Lucien Le Moine at Scott Paul, and other WV because we're there
Carlton, OR
Tasted Saturday, February 13, 2010 by David Paris (dbp) with 827 views
Introduction
Despite the fact that Scott Paul Wines only brought in 6 bottles of some of these wines, Scott decided to do a tasting with them the day before Valentine's day. Being that these wines are NEVER open, I had to make the event. I had a 2005 Lucien Le Moine Charmes-Chambertin a year or so ago that blew my head off, so this rare opportunity to taste through a group of the wines could not be passed up. A couple other friends were planning on being in the area tasting anyway, so when I told them of the Lucien Le Moine tasting, we decided to combine our trips and had a great time. Thanks to Scott Wright for providing this rare opportunity to taste these wines!
Aside from that, on the way we knew we'd pass Lemelson and knew they were doing a valentine's event, so we stopped in there (we would have been waiting at the doors at Scott Paul at 11:30 otherwise). Our other trips were just kind of happenstance, just due to them being near by.
Flight 1 - Lemelson Vineyards (9 Notes)
I had been here shortly after they opened the new winery for a tasting on Memorial day a few years back and enjoyed the spot. It's quite pretty here, with really nice facilities. All of the whites had a very weird texture that I couldn't get past and didn't enjoy them much at all. The Pinot Noirs were all decent wines for their respective categories. A photo in the lower cellar area: 
Flight 2 - Scott Paul and Lucien Le Moine (9 Notes)
We started with some of Scott's other imports. I was very surprised by how good and balanced the Francois Lamarche Vosne-Romanée was... I bet I would have enjoyed it even more with the ability to explore a whole bottle. Very good village level wine. Of course, the Lucien Le Moine's were the main attraction, and despite the high expectations I had, they did not disappoint!
Flight 3 - Lenne Estate (6 Notes)
A really beautiful location, and I've always thought these wines have offered a really nice value for the dollar. It was still hard for me to get back into these Oregon wines after drinking the beautiful Lucien Le Moine wines, so perhaps that's why my notes suffered in detail here. But they were all pretty straight forward efforts. The Owen Roe pours weren't worth the additional $5. 
Flight 4 - Penner-Ash (5 Notes)
Penner-Ash did a nice complementary tasting. I really love the location here, with beautiful facilities, but I've really never been that into the wines. 
Flight 5
Chas & Trisha at Penner-Ash:
Closing
After the day of tasting, we all went back to our respective houses and grabbed some mid 90's Burgundy, Dan grabbed a fantastic Sicilian wine, and ran off to dinner at 23 Hoyt. Despite the well-done steak (I ordered it rare... not medium-rare... rare), it was a great time. Tasting good Burgundy intermixed with Oregon Pinot Noir is always a really fun experience. While I scored some of the Oregon Pinot Noirs 90 points today, it's just a different kind of 90... everything today from Oregon in that ballpark was really just delicious and tasty, but not necessarily contemplative. The wines of Lucien Le Moine were all absolute beauties, and reminds me what is so unique about Burgundy, and why my pocket book hates me at times. If only more producers in Oregon could approach this, but afterall, I don't really believe it's a function of who's making the wines... just more about our location.
2008 Lemelson Vineyards Dry Riesling 85 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
Very smooth nose, soft, with some light pumpkin, lemon peel, and grape fruit. Medium body, and quite interesting in texture... not what I would call smooth at all; almost has gritty acidity, but a bit awkward. There's a bunch of tart acid on the back end, and leaves the mouth feeling like it was just coated in some thick liquid. A strange one.
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2008 Lemelson Vineyards Pinot Gris Tikka's Run 78 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
Very light nose, expressing some green apple peel, but even that's a stretch... definitely some oak on the mid-palate, but incredibly hollow mid-palate. More off balance acidity on the finish, which is quite awkward, with some alcohol even showing up. It also does show some green apple here as well.
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2007 Lemelson Vineyards Chardonnay Reserve 77 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
Burning oak barrels are strong on the nose, along with a match. The oak is way too prominent for me on the nose. Brighter fruits on the palate than I expected, showing lemon, perhaps even also an orange and grapefruit, as it's all very tart. Still some oak building as I keep this in my mouth, with the fruit fading to the background. Awkward acidity on the finish with tart lemons. All of the whites had a very strange, non enjoyable texture on the palate.
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2007 Lemelson Vineyards Pinot Noir Six Vineyards 86 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
Some green notes on the nose (green peppers), and some light berries. Very light, simple fruit on the palate, with some taste of old barrels. Some building acid and very light fruit on the finish. A well made wine, but very simple.
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2007 Lemelson Vineyards Pinot Noir Thea's Selection 87 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
Fairly pleasing nose, as it's light and proper, but just a bit more oak is showing up than the rest of the typical elements. Dry, nice soft raspberry flavors are on the palate. Good, pleasing red fruits into the finish, but again, quite straight forward.
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2007 Lemelson Vineyards Pinot Noir Meyer Vineyard 90 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
Bigger nose than the other Pinot Noirs here, showing bigger, deeper fruits, but it's still not all that complex. The palate was very pleasing, though, showing really nice earthy, soily notes, blending seamlessly with strawberry cheesecake. Some minerality begins the finish, which shows soft tannins, with good balance of fruit and acidity. The best of the wines here.
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2007 Lemelson Vineyards Pinot Noir Stermer Vineyard 88 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
Quite light nose, mainly just showing some oak. The red fruit on the mid-palate is very lush, with a very soft and pleasing texture. Quite nice. There's less interest on the finish, which primarily shows tart fruit and balanced tannins. A decent wine on its own, but paired amazingly well with truffle cheese (never would have guessed that pairing).
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2007 Lemelson Vineyards Pinot Noir Cuvée X 90 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
I gather this was all Meyer fruit this year, picked from the upper block and done in 100% new oak. The oak scared me at first, and it definitely is very strong on the nose, but I wouldn't call it entirely excessive or out of balance with the fruit. There is some green veggie on the nose that I kind of like. In the mouth, big fruit comes through strong, and it is slightly green, but there's also nice red candy apple that builds and is very tasty. A bit green again on the finish, like kale, showing tart tannins. I enjoyed the diversity of flavors in this wine, but enjoyed the regular Meyer a touch better.
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2004 Lemelson Vineyards Pinot Noir Jerome Reserve 84 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
Some oak coming through on the nose, and it definitely does smell aged, but still kind of light and young, showing some weird pear and red apple skin aromas. Fairly big fruit is present on the palate, of the darker sort, some light funk, and some greenness, but it's all coupled with tart, off balanced tannins that keep the experience in the mouth quite distracting. There's even some heat on the finish, some very light plums, and a green bean. Didn't enjoy this too much.
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