Loren Sonkin
Loren Sonkin
My neighbor Lou Rad hosted his annual end of the year Oregon Pinot Tasting. This years theme was a look see at the 2003 vintage. Not one of the best vintages in recent years, still, there were some good producers represented. When this vintage was released, I thought it to be a vintage to drink early while waiting on 2002. In fact, I had drank most of mine including all of my Sineann wines, the Oregon producer I own the most of. Between the ten of us though, we put together a nice assortment. The wines were served blind over two flights and we spent about 4 hours with them.
We started with two Pinot Gris:
2006 Carabella Pinot Gris Chehalem Mountains, Oregon
Pale copper gold in color, clear and slightly flat. The nose has seltzer and minerals. On the palate, this is slightly flabby and as it warmed up, seemed almost watery to me. On the palate, this is limes and minerals but a sweet, sort of glazed doughnut topping quality to it. I found this wine lacking while others found it more elegant.
2006 Eyrie Vineyard Pinot Gris Oregon
Deeper copper gold in color, clear and shimmering bright. The nose has 7-Up, and apricots and a burnt sulfur quality. Nice acidity. On the palate, lemons, minerals and a powdered Lick-a-Maid note. This is good and more substantial. Not particularly interesting, but a nice starter.
Flight 1:
2003 Priv Vineyard Pinot Noir le Sud
Ruby in color, purple at the core, mostly opaque and bright. The nose has cherry soda and graphite. On the palate, it turns to cherry cough syrup. Slightly bitter on the finish. This garnered three WOTF votes, but for me it was lacking development. The candied aspect is not something I like in my Pinots.
2003 Kramer Heritage Pinot Noir Yamhill-Carlton
Ruby red in color, mostly clear and bright. The nose is tight with some sherries. The nose eventually adds some clove but never really developed. That said, this is balanced and has some complexity on the palate. The finish ahs heat and tannins.
2003 Domaine Coteau Pinot Noir Yamhill
Purple/ruby in color, mostly clear and bright. The nose has cherry powdered drink, then closed a bit. With some air, it showed cherry juice and some earthiness. On the palate, this has a bit of layering but also a candied quality. Some heat on the finish. That said, this was purchased recently at a local supermarket for $29. Not too bad considering everything. This tied for 1st for the groups WOTF.
2003 Anne Amie Pinot Noir Hawks View Vyd.
Also a recent grocery store purchase, this was $55. Ruby/cherry in color, clear and bright. The nose has cherries and root beer. Very soft texture. On the palate, this has sweet fruit and a bitter finish. An interesting contrast, but one I did not care for. The groups seemed to like this more than I.
2003 Cristom Pinot Noir Louise Vyd
Ruby in color, clear and bright. The nose has cherries and cherry juice. On the palate, lots of cherries with some anise. Some tannins on the finish. Slightly harsh on the finish with air. I liked this better than mos tin the flight and it was the groups co-WOTF.
2003 St. Innocent Pinot Noir Shea Vyd
I liked this far more than the group. In fact this was my WOTF, and the groups second last. Ruby in color with purple swirls. The nose has cherries and is slightly gamey. On the palate, this has cherries and earthiness. Some dried leaves. Tannins and a roughness mar the finish. Not a great wine, but my favorite of the flight.
Flight 2:
2003 Ribbon Ridge Winery Pinot Noir Ridgecrest Vyd.
Purple in color with ruby swirls, mostly clear and bright. The nose has powdered cherry drink. With air a slight earthiness emerged. This is sweet and candied. Cherries and raspberries. The finish has slight heat and anise on it.
2003 Patricia Green Cellars Pinot Noir Balcombe
Purple/ruby in color. The nose has black cherries and s minty quality. This is tight. With air it showed some black cherry Kool-aid notes. Heat on the palate. Sweet black cherries. Long finish but an alcoholic cough syrup note. This seemed to be one of the few that still needed some time to sort itself out.
2003 Brickhouse Pinot Noir les Dyonnaise
Cherry in color, clear and bright. The nose is tight, with air showing cherries and eventually also some forest floor notes. Juicy texture. Cherries on the palate. Lots of tannins and heat on the finish.
2003 Domaine Drouhin Pinot Noir
Purple in color with some ruby swirls. The nose is earthy with cherries and a slight anise note. With air some mushrooms show. On the palate, black and red cherries. A bit of cough syrup. A long finish, but some alcohol showing. The most Burgundian in the group.
2002 Panther Creek Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard
Lou put this in as a ringer. It was a winner at last years 02 tasting but showed poorly here. Perhaps this bottle is still shut down or just and off bottle. As a recent purchase, I am not sure if the storage was superb or poor. Deep ruby in color, mostly opaque and bright. The nose has cherries and cherry pie filling. A slight earthy note that grew with air. On the palate, this is tight with candy apple notes. Plenty of heat and tannins on the finish. This did not resemble last years bottle.
2003 Olssens Pinot Noir Jackson Barry Central Otago New Zealand
Thrown in as a ringer. Before it was unveiled I said it was my favorite wine but that was because it was different from the rest it really stood out and apart. A classic reason why blind tasting is not necessarily as unbiased as it may seem. This wine was bigger and bolder and in a tasting of 12 wines, that makes a difference. As Jeff K noted, ringers often are first or last in tastings as they stand out so much.
Bright ruby/purple in color. The nose is cark cherries with earthy layers and grilled meats. On the palate, this is sweet ripe fruit. Much riper than anything else on the table. In a vintage with difficulties, this seemed younger and bolder. I voted it, along with the group, as my WOTF.
