judgement of sweden - wines from oregon and washington state
Operaterassen, Stockholm
Tasted March 20, 2014 by Omar Khayyam with 939 views
Introduction
What a great treat to be able to take an afternoon off from work and experience oregon wine here in Stockholm. Many thanks to Kenneth of fine wine sweden for putting this together.
I did not have time to try all the producers so focused for the most part on the more high end oregon producers although I am sure that some other tables offered better qpr. But life is short so why not drink the good juice?!
Flight 1 (52 notes)
White
2012 Elk Cove Vineyards Riesling Estate
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
kabinett-style riesling, perhaps just a little simple in style but a lot of fruit and for those who enjoy a noticeable trace of residual sugar in their rieslings, this might do the trick
Red
2011 Evening Land Vineyards Pinot Noir La Source Seven Springs Vineyard
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola - Amity Hills
spicy, dark berries, licorice, some pipe tobacco, earth very fresh, dry. great stuff, benchmark for eola style pinot: i.e. deep dark expression of pinot noir that could never be mistaken for anything but new world, at the same time fresh and clean and pure.
Red
2011 Evening Land Vineyards Pinot Noir Seven Springs Vineyard
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola - Amity Hills
maybe the mid-palate is a little softer than the la source version, but the nose is great and I think these guys made some fine wine in 2011, which, admittedly was a year of varied results in the valley.
Red
2012 King Estate Pinot Noir Oregon
USA, Oregon
same charming nose as for the acrobat version, but much more new oak (a little rancid butter streak on the nose), this just does not have the stuffings to stand up to all that oak. lots of warm berries.
Red
2008 Col Solare
USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
Pepper, licorice, chocolate, black currants. Alcohol heat on the back burner detracts from an impression of an otherwise extremely well built and well structured wine which needs a porterhouse steak to match its power. I am guessing true alcohol levels could be around 15 % although it doesn't say on the bottle...
Red
1999 Hedges Family Estate Three Vineyards Red Mountain
USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain
This is still quite tannic and big (but dry not sweet), but otherwise mature and highly drinkable wine, perhaps one could even wait a few more years to see if the tannins mellow, there is still fruit and freshness here.
Red
2010 Hedges Family Estate Red Mountain
USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain
This has even more tannins than the 1999, which of course is to be expected of an 11 yrs younger wine, but the point is that this has less fruit. So not too hopeful about the future here. Furthermore, there is more new oak feel to this. But it is fresh and pure and dry and thinking with the right food (steak and cream sauce?) this might be nice and food friendly.
Red
2008 Goedhart Family Syrah Bel’ Villa Vineyard
USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain
well structured, classic syrah with more emphasis on leather, underbrush etc rather than jammy shiraz. but there is a note of bitterness (from the oak?) that I could have been without.
White
2011 Ponzi Vineyards Riesling
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
This is excellent riesling full stop. perhaps not the most complexity - but pure bone dry and fresh and minerally.
White
2012 Chehalem Chardonnay INOX
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
A lot of body for a wine that according to the winery sees no oak and no batonnage and no malolactic fermentation. But it has sunny fruit and freshness - what more can you ask?
White
2012 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Chardonnay Arthur
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills
Fine, elegant, pure, racy minerals and acidity. For some reason, I often find the DDO Arthur bottlings like a well made but boring chablis village without complexity. A little too pricey for that type of chard.
Red
2011 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Pinot Noir Laurène
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills
bottled but not yet labelled and distributed. Has a good nose, perhaps on the light side of pinot (it was a lean year, I know) but there is structure beneath.
Red
2010 Archery Summit Pinot Noir Arcus Estate
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills
extremely big wine for a pinot noir. would have guessed shiraz or something similar. licorice, tobacco, blackberries, but there is freshness and structure. Just a matter of not comparing this to elegant pinot noir wines. And pair it with a grilled steak...
Red
2011 Omero Cellars Pinot Noir
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge
charmingly open complex nose with spice, dark and red fruit, forest floor magic, silky texture like the other wines in the line-up, but still elegant and with good legs.
Closing
Following observations corroborated previously held beliefs of mine:
- DDO always delivers extremely reliable and enjoyable pinot noir. Two main caveats: the base wine is really high quality (as is the Laurene) but I am not convinced that the extra USD 20 for the laurene gives you that much more and the DDO chard (poor Arthur!), while always a correct and well made wine, has never fully convinced me, at least not in that price range.
- Chehalem white varietals are among the better in the valley of you like dry riesling and good chard. Their red wines may offer decent value (like the 2011 3 vineyards PN) if never reaching the top pinnacles.
- I like Stoller but I have a slight preference for when other winemakers handle the grape material (their own style is very modern and a little too sweet and soft for my tastes)
- Adelsheim is on/off for me. I don't know what it is, but it is such a classy establishment and I have had several wines that are outstanding there, but also some mediocre stuff. And the price of the Elisabeth's reserve USD 55 from their own website is not cheap.
And there were new revelations as well:
- Archery Summit was never the thing for me, too much of cali-power-pinot and extremely expensive at that. But somehow I kept hearing about how gifted and rigorous a wine maker Anna Matzinger was (she recently left Archery Summit, but I believe she made the 2010s). So who am I to not try this when offered in Sweden. And the 2010 Red Hill was just stunning, perhaps WOTN for me. Perhaps a cool vintage effect but, hey, I can live with that.
- Evening Land, a winery I thought overmarketed and overpriced (like airport champagne), surprised very much on the positive side - the La Source chardonnay and pinot noir are to die for! Grab it and run. drinkable now or much later.
- Omero! New winery that took me by storm. Great stuff. Someone in Sweden should pick them up before they start selling their wines at a profit!
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