A day tasting in the Willamette Valley with the usual suspects

After a night of great wines with our e-friend Hollowine, we decided to head into the Willamette Valley for a day of tasting.

Never been to this place, although I have had their six vineyards PN bottling a couple of times. Their Stermer and Meyer were great bottles of wine. The tasting room and facilities were a lot of fun, and I recommend tasting there if you ever think to. Great staff and some delicious food pairing as well with 4 of the wines.

• 2008 Lemelson Vineyards Dry Riesling 85 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  The nose was yellow apple, kiwi with lots of acidity showing. I wrote "not immediately appetizing" in my notes for the nose. The palate is very dry, the acidity hangs on for a long time. The fruit early on the palate is nice but the acidity here is a bit much. Would be good food wine.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2008 Lemelson Vineyards Pinot Gris Tikka's Run 75 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  The nose on this one was weird, some floral notes, some perfume (maybe someone in the tasting room had some on?) and apples. The palate was remarkably low on flavor. The mid-palate was entirely hollow. Lots of sharp edged acidity rises in the finish. This went down easy enough, it's not disgusting or anything it just doesn't have much to offer in the way of flavor.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2007 Lemelson Vineyards Chardonnay Reserve 82 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Loads of oak here, acidity can be sensed through the nose but there isn't much for fruit on the nose. The palate is better, chardonnay fruit shows wiht some butter and lots of oak again. Ends dry. Clean finish. An odd wine for sure, it's very drinkable if you can stand the oak blast. Where as some cali chards get fuller and richer due to the oak, this wine didn't.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2007 Lemelson Vineyards Pinot Noir Six Vineyards 84 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Very soft fruit on the nose, mostly red fruit with some oak detectable. The palate is very light, somewhat thin with light red fruit and some green notes. Rough after the mid-palate, the acidity goes sour in my mouth. The tannins are nice and gentle through the finish that leaves some light red fruit. A simple wine. Overall not a style I particularly like.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2007 Lemelson Vineyards Pinot Noir Thea's Selection 86 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Softer, slightly fuller nose than the six vineyards. More balance on the palate, the acidity still rings a little to strongly here but is much more in balance. The red fruit palate dies off quickly after being swallowed. Getting better, not something I would purchase.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2007 Lemelson Vineyards Pinot Noir Meyer Vineyard 90 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Here we go, now we are getting somewhere. A bit more intensity here than the previous two Pinots, deeper red flavors showing cherries, oak and a slight richness. Nicely balanced palate with nice transitions. Red fruit tending towards cherries, nice evolution of flavor though to the finish. Well built. Straight-forward but very delicious. If this was cheaper it would be something I would purchase.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2007 Lemelson Vineyards Pinot Noir Stermer Vineyard 90 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Like the Meyer this smelled great. Cherries tending toward strawberries on the nose. The fruit on the mid-palate hangs out longer on this wine, very delicious. Similar flavors to the nose, cherries and strawberries along with a slight earthiness. The tannins seem to come in just a bit later than the Meyer and are very gentle. While I felt this is drinking better than the Meyer today, I would purchase the Meyer over this for my cellar. Over-all another well built, enjoyable drink.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2007 Lemelson Vineyards Pinot Noir Cuvée X 87 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Darker fruit here with mushroomy-earthy aromas in the glass, tending towards black cherries. Lots of oak shows on the nose as well, like dbp said this is a 100% new oak wine. The dark cherries show through on the palate, some funk, but a sharp acidity prevails throughout the palate. The flavors drop off quickly in the finish not leaving you with much besides structure. I loved the nose on this but thought the palate was ho-hum.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2004 Lemelson Vineyards Pinot Noir Jerome Reserve 88 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Loud nose on this one, if this had been opened in the middle of summer instead of in a wine cellar in the middle of winter I might think the nose was a bit TO loud. Lots of red, ripe cherries on the nose with a bit of funk and damp earth. The red fruit on the palate was nice, more about the fruit and less about the earth but it's still there. Some rising acidity starts to take over after the mid-palate and kind of clips the finish. Nice wine overall, I think the temperature we were enjoying this at was beneficial.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

Scott Paul was the main attraction for coming out today due to the large amount of burgundies open at the second table. These wines were at the main counter and included in the tasting. I can't say I have had great luck with Scott Paul wines so far, but I really appreciate his passion with bringing in good Burgundy. Based on the 06 and 07's I have had from him I am really looking forward to his 08's. Again, a recommendation from me to make a stop here if you are ever in Carlton.