Dessert
2003 Sineann Sweet Sydney
This is an artificially frozen Zinfandel Ice Wine. Reddish/brown in color with some orange tinges. The nose is very sweet with notes sundried tomatoes, raisins and raspberries. On the palate, this is quite sweet. A little goes along way. It would be better with the right food pairing.
We started with two Pinot Gris:
2006 Carabella Pinot Gris Chehalem Mountains, Oregon
Pale copper gold in color, clear and slightly flat. The nose has seltzer and minerals. On the palate, this is slightly flabby and as it warmed up, seemed almost watery to me. On the palate, this is limes and minerals but a sweet, sort of glazed doughnut topping quality to it. I found this wine lacking while others found it more elegant.
2006 Eyrie Vineyard Pinot Gris Oregon
Deeper copper gold in color, clear and shimmering bright. The nose has 7-Up, and apricots and a burnt sulfur quality. Nice acidity. On the palate, lemons, minerals and a powdered Lick-a-Maid note. This is good and more substantial. Not particularly interesting, but a nice starter.
Flight 1:
2003 Priv Vineyard Pinot Noir le Sud
Ruby in color, purple at the core, mostly opaque and bright. The nose has cherry soda and graphite. On the palate, it turns to cherry cough syrup. Slightly bitter on the finish. This garnered three WOTF votes, but for me it was lacking development. The candied aspect is not something I like in my Pinots.
2003 Kramer Heritage Pinot Noir Yamhill-Carlton
Ruby red in color, mostly clear and bright. The nose is tight with some sherries. The nose eventually adds some clove but never really developed. That said, this is balanced and has some complexity on the palate. The finish ahs heat and tannins.
2003 Domaine Coteau Pinot Noir Yamhill
Purple/ruby in color, mostly clear and bright. The nose has cherry powdered drink, then closed a bit. With some air, it showed cherry juice and some earthiness. On the palate, this has a bit of layering but also a candied quality. Some heat on the finish. That said, this was purchased recently at a local supermarket for $29. Not too bad considering everything. This tied for 1st for the groups WOTF.
2003 Anne Amie Pinot Noir Hawks View Vyd.
Also a recent grocery store purchase, this was $55. Ruby/cherry in color, clear and bright. The nose has cherries and root beer. Very soft texture. On the palate, this has sweet fruit and a bitter finish. An interesting contrast, but one I did not care for. The groups seemed to like this more than I.
2003 Cristom Pinot Noir Louise Vyd
Ruby in color, clear and bright. The nose has cherries and cherry juice. On the palate, lots of cherries with some anise. Some tannins on the finish. Slightly harsh on the finish with air. I liked this better than mos tin the flight and it was the groups co-WOTF.
2003 St. Innocent Pinot Noir Shea Vyd
I liked this far more than the group. In fact this was my WOTF, and the groups second last. Ruby in color with purple swirls. The nose has cherries and is slightly gamey. On the palate, this has cherries and earthiness. Some dried leaves. Tannins and a roughness mar the finish. Not a great wine, but my favorite of the flight.
Flight 2:
2003 Ribbon Ridge Winery Pinot Noir Ridgecrest Vyd.
Purple in color with ruby swirls, mostly clear and bright. The nose has powdered cherry drink. With air a slight earthiness emerged. This is sweet and candied. Cherries and raspberries. The finish has slight heat and anise on it.
2003 Patricia Green Cellars Pinot Noir Balcombe
Purple/ruby in color. The nose has black cherries and s minty quality. This is tight. With air it showed some black cherry Kool-aid notes. Heat on the palate. Sweet black cherries. Long finish but an alcoholic cough syrup note. This seemed to be one of the few that still needed some time to sort itself out.
2003 Brickhouse Pinot Noir les Dyonnaise
Cherry in color, clear and bright. The nose is tight, with air showing cherries and eventually also some forest floor notes. Juicy texture. Cherries on the palate. Lots of tannins and heat on the finish.
2003 Domaine Drouhin Pinot Noir
Purple in color with some ruby swirls. The nose is earthy with cherries and a slight anise note. With air some mushrooms show. On the palate, black and red cherries. A bit of cough syrup. A long finish, but some alcohol showing. The most Burgundian in the group.
2002 Panther Creek Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard
Lou put this in as a ringer. It was a winner at last years 02 tasting but showed poorly here. Perhaps this bottle is still shut down or just and off bottle. As a recent purchase, I am not sure if the storage was superb or poor. Deep ruby in color, mostly opaque and bright. The nose has cherries and cherry pie filling. A slight earthy note that grew with air. On the palate, this is tight with candy apple notes. Plenty of heat and tannins on the finish. This did not resemble last years bottle.
2003 Olssens Pinot Noir Jackson Barry Central Otago New Zealand
Thrown in as a ringer. Before it was unveiled I said it was my favorite wine but that was because it was different from the rest it really stood out and apart. A classic reason why blind tasting is not necessarily as unbiased as it may seem. This wine was bigger and bolder and in a tasting of 12 wines, that makes a difference. As Jeff K noted, ringers often are first or last in tastings as they stand out so much.
Bright ruby/purple in color. The nose is cark cherries with earthy layers and grilled meats. On the palate, this is sweet ripe fruit. Much riper than anything else on the table. In a vintage with difficulties, this seemed younger and bolder. I voted it, along with the group, as my WOTF.
Dessert
2003 Sineann Sweet Sydney
This is an artificially frozen Zinfandel Ice Wine. Reddish/brown in color with some orange tinges. The nose is very sweet with notes sundried tomatoes, raisins and raspberries. On the palate, this is quite sweet. A little goes along way. It would be better with the right food pairing.
