998. Both before the corner winemaking stands popped up, and scores became important. Wines have aged effortlessly

[mstockley]

First heard about Oregon Pinot with the '94 vintage. Spectacular wines and agree with Ian, some forgotten bottles I figured would be over the hill were still spectacular years later.

[Todd_Hamina]

I will say that 12 makes you feel really good early about the upside potential.

[Bob_Wood]

[quote=“Ian Dorin”]corner winemaking stands/quote]

[Rick_Allen]

@Ian Dorin

1994 and 1998. Both before the corner winemaking stands popped up, and scores became important. Wines have aged effortlessly

Funny, I was thinking the same thing about 1983 and 1985. The best Oregon Pinot I’ve ever had was the 1983 Eyrie South Block Reserve I tasted last May. Personally I’d take 1993 over 1994, but this is probably a 2010 versus 2009 thing. I’ve tasted too many 1994s where the winemaker didn’t know how to handle the ripeness.

[Nick_Gangas]

85, 94 and 99 to me. 88 was also pretty good.

[DJ_Silverberg]

94, 99, 02, 05, 07. Anything younger has not shown enough to pass definitive opinion.

[Blake_Brown]

My vote goes to 94` and Beaux Freres gets the top wine of the vintage.

[Bob_Wood]

@Rick Allen

@Ian Dorin

1994 and 1998. Both before the corner winemaking stands popped up, and scores became important. Wines have aged effortlessly

Funny, I was thinking the same thing about 1983 and 1985. The best Oregon Pinot I’ve ever had was the 1983 Eyrie South Block Reserve I tasted last May.

I remember an ’ 83 or '85 that John Eliason (La Bete) made in his laundry room. Stunning.

[T_Schaffler]

Surprised at all the replies considering the other post. Certainly enjoying the reading. I was fortunate enough to be in Oregon when the 98 vintage was coming to market. Boy were the winemakers pleased to be pouring their 98s. Absolutely thrilled. At the time, I did not know 98 was following 3 tough years. Ended up spending 3 days tasting all over the WV. Fantastic trip that including some skiing on Mt. Hood.

My favorites to date are the:

98, 99, 02 and 05

Some memorable wines include: 98 Archery Summit Premier Cuvee (wish I still had a few of these, probably the QPR of the vintage), 98 Domaine Serene Guadalupe and Evanstad Reserve, 98 Ponzi Reseve, 98, 99 and 02 BF, 98 & 99 Ken Wright Arcus, 05 Le Cadeau Diversite. Not so memorable was the 98 Thomas - I didn’t know you could make wine from grape stems

Next Tier:

00 & 01

Next Tier

03, 04, 06

Waiting to be judged

07 forward (just haven’t tried enough)
94, recently bought a few from auction and am very excited to try

[Ian_Dorin]

@Bob Wood

@Ian Dorin

corner winemaking stands

There seemed to be a huge surge of garage wine operations somewhere right around 2002 vintage or so. I think the Carlton Winemaking Studio paved the way for a lot of that.
We tasted some awful stuff circa 2005/2006 vintage. Labels I’ve not seen since. Couldn’t even tell you what they were at this point, I tried to block them out of my memory.

[Ian_Dorin]

@Blake Brown

My vote goes to 94` and Beaux Freres gets the top wine of the vintage.

+1 on the 94 Beaux Freres. Has great depth and seemed to age forever.

[John_Osburn]

@Bob Wood

@Rick Allen

@Ian Dorin

1994 and 1998. Both before the corner winemaking stands popped up, and scores became important. Wines have aged effortlessly

Funny, I was thinking the same thing about 1983 and 1985. The best Oregon Pinot I’ve ever had was the 1983 Eyrie South Block Reserve I tasted last May.

I remember an ’ 83 or '85 that John Eliason (La Bete) made in his laundry room. Stunning.

Good memories, old-timers! '85 Arterberry, '85 Yamhill Valley Vyds, '85 Ponzi, '83 and '85 Knudsen-Eraths…and many more. And lots of great stuff from John E over the years for us AFWE-ers, from several locations.

[John_Osburn]

@Richard T r i m p i

For 2012,

ITBers = 2008 or better
AFWE buyers like me:

THE WARMTH OF THE SUN ~ THE BEACH BOYS. - YouTube

RT

Nice one Rich. Talked with Brian O’Donnell yesterday, he found 2012 was tracking heat-units closely with 2002 and 1993 (two of his favorite prior years) until our mid-September warm/humid period bumped them up a bit…

[rachel_mcdonald]

I’m not old enough to have had the wines from the 90’s in their prime but I’ve been lucky enough to have tasted some stunning 93’s and 94’s plus a handful of 96’s over the years. What about 91 and 92? I don’t know how they’d be now but I tasted 91 Beaux Freres, 91 Panther Creek Beaux Frere, and 92 Ponzi Reserve around 2003 or 2004 that were still great wines. I’ll lose all respect from Bob Wood, but I also thought the 92 Domain Serene’s were good at the time.

[Bob_Wood]

@rachel mcdonald

I’m not old enough to have had the wines from the 90’s in their prime but I’ve been lucky enough to have tasted some stunning 93’s and 94’s plus a handful of 96’s over the years. What about 91 and 92? I don’t know how they’d be now but I tasted 91 Beaux Freres, 91 Panther Creek Beaux Frere, and 92 Ponzi Reserve around 2003 or 2004 that were still great wines. I’ll lose all respect from Bob Wood, but I also thought the 92 Domain Serene’s were good at the time.

I once enjoyed an Aussie shiraz so it’s okay, Rachel. We’ll forgive you this time.

[rachel_mcdonald]

Wasn’t Ken Wright making the wine for them then?

[Bob_Wood]

@rachel mcdonald

Wasn’t Ken Wright making the wine for them then?

Not until '93.