12/7/2016 - gripNsip Does not like this wine:

Day 1, this was tart, thin, and really, really austere. High acid. Tart fruit. Day 2, developed a bit more cherry flavor, spice. Enjoyable but not great. Day 3, terrible. Only tart fruited, high acid, blah. Day 4, down the drain. Really weird bottle of wine.

1/28/2016 - Ron Felthoven Likes this wine:

Cherries, raspberries and roses, hay, minerals, and a touch of smoke on the nose. The palate has more of the same with some blood orange, a bit of umami, grapefruit and and some fine tannins on the back end. Marcus's wines are often pretty linear but this wine evolves a bit more in both flavor and texture, feeling surprisingly full and rich on the mid-palate and finishing with brisk acidity and ripe tannins. What I appreciate most about this is the perfect balance of savory and fruit components, with nothing even remotely candied about it. It's a new world wine with a very old world profile. This is the best Matello wine I've ever tasted. Really outstanding stuff from my favorite vintage.

2/14/2015 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine:

This is showing really well right now. It looks like my note from Winegut Schaefer wasn't a fluke. The nose is poised and fine, so light on its feet that it is nearly hypnotic: the perfect alloy of slate, flint, powdered stone, lime, tart lemon, salinity from the concentration - along with a brothy thing, some crisp pineapple and other tart tropicals, white flowers. Light like a feather, but full of flavor - I could smell this forever. The palate is similar - not quite as gossamer, but close. Like lime and stone cut with a razor - focused and pure. Great cut, superb flavor and excellent balance - lime, stone, lemon, slate, saline - broth. The finish is lime and broth - rich and a touch heavier than the rest of the wine, with almost a touch of sweetness. This is superb GG - it reminds me of the best Lauer wines from the Saar. Nose - 5.5/6, Palate - 5-5.5/6, Finish - 5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1.5/2 = 17-17.5/20.

3/10/2012 - gripNsip wrote:

Some friends and I drank this wine over dinner last night. Everyone said they enjoyed it but it was agreed upon that overall it was fairly boring. Maybe we didn't give it enough time to open. My thoughts on it were that while it was a little boring, it had no edges and was very easy to drink. Elegant and correct. It is a pretty wine, like a pretty girl, but one that if you passed on the street you probably wouldn't even notice.

11/19/2013 - ucbeau Does not like this wine:

Tonight just isn't a good night for this wine. It's showing a rather shrill side, with lots of high-toned red fruit and raging acidity. Smells and tastes out of balance and harsh. There's also a bitterness on the palate that I can't get past. I have definitely had better bottles, and this might just need to sit down for another few years.

9/17/2013 - MoserJP Likes this wine:

This wine is lean and balanced, and drinking really well with some air time. I'm getting mostly sour cherry, baking spice and brown sugar with some higher toned rose petals and enough Pinot funk to let you know where it comes from. Nice Dundee Hills profile here. The palate is clean and balanced with just a touch of richness while the tannins on the finish are gritty enough to suggest something about the wine making process, or lack thereof. Minimal filtering here, for sure. Delicious... Liking this one a lot, but I'm not sure if the wine makes me smile as much as Arley's face on the bottle.

8/14/2013 - gripNsip Likes this wine:

Creamy nose, it's reminding me of lemon pie, also a bit melon fruit. Smells good. The palate shows stone fruits, ripe nectarine, oranges. Balanced acidity brings up the finish, one could say there is some minerality because this almost has some texture and there is something on the finish that makes me think minerality but I'm not entirely sure. Anyways, overall it's a nice wine. If you like this grape it's worth checking out a bottle, there are a handful of Oregon producers that do this grape well and I can list Eyrie as one of them.

7/31/2013 - pwillen1 wrote:

2013 Post IPNC Tasting of 2004 OR Pinot (Matello Winery): Soaring, amazing nose! tons of dried flowers and herbs, everything from rosemary to roses. I could have spent the rest of the afternoon nosing this wine and been perfectly happy. Worth the price of admission just to smell it. On the palette, great earthy, Burgundian feel. a bit dirty, but in the right way. I'd score this wine very highly. Not sure it will evolve much more though, it's just in a spectacular place right now. Easily my wine of the flight and my wine of the night. I guessed Evesham Wood Cuvee J (and was obviously wrong).

5/10/2013 - gripNsip wrote:

Open 3 hours, second glass: nice dark fruit aromas with dried fig, earth, blacktop and tobacco. Smells great. Dark cherry pie, blackberry cobbler and tar show on the palate with well balanced acidity and tannin, in a nice place currently. Strong alcohol shows in the finish but it isn't overwhelming. This is a 'high octane' wine though, heavy mouthfeel, strong intensity and a lot of alcohol. That said, it's all really well integrated, and despite the booze on the finish, I'm really digging this.

11/16/2012 - Ron Felthoven wrote:

Color is a somewhat translucent dark color, more black than red, which is not indicative of the flavor. Aromas are very high toned and intense; the stuff is jumping out of the glass. Dark cherries, baking spices, a touch of resin, a little grapefruit, and a soil note but not one that is about wet earth or funk. This wine is so pure, light and intense at the same time that it plays tricks on your head. I cannot recall smelling fruit so fresh, bright and intense. The acid is full and linear and the tannins are there but not overwhelmingly so. There is a bit of astringency on the finish that will likely fade over time; I drank this wine way too early but it is right where it ought to be. I drank along side a Westrey 2010 Abbey Ridge. That wine is great, too, but it came off as softer, more voluptuous and slightly oaky (it still has years to go and shed some of that). This wine was more precise and dialed in with more bright fruit intensity. A real accomplishment that will only get better.

1/31/2010 - gripNsip wrote:

I was one of the wineo's that took a try at this, it was absolutely undrinkable in my opinion. Entirely disgusting smelling. The palate wasn't initially as bad as the nose but this had the most odd and horrible finish I had ever experienced. Just when you were happy it was over it came back with another wave of flavor more disgusting than the initial palate. I can't believe Div was able to put down two glasses of this, respect!