Old Oregon Pinot Noir RUMBLEMATCH
Dan's house
Tasted Friday, May 15, 2009 by gripNsip with 621 views
Introduction
This crap all started when Dan sent out an email saying how he had a lone bottle of 1998 Stag Hollow Vendange selection that needed drank. Through emails this snowballed into a full-blown Oregon Pinot throwdown. Luckily everyone had some old goodness in their lockers. We started with 8 Pinot Noirs, 1 of them a Burgundy of a poor vintage to shake things up a bit. Here are my notes for the wines.
Flight 1 - The main course (8 Notes)
Flight 2 - Desert (4 Notes)
Closing
Once we had a chance to go through all of the Pinots a couple times we put our 3 favorites ranked 1st through 3rd on a piece of paper anonymously and read them off to score the wines and see what was the group favorites. Wines were given 3 points for a 1st, 2 for a 2nd and 1 for a 3rd. Here is how they broke down:
1st place went to the 1998 Brickhouse with 11 points. Three 1st places, one 2nd place vote.
2nd place went to the 1998 Antonin Guyon Corton-Clos du Roi with 10 points. It got one 1st, two 2nd and three 3rd place votes.
3rd place went to the 2000 Stag Hollow Vendange Selection with 9 points. It got two 1st place votes and three 3rd place votes.
4th place went to the 1998 Archery Summit Premier Cuvee with 6 points. It got one 1st place, one 2nd place and one 3rd place vote.
5th place went to the 2001 Shea Wine Cellars Shea Vineyard with 5 points. It got one 1st and one 2nd place vote.
6th place went to the 1998 Witness Tree with 3 points. It got one 2nd place and one 3rd place vote.
Tied for last place with 2 votes each were the 1997 Ken Wright Whisling Ridge and the 1998 Stag Hollow Vendange Selection. Each one got a single 2nd place vote.
When I stopped by the wine storage to get our wine before the event someone had emptied out a rather large locker and left a empty 6L of 1959 Chateau Lascombes Margaux sitting out on one of the ends of the isleways. It is an aboslutely beautiful bottle with all kinds of imperfections so I snagged it (with approval of the guy running the place of course).
After the Pinots we got into some other wines that were absolutely enjoyable. The Pinot Noir Port and vanilla ice cream was a real treat. I was pretty tossed by the end of the tasting being so many good wines were available. Overall a fantastic tasting and a fantastic experience. Thanks again to Dan for hosting! I leave you with a pic of me giving Steve a piece of my mind when he was shooting down my love of the Brickhouse.
1998 Antonin Guyon Corton-Clos du Roy 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru
Very musty on the nose with flavors of damp earth, raw mushroom and deep red fruits. The palate presented sour red berries and cherries, dry earth, moss, flower petals along with a spicy note. Tannins still intact but light and clean. Pleasant acids as well. Balanced and beautifully structured, nice body and a medium length finish. The overall consensus on this wine though was it was a tad boring and uncomplex. On the second pass through the line-up 4 hours in, this showed obvious improvement after being open with a more expressive nose and more weight on the palate. In group voting rated #2 out of 8 bottles.
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1998 Witness Tree Vineyard Pinot Noir 88 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
A nose of mushroom, wet earth and wood, cherries and creme. Age evident by the smell in the glass. The palate showed both ripe cherries and tart, sour cherries. Does not show it's age on the palate. Nice acids but no tannins to speak of. Straight forward and uncomplex, age has turned this into a very pleasant wine. This placed #6 out of 8 bottles in voting.
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1998 Archery Summit Pinot Noir Premier Cuvée 91 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
Rich and heavy berries on the nose, if you could say a wine had a "full-bodied" nose this would be it. Nice big mouthfeel, fresh ripe red berries and cherries, strong acidity and dusty tannins. A large wine by character. This is right at the end of it's drinking window, if not a little past, but is completely enjoyable. A nice length finish with lingering fruit made this a star for me. Placed #4 of 8 bottles in voting.
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1997 Ken Wright Pinot Noir Whistling Ridge Vineyard 87 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
A nose of dusty cranberries, like someone crushed a cranberry in a book then left it closed and pressed for years. The cranberries hit on the palate with sour creme and tart raspberries. Short uneventful finish. Strong acids come and clean out the pleasant fruity characters in this wine almost harshly. Light-bodied, light tannins. Was not showing as well as it's competitors. Tied for last out of 8 bottles in voting.
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2000 Stag Hollow Pinot Noir Vendange Selection 89 Points
USA, Oregon, Yamhill County
Creamy ripe red fruits in spades on the nose, I wrote this was "fat" on the nose. The palate presented the red berries and cherries along with a pleasant spiciness. Dusty, lengthy tannic finish. Strong acids present. My main complaint with this wine was the booziness, once someone pointed it out it was hard to get around. A very good wine overall. Scored #3 out of 8 bottles in voting.
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1998 Stag Hollow Pinot Noir Vendange Selection 91 Points
USA, Oregon, Yamhill County
A nose of strong raw mushroom, barnyard, sour under-ripe cherries and strawberries with hints of wet dog hair. This starts off soft and slow initially then blows your mind with a big dose of acidic strawberry, raspberry, and cherry. A whole bouquet of delicious fruits. On the finish was where this wine sung for me, this had a really long length finish that lingered with me for some time after each taste. Decent balance but beautifully structured, a real star in my eyes. Tied for last place out of 8 bottles in voting amongst the group.
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1998 Brick House Pinot Noir Cuvée du Tonnelier 92 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
A nose of ashen wet firewood and sour, under-ripe cherries. The palate presents cherry but turns dried & extracted feeling in the finish, almost raisin or prune-like. There is also a big dose of ripe plums in the mid-palate. Absolutely unlike any other Oregon Pinot I have had, the finish leaves you with lingering flavors like you just ate a freshly dried prune. Nicely balanced acids and subtle, nearly resolved tannins. A thought-provoking wine for me, and my favorite of the night. Rated #1 of 8 bottles in group voting.
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2001 Shea Wine Cellars Pinot Noir Estate Shea Vineyard 89 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
Candied, sweet red berry nose. Almost syrupy. Red berries dominate the palate with a salami note hidden in the background. Peppery leading into the finish, this feels young for 2001. I would think this was much younger, a 2004 perhaps. Bright and vibrant, almost sweet compared to the previous wines. Medium length in the finish, very good overall. Scored #5 out of 8 bottles in voting amongst our group.
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