My Private Idaho

O

Oswaldo Costa

Oswaldo Costa
Spent the last four days skiing for only the second time, accompanying my daughter in Sun Valley, ID. The first time was forty years ago, so I was glad to escape unbroken, unpulled and untorn. Ate Idaho potatoes several times; when in Rome...

Sun Valley is spectacularly beautiful (97 points), and I really liked the town’s mod-western atmosphere (94 points). We stayed with extremely nice friends (98 points) for whom I opened some wines culled from local retail.

I was hoping to get a better sense of Oregon pinots but failed. Found no pinosity in the three pleasant ones that I tried, so maybe my sense of pinosity is too tied up with Burgundian cellar work rather than some independent characteristic of the grape.

2009 Siduri Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 13.0%
Chosen because of the promising alcohol level. Screwcap. No pinosity but balanced, with good acidity. Acceptable.

2008 Cloudline Pinot Noir Oregon 13.0%
Chosen because of the promising alcohol level. Agglomerate (?) cork. Again no pinosity, but good balance and quite pleasant. Good.

2008 Bergstrom Cumberland Reserve Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 14.1%
Chosen because of the reputation, despite the unpromising alcohol level. No pinosity, but classy fruit. A bit too much adolescent heat for me, but a hit with my hosts. Good.

2004 Bonny Doon Le Cigare Volant 13.5%
Chosen because I liked Randall Grahm’s book. Screwcap (like all Bonny Doons). Chateauneuf clone (38% grenache 35% syrah 12% mourvedre 8% carignane 7% cinsault). Quite appealing, with European profile, soft tannins, good balance. Happy to find that Bonny Doon ain’t no Molly Dooker. Quite good.
 
I liked the Cigar Volant from 1987 as I remember. The next time I tasted it was from the late 90s or early aughts. It wasn't Molly Dooker but it wasn't no flying cigar either. I'd be happy to think Grahm had found his way back to Chateauneufy stuff. Maybe I'll look for one again.
 
In the book, he confesses that, before c. 2005, he talked the talk more than he practiced it, so it probably helped that I wasn't expecting much from the 2004.
 
I had the 2006 Cigar Volant a couple months ago. Picked it up because I had never had any of Grahm's wines before and some of the Detroit peeps had talked highly of them. I went into it with just about zero expectations and came away quite pleasantly surprised. Oddly enough, not that easy to find in Chicago.
 
do you score north american and european ski resorts on the same scale? I can deal with all wines scored on the same scale, but not this.
 
originally posted by .sasha:
do you score north american and european ski resorts on the same scale? I can deal with all wines scored on the same scale, but not this.
Click to expand...

I am too n00bie at both scoring and skiing to answer this properly, but if I could, I would give a score for the resort as a thing in itself, and a separate score for the resort as it stacks up in terms of typicality.
 
PS: my last dinner in Sun Valley tonight featured the 2008 Elk Cove Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 13.5%, very nice and nuanced, with a pleasant modicum of pinosity. Despite the sweet edge, my favorite Oregon pinot of the trip. Also a modest 2007 Drouhin Cote de Beaune to show my hosts the difference, with lotsa pinosity and acidity, more to my liking but less to theirs. I feel like I'm tweeting.
 
Cloudline, I believe, is the second label to the Oregon Drouhin clan. I've liked it OK in the past as an inexpensive but serviceable Oregon pinot. Used to be about 16 bucks.
 
Summertime is when to go there. Very few people doubt one's pt system when they're wearing shorts, driving hummers and acting like they can actually fly fish.
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Sun Valley is spectacularly beautiful (97 points), and I really liked the town’s mod-western atmosphere (94 points). We stayed with extremely nice friends (98 points) for whom I opened some wines culled from local retail.

I was hoping to get a better sense of Oregon pinots but failed. Found no pinosity in the three pleasant ones that I tried, so maybe my sense of pinosity is too tied up with Burgundian cellar work rather than some independent characteristic of the grape.
Click to expand...

Oregon pinosity = two Nez Perce fire-forged prongs, adorned with vibrant, food-grade boysenberry stain, and frozen to a base of champignon and truffled smörgåskaviar; toast points and cocoa beans on the side.
Right?
Best, Jim
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
In the book, he confesses that, before c. 2005, he talked the talk more than he practiced it, so it probably helped that I wasn't expecting much from the 2004.
Click to expand...

Well, in the narrative I was telling, he lost his way in the 90s. I'm happy to hear he's found it. I'm not sure what the way was, though, except that Le Cigare Volant ceased to be interesting.
 
originally posted by Florida Jim:
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Sun Valley is spectacularly beautiful (97 points), and I really liked the town’s mod-western atmosphere (94 points). We stayed with extremely nice friends (98 points) for whom I opened some wines culled from local retail.

I was hoping to get a better sense of Oregon pinots but failed. Found no pinosity in the three pleasant ones that I tried, so maybe my sense of pinosity is too tied up with Burgundian cellar work rather than some independent characteristic of the grape.
Click to expand...

Oregon pinosity = two Nez Perce fire-forged prongs, adorned with vibrant, food-grade boysenberry stain, and frozen to a base of champignon and truffled smörgåskaviar; toast points and cocoa beans on the side.
Right?
Best, Jim
Click to expand...

I knew I was missing something... Love that name, Nez Perce. These guys were hip to body piercings long before today's young 'uns.

Jonathan, the so-called talk (or way) for Grahm is the standard TLC agriculture followed by minimal intervention.
 
Yes, to get 99 points they would have had to be wine geeks, and to get 100 they would have had to pay for us to come. I'm a tough grader, otherwise it's pointless.
 
originally posted by .sasha:
do you score north american and european ski resorts on the same scale? I can deal with all wines scored on the same scale, but not this.
Click to expand...

I do.

Sun Valley is a 50 since they don't allow snowboarding.

It is only a mountain.
 
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