• NV Domaine Huber-Verdereau Crémant de Bourgogne 88 Points

  France, Burgundy, Crémant de Bourgogne

  Lemon-lime flavors show over some light honey and pumice notes on the nose. This has an easy palate of citrus and green pepper notes. The acidity takes over shortly after and holds for a good amount of time in the finish. Over-all a nice wine.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2006 Philippe Chavy Bourgogne Blanc 84 Points

  France, Burgundy, Bourgogne Blanc

  Got some moldy funk on the nose, kind of like blue cheese only not at sharp. Some fruit shows behind but the funk dominates. Pretty bland and thin flavored on the palate, tasted like pears and ocean water with some funk going on still in the background. Passable, drinkable, but not something I would ever buy.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2006 Domaine Francois Lamarche Vosne-Romanée 87 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée

  Soft nose of old strawberries and acidity. The soft red fruit on the palate is primary at this point but still very tasty. Red berries show with some dry earth, a healthy dose of acidity and a very firm but nice feeling tannic grip. Tasty stuff, for my taste I would hold this and see what happens over drinking it now.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2007 Scott Paul Cellars Pinot Noir La Paulée 87 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  The nose had a dirty earth smell right off the bat with an almost meaty sort of scent besides sweet cherries. The palate has lots of acidity showing throughout, a fairly simple palate with soft red fruit that turns slightly sour heading into the finish. The finish lingers nicely, not to long but not by any means to short and ends very clean. Overall a nice wine for sure.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

These were some absolutely gorgeous wines. I'm not much for young Burgundy but these were drinking well now. Other than the Echezeaux or the Puligny-Montrachet I don't think it would be a bad thing to crack a bottle and drink it today. The Charmes-Chambertin was an incredible wine. Trisha and I did come home with a bottle of the Beaux Monts.

• 2007 Lucien Le Moine Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières 89 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Lots of oak immediately hits you on the nose, the way the oak pairs with the fruit here it smelled almost like a cooked banana. Loads of acidity hits strongly on the palate with a nice stoney mineral backing, the fruit here is trapped behind everything else right now and is barely visible. Given my low amount of education on white burgs if I did own this I would hold it and see what happens over drinking it now for my palate.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2007 Lucien Le Moine Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Charmes 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru

  A complex nose here of dried roses, potpourri, strawberries, cherries and dirty earth. It was a joy to sit and smell this wine. I found the palate a bit less interesting than the nose, red fruit along with a candied red flavor, almost like red vine licorice. Slightly chalky throughout. Superb structure on this wine takes over and wraps the tongue gently and holds on for 20-30 seconds leaving hints of red fruit behind. Overall an outstanding wine, delicious.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2007 Lucien Le Moine Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

  Richer nose here than the Chambolle-Musigny with tasty red fruit. Less interesting nose, but more interesting palate for me. Red tea, red fruits, chalky earth, more body. A very full and nice feeling structure wraps everything, there is more flavor here with a longer mid-palate and a red fruit finish that lasts 10-15 seconds before lightening and letting the structure take over. I really liked this wine, this is a red burg I could get my mind around. Absolutely delicious overall. 91+

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2007 Lucien Le Moine Pommard 1er Cru Les Grands Épenots 91 Points

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

  The nose shows more towards dark cherry fruit here, dried cranberries, stemmy notes, and some red tea. Smells really nice. Heavier weight palate, lots of dark red fruits, figs, chalk. A nice progression into the finish with again beautiful structure that feels great and carries on a long time in the finish. Feels great, tastes great. I originally tried to buy this but they were sold out so I went for the Beaux Monts.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2007 Lucien Le Moine Echezeaux 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru

  This had a hard, closed nose intially. Some campfire evident with cherry pie aromas. Very subtle flavors show on the palate, nice complexity here. Red fruit, red flowers, soap, dry earth, wood. Large structure but gently so. Needs lots of sleep. 90+

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2007 Lucien Le Moine Charmes-Chambertin 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru

  The nose here captivated me for a good while. Initially it reminded me of strawberry pipe tobacco along with roses, fresh cranberries and stems. A complex nose and deliciously so. The massive amount of sweet tannins this has hits you right off the bat, I've seen sweet tannins in wine before but this had a ton of them, and in a good way. Delicious red fruit throughout with a long palate and nice, long finish. The balance here is beatiful, I thought this was drinking great now and was remarkable. One of my favorite red burgs ever. 93+

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

A beautiful site for this winery. The wines were good with a couple of stand-outs. Based on the Pommard-Estate bottling I look forward to their 08's. What am I saying, I am looking forward to EVERYONEs 08's, but I will be back in a year once it's an all 08 flight. I really liked their Cab Franc as well.

