Mike's Oregon Dinner

Hawthorn
Tasted Tuesday, May 23, 2023 by NickA with 195 views

Introduction

Four years since our last Oregon dinner, time to do it again

Flight 1 - Aperitif (1 Note)

Mushroom truffle arancini
Caramelised onion brioche

Flight 2 - Peppered beef carpaccio, anchovy dressing, crispy polenta, baby gem and pecorino (2 Notes)

  • 2017 00 Wines Pinot Noir Hyland 93 Points

    USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola - Amity Hills

    Arresting nose, spicy and very fruit-forward, which with a bit of time gained precision and coelesced into a lovely bright strawberry note. Peppery and elegant on the palate, with a nice balance between sweet and sour, then a delicious, lingering finish. After time in glass the wine seemed to lose a bit of nuance and energy, presumably as it warmed up. Overall, I was reminded me of a Grivot Vosne village, which I intended as a compliment but is (to my surprise) actually quite a bit less expensive than this wine. Still v good though, and deserved group WOTN.

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  • 2014 Brick House Pinot Noir Evelyn's 89 Points

    USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge

    Subdued, musky nose, with a delicate floral note that just about made itself known. Still pretty structured. Chewy, ripe and full-bodied, the finish starting out a bit green and ending (with air/warmth) somewhat sweet. Given that, and all the wine to come, I didn't finish my glass.

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Flight 3 - Roast skate wing, smoked creamed potato, caramelised cauliflower, spinach, grape and caper beurre noisette, brown shrimps (3 Notes)

  • 2018 00 Wines Chardonnay Chehalem Mountain 91 Points

    USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains

    Nose intially clean and rather generic, but with air it became more expansive and exotic. The wine was like that immediately on the palate, which was much richer than suggested by the nose, and on the full-bodied and sumptuous side, with a sweetish tropical-fruited finish. Although not blowsy, and definitely enjoyable, I don't think I'd have placed this wine as Chardonnay blind... maybe Pinot Blanc?

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  • 2018 Arterberry Maresh Chardonnay Eyrie Vineyard 89 Points

    USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

    Served slightly too cold, and thus rather blank on the nose, although it didn't exactly shine when given air and upon reaching optimal temperature. Overly neutral on the palate too - there is such a thing as too crisp and too clean - albeit in a classical style, with bright lemon and lime, green apple and white flowers. Eventually the finish became attractively mealy. Not convinced there's enough there for this to become excellent with time, although I wouldn't rule that out; but I'm unlikely to know, as this was my only bottle and I'm not sad about that!

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  • 2016 Morgen Long Chardonnay Sandi 93 Points

    USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

    This wine's perfectly-judged reduction was immediately striking and didn't dominate, rolling off beautifully as one took a sip. Elegant and airy, but actually subtly creamy and full-bodied (I think that's the oak speaking), with notes of burned lime and lime cordial. A definite winner among the whites, and group #2 tonight.

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Flight 4 - Iberico presa, salt baked carrot, crushed celeriac, black pudding, BBQ hispi cabbage, pickled walnut and pork jus (3 Notes)

  • 2018 Sequitur Pinot Noir 89 Points

    USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge

    Didn't think this showed well tonight - certainly behind the glorious 2016 that I tried last year. Very earthy and lean on the nose that initially I attributed to a smidgen of TCA, but that seemed to dissipate so I'm going to blame the combination of young wine/lots of stems. Full-bodied on the palate, grippy from the whole bunch, but increasingly suave with air, which brought some pretty red fruit.

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  • 2015 Antica Terra Pinot Noir Botanica 92 Points

    USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

    Ripe, full nose, with an interesting note of smoked sausage. Again rich, dark and concentrated on the palate, like a Luxardo cherry, then a lovely bittersweet, spicy finish that was increasingly long with air. This drank well, matched nicely with the (fairly rich and dark!) food, and was voted group #3.

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  • 2005 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Pinot Noir Laurène 91 Points

    USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

    Hard to pin this wine down; it certainly didn't drink like an 'old' wine though. Interesting nose, spicy and with notes of cola and Bovril. Bright on the palate, savoury with a touch of ink, and decent length. Probably would have been better to drink this on its own rather than with the two other reds in the flight, which were (in completely different ways) both rather extreme.

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Flight 5 - Granny Smith apple crumble souffle, custard ice cream (1 Note)

  • 2020 ATS Pincészet Tokaji Pince 92 Points

    Hungary, Tokaji

    Suggested by the somm to accompany apple souffle - and what a great pairing. Pitch-perfect sweetness for the dish, fresh and fun with notes of crabapple, pear and sea spray. Loved the crispness of this wine.

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Closing

Something of a mixed bag, with some wines too young and some too warm. I really enjoyed the 00 Pinot, the Morgen Long, and the Tokaji though.

The food was superb!

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