2007 Shea vineyard comparative tasting

The January tasting event with the 'Wine Thursday' group. For the month of January it was Grant's time to choose, and he had a cool idea. Shea vineyard is easily the most well-known Oregon single vineyard (and possibly the largest, someone please correct me if I am wrong) and because of this they sell a lot of fruit to a lot of different producers. Grant's choice for January was a 'blind 2007 Shea vineyard only' tasting. Initially it created some waves as to the possible scarcity of the wines but in the end we were able to source 11 different bottles. 2007 was chose over 2008 being as it was a more difficult year and it might show off winemaking styles more, the amount of variation/flavors/style in the wines were tremendous.

Only the Pinots were served blind.

• 2007 Joseph Drouhin Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

  Very fresh apple tones with a deep white frosting tone, starfruit, light kiwi and oak backing it all up. The nose on this is amazing, very deep and engaging. The palate is very tight currently, showing strong minerality and not giving much fruit. Starts off with white stones, showing a soft ripe yellow pear before turning tart leading into the finish. The minerality shows above all fruit flavors and sticks around through the finish, showing nice acidity and mineral. Very tightly wound, I'd let this sit if I owned some. The nose is money, the palate just isn't ready. 90+

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• 2007 Carabella Chardonnay Dijon 76 Clone 87 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Showing soft white pear and green limes on the nose, the citrus shows stronger here. Easy fruit initially on the palate, mild oak usage that adds a nice spiciness to the fruit leading into the finish. Pretty straight-forward fruit-wise, this is a nice, generous Oregon Chardonnay. Medium-short finish, doesn't stick around long but the acidity cleans the flavors out nicely. Good stuff.

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• 2007 Broadley Vineyards Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard 90 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Showing chalky/mineral and cherries on the nose along with a nice earthy/manure note. Sometimes poopy flavors in the nose can turn me off, this was nice. The fruit is nice and fresh right off the bat. Bright cherry fruit, red tea, light rose/floral notes. The feel on the palate here is nice and balanced, showing a medium intensity throughout. The finish is on the longer side and lingers pleasantly with balanced acidity/tannin/flavor that all decrease at a linear rate through a 15-20 second long finish. Still showing good structure but very balanced. This is good wine with a good future. 90+

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• 2007 Panther Creek Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard 86 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Strong sulfur notes on the nose with burned grape vine, toasted oak and soft red berries in the background. Smells pleasing, but that sulfur/burned note is strong. The palate is more pleasing to me, medium/low body, soft red fruit with a good amount of earth tones. Strongly acidic in the finish, not as well composed. Not in balance, but still a nice wine.

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• 2007 Ken Wright Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard 89 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton

  Very dark in glass compared to other wines in this line-up. Showing strong flavors of strawberries and cream on the nose, concentrated. The palate has a medium weight with a strong intensity of flavor, delicious cherries, red berries with very mild earth. The fruit is much more forward here and is on full display. As fruity as this is, it has a strong structure to back it up and could be considered all most balanced with it's big character. People at the tasting were either love it or hate it on this wine, there was feeling far more extracted than many of the other wines. I was in the 'love it' camp.

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• 2007 J. K. Carriere Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard 87 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  The nose was nice, cherries, fresh strawberry and earth. The palate shows some minerality with a chalky feel along with nice red cherry fruit. The acidity here is very strong currently with late hitting tannins that fully dry and pucker the mouth on the finish. The structure does clip the flavors of the wine at this point, compared to other wines this didn't feel as ready to drink and possibly a bit closed. Still showing nice flavors, just not balanced and fun at this point. Give it some time. 87+

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• 2007 Shea Wine Cellars Pinot Noir Estate Shea Vineyard 88 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Cherry fruit on the nose, strong grape stem component, also some oak. The palate shows those cherries and light earth starting into the finish. The tannins and acidity here are on the stronger side, but where this wins is the fruit easily outlasts them on the finish, this is a really nice wine that is showing young. Pretty straight-forward flavors, but good build, intensity, and a decent promise for the future. 88+

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• 2007 Elk Cove Vineyards Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard 88 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Bright red fruit, strong stemmy scents along with a bit of mushroom in there. Smells really nice. Strong red tea flavors initially on the palate for me, cherries backing it up, and a light floral note as well leading into the finish. Medium-low intensity throughout with acidity showing just a bit strong in the finish. Medium length. A very nice wine overall, just nothing that exciting about it either.

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• 2007 Raptor Ridge Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard 89 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton

  Red Pinot fruit but showing some metallic minerality and light floral notes. An interesting nose. The palate starts off with chalky mineral and cherries, nice floral/dried rose ends also show up later. The acids are on the stronger side with medium-strength, firm tannins. The depth of fruit here is really nice though and it is an outright more delicious wine than most of the other Shea's in the line-up. Medium length, ending cleanly. A very nice wine overall.

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• 2007 Bergström Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard 87 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton

  This is another very dark 2007 in the glass. Darker fruit on the nose here, getting into blackberries, black cherries, along with mushrooms and stems. It certainly smells nice but not necessarily like the other wines here. Dark fruit shows on the palate too, blackberries, some minerality leading into the finish which shows some distinct alcoholic heat. The flavors here are really nice, but that heat keeps things just out of balance.

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• 2007 Stevenson-Barrie Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard 87 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton

  Light sulfur nose, showing burned wood, some barnyard/poopy notes, and nice cherries. The palate shows pleasing red Pinot fruit, the tannins and acidity are on the light side. The fruit here is fresh and up-front. This is pleasing and easy to drink. It's not compelling or complex, but very easy and it gets respect in that sense. Medium-short finish that ends cleanly.

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• 2007 St. Innocent Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard 89 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton

  The nose on this is very nice, red fruit with light barnyard and floral notes. The palate shows that nice red fruit with a backing of tea and dried flowers, medium weight and intensity with good depth of flavor. That said it is strongly structured, firm tannins and acidity come in on the finish and dry the mouth out. Chalky red fruit is left in the wake. I hate to use the word 'Burgundian' to describe Oregon Pinot but this pretty much was. This is a solid Pinot with nice character and this should age gracefully. 89+ with the potential for more once the tannins/acidity start to mellow out.

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• 2007 Alexana Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard 85 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  The nose was cherries with some potpourri. The palate shows strong intensity with it's red fruit but a boozy heat shows up in the mid-palate and over takes the flavor, clipping the finish. Last wine of the tasting so I was being rushed a bit at this point, the fruit here was nice but the heat was a problem.

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In the end, like always, before the bags are pulled we had everyone put their 1st, 2nd and 3rd favorite wines on a piece of paper and assigned 3 points for a 1st, 2 points for a 2nd, and 1 point for a 3rd place. 1st place was the Broadley with 18 points, 2nd place was the Stevenson-Barrie with 17 points, and 3rd was the Shea Cellars with 10. The Ken Wright was a close 4th. My WOTN was the Broadley, it really was a beautiful bottle of Oregon Pinot.