• 2007 Lenné Estate Pinot Noir Le Nez 87 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Very soft nose on this one, raspberries, something oceanic. The palate has nice red fruit early turning slightly sour leading into the finish with some sharp acids. Really soft tannins. This has a great mid-palate, but is lacking balance everywhere else. A nice wine but pretty standard feeling.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2008 Lenné Estate Pinot Noir Le Nez 88 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  More intensity than the 07, and more fruit here with a slightly richer feel. The palate has a nice feeling in the mouth with a nice progression. Red fruits, good extract, nice acidity and tannins that take over late, showing some balance. A straight-forward effort and very delicious for what it is.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2007 Lenné Estate Pinot Noir 88 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton

  I thought the nose on this one was interesting, dark strawberries, something spicy, possibly cinammon, light earth. Unfortunately the palate didn't live up to the nose, slightly sweet red fruit throughout with decent balance and length. Goes down very easy.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2007 Lenné Estate Pinot Noir Karen's Pommard 90 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton

  Nicely perfumed nose, some potpourri, red tending toward cherry fruit. The palate has great transitions, starting light and building to a nice mid-palate of red fruit, diminishes into a nice finish with nicely balanced structure. It's a delicious wine. While obviously well built, this doesn't have any wow factor besides the fact it is nicely made, some complexity or nuance might have driven the score higher. Maybe it will develop that with age, not a bad wine to hold and find out I think.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2008 Owen Roe Syrah "Lady Rosa" 82 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley

  Nice nose here, very dark, BBQ'd beef, plums, smashed blackberries. Heavy smelling. The palate unfortunately zapped the crap out of me initially with a wave of heat. Lush dark fruit on the palate, nice acidity, low tannin, and goopy feeling. I can handle goopy feeling, but the heat on the finish was bothersome. Not in any way balanced. It has some nice things going on but the whole here is not the sum of it's parts.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2008 Owen Roe Cabernet Franc Rosa Mystica 89 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley

  Strong cab franc influence on the nose, green pepper, black pepper, smoky stewed black fruit flavors. The palate shows a hint of sweetness, black licorice, black fruits, tobacco. Nice feeling in the mouth with great tannic grip that feels nice. I liked this one quite a bit as I wrote in my notes "one of the better new world cab francs I've ever had".

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

I've been here a few times and each time I usually am impressed with something, typically one of their single vineyard bottlings. This time not so much although it was really fun to taste the 06-08 all beside each other. I recommend this place to people regularly, it's a beautiful site and usually the wine is good to outstanding.

• 2008 Penner-Ash Viognier 88 Points

  USA, Oregon

  Nice nose and palate on this one, the palate has this honey meets gingerbread cookie thing that is nice with melon, white pears and nutmeg. This was a nice Viognier.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2006 Penner-Ash Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 88 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Nice rich red fruit on the nose. The palate is more of the same, more rich red fruit, some heat does pick up in the finish but isn't destructive to the flavors like some 06's can be. Nice acidity but very light on tannin. I really liked the flavor and feel of the fruit here. I typically like 06's and this one was decent.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2007 Penner-Ash Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 87 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Very light nose, slight spice alongside the red fruit. Nice red fruits on the palate, very clear, strong acids, gentle tannins.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2008 Penner-Ash Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 88 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  More intensity on the nose than the 07, similar in aroma to the 06 and 07 though fruit-wise. The palate shows nice extract of flavor, along with some nice structure framing things in. Some heat could be sensed on the finish. Had beside the 06 and 07, I prefer the 06 now although in a year or two this will most likely be a beautiful, better wine.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2006 Penner-Ash Syrah 85 Points

  USA, Oregon

  Last wine of the day, my palate was pretty weak. My notes: 15%, for this abv not that bad. Rich fruit palate, unbalanced structure.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

It was a great day out tasting, and some great wines were enjoyed. The burgundies were really good, especially the Charmes-Chambertin. Only purchase of the day was a bottle of the Beaux Monts. I do need to put more burgundies in the cellar as my wife (and I, I just prefer Oregon) really loves them. On that we went home and grabbed some wine and went to dinner at 23rd and Hoyt. Overall a great day of tasting in the WV, and with a group I really enjoyed tasting with. Here's to more! Cheers!