Certainly a lot of bricked, amber hues to the color; quite beautiful and just what you want your aged Pinot to look like. The nose is a bit light, but there's some earthy forest floor right after a rain. Some herbal, brushy notes, and underripe raspberries. It's elegant and pretty. Light to medium in body on the palate, showing some drying fruit, but primarily a lot of acid develops on the palate. Less fruit there than I thought as it's primarily about the texture and the acid. It really really opens up on the finish, where you get more of everything. It really blooms with floral (violets) notes, bruised apple skin, red fruits (currents perhaps?), and really beautifully integrated acidity. Most of the tannins are fairly well resolved, but certainly still some drying tannins present. The fruit on the finish has some vibrancy to it, but it also has plenty of forest floor and mushrooms blended in there, but hey, that's exactly what you want in a nicely aged Pinot Noir. Not all Oregon Pinots evolve in this beautiful, elegant Burgundian way, but I always thought the Three Barrels had the capacity to do that... glad to see it come to fruition.
I've had this wine quite frequently over the last decade, but annoyingly this is my first note in 9 years. The wine has definitely evolved throughout that time, but the overall "enjoyment" (from a score standpoint) hasn't really moved. I suspect that right now this is on the tail of its plateau. That is to say, I suspect its not getting any better from here, and in fact, will likely only get worse. How long it rides this plateau I will see, as I still have a lot left.
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Flannery night at the loft (My place, newk’s loft, Portland OR): Right away, this is very giving and lovely. This has a sense of being that is quite alluring with raspberries, bright red cherries, plums, violets, baking spices, cinnamon, pomegranate, red currants, and rose petals. The Medium/full bodied feel is silky and a bit dense with well integrated, medium acidity. This feels like it is drinking at its peak and is well worth opening up!
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This is most certainly one of the best 2009 Oregon Pinot Noirs there is... the heat of the vintage was never noted in this wine, and this is an elegantly structured creature. As usual, one of the most old world tasting Oregon Pinots. Lovely aromas, soft and pretty, but crazy depth if you take note. The nose is really where this wine shines brightest. Just so wonderful; Grand Cru caliber. The palate texture is soft and smooth, but quite primary. Some soft fruit, briar, and soil notes, however it's very tightly wound, but balanced. It has shed some of the green notes of two years ago, but they're still there. Similar finish; tight. The wine is is quite light on its feet, without any heft of what's typically a warm vintage. Will be nice to see how this evolves, but I bet it'll need at least 5 years to really start showing its stuff. I left just 3 oz in the bottle open to air for two days and it didn't move. Shows the robustness of the wine. 91+
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Signs of seepage on the cork had me worried. I was relieved, however, at the aroma of fruit and Oregon funk wafting from the bottle. I decanted this for about 2 hours for good measure. Ripe cherries and strawberries jump out of the glass with some earthiness, fresh tobacco and lots of oak spice. Plenty of acid left to give on the palate with a surprisingly rigid tannin structure. I find it interesting that the 2011 vintage is drinking better than this one. Great now, but should reward for years to come.
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Very light in glass. For the first hour this was pretty flat, so much so I thought maybe it didn't survive the trip out of wine country a week earlier. A little over an hour later this wine had taken on much more body and depth. Pie cherries, old grapes, strawberries and earth with a balsalmic edge on the finish adds a bit of savoriness. Very unlike typical 2009 Oregon wines, this is light and elegant. Long finish. Really enjoyable stuff.
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Very light in color (I believe this was 12.4% alcohol). Nice deeply fruited aromas here, with pretty strawberries taking point. Some funky fruits present as well, with a slightly green briar notion. Good depth on the palate, with nice texture on a light frame. This shows really nice acids and impressive balance. Tart, light cranberries mixed with strawberries. Still, like the Nils, wish there was more fruit. The finish shows lots of nice green tannins and fruit. Good building fruit and acids after several seconds. Very nice as it lingers, with a pleasing eruption of acids. Again, very nice balance here, but I do wish for more fruit impact. I think this will just begin to come together in 5+ years. I tried these barrels about a year into their production and found the fruit much more impactful and exuberant, so I do think this will come around.
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9/26/2023 - David Paris (dbp) wrote: 91 Points
Certainly a lot of bricked, amber hues to the color; quite beautiful and just what you want your aged Pinot to look like. The nose is a bit light, but there's some earthy forest floor right after a rain. Some herbal, brushy notes, and underripe raspberries. It's elegant and pretty. Light to medium in body on the palate, showing some drying fruit, but primarily a lot of acid develops on the palate. Less fruit there than I thought as it's primarily about the texture and the acid. It really really opens up on the finish, where you get more of everything. It really blooms with floral (violets) notes, bruised apple skin, red fruits (currents perhaps?), and really beautifully integrated acidity. Most of the tannins are fairly well resolved, but certainly still some drying tannins present. The fruit on the finish has some vibrancy to it, but it also has plenty of forest floor and mushrooms blended in there, but hey, that's exactly what you want in a nicely aged Pinot Noir. Not all Oregon Pinots evolve in this beautiful, elegant Burgundian way, but I always thought the Three Barrels had the capacity to do that... glad to see it come to fruition.
I've had this wine quite frequently over the last decade, but annoyingly this is my first note in 9 years. The wine has definitely evolved throughout that time, but the overall "enjoyment" (from a score standpoint) hasn't really moved. I suspect that right now this is on the tail of its plateau. That is to say, I suspect its not getting any better from here, and in fact, will likely only get worse. How long it rides this plateau I will see, as I still have a lot left.
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2/11/2022 - KeithAkers wrote: 91 Points
Flannery night at the loft (My place, newk’s loft, Portland OR): Right away, this is very giving and lovely. This has a sense of being that is quite alluring with raspberries, bright red cherries, plums, violets, baking spices, cinnamon, pomegranate, red currants, and rose petals. The Medium/full bodied feel is silky and a bit dense with well integrated, medium acidity. This feels like it is drinking at its peak and is well worth opening up!
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9/26/2014 - David Paris (dbp) wrote: 91 Points
This is most certainly one of the best 2009 Oregon Pinot Noirs there is... the heat of the vintage was never noted in this wine, and this is an elegantly structured creature. As usual, one of the most old world tasting Oregon Pinots. Lovely aromas, soft and pretty, but crazy depth if you take note. The nose is really where this wine shines brightest. Just so wonderful; Grand Cru caliber. The palate texture is soft and smooth, but quite primary. Some soft fruit, briar, and soil notes, however it's very tightly wound, but balanced. It has shed some of the green notes of two years ago, but they're still there. Similar finish; tight. The wine is is quite light on its feet, without any heft of what's typically a warm vintage. Will be nice to see how this evolves, but I bet it'll need at least 5 years to really start showing its stuff. I left just 3 oz in the bottle open to air for two days and it didn't move. Shows the robustness of the wine. 91+
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7/20/2014 - MoserJP Likes this wine: 91 Points
Signs of seepage on the cork had me worried. I was relieved, however, at the aroma of fruit and Oregon funk wafting from the bottle. I decanted this for about 2 hours for good measure. Ripe cherries and strawberries jump out of the glass with some earthiness, fresh tobacco and lots of oak spice. Plenty of acid left to give on the palate with a surprisingly rigid tannin structure. I find it interesting that the 2011 vintage is drinking better than this one. Great now, but should reward for years to come.
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5/1/2014 - Ben Christiansen wrote: flawed
Corked.
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7/19/2012 - gripNsip wrote: 92 Points
Very light in glass. For the first hour this was pretty flat, so much so I thought maybe it didn't survive the trip out of wine country a week earlier. A little over an hour later this wine had taken on much more body and depth. Pie cherries, old grapes, strawberries and earth with a balsalmic edge on the finish adds a bit of savoriness. Very unlike typical 2009 Oregon wines, this is light and elegant. Long finish. Really enjoyable stuff.
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4/21/2012 - David Paris (dbp) wrote: 91 Points
Very light in color (I believe this was 12.4% alcohol). Nice deeply fruited aromas here, with pretty strawberries taking point. Some funky fruits present as well, with a slightly green briar notion. Good depth on the palate, with nice texture on a light frame. This shows really nice acids and impressive balance. Tart, light cranberries mixed with strawberries. Still, like the Nils, wish there was more fruit. The finish shows lots of nice green tannins and fruit. Good building fruit and acids after several seconds. Very nice as it lingers, with a pleasing eruption of acids. Again, very nice balance here, but I do wish for more fruit impact. I think this will just begin to come together in 5+ years. I tried these barrels about a year into their production and found the fruit much more impactful and exuberant, so I do think this will come around.
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