Epic Blind Tasting with Great Buds (Virginia): Spicy red cherries on the nose with a lot of rhubarb, mulling and pickling spices, along with dusty earth and clay. The palate shows resolved tannins on a brisk and taut frame with flavors of raspberries and fig paste. Lots of earthy, savory tones underneath, but things do feel a bit muddied and blurred from time. Tasted blind, I guessed a 1995 Chinon. Was pretty impressed actually at how this held up given the circumstances.
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Looking at the CT scores, I guess I'm the outlier on this one since I quite enjoyed it paired with duck breast.
Wine shows mild bricking. Cherries and light mushrooms on the nose. Opens with notes of dark cherries before transitioning to notes of light mushroom and some mild floral notes. There is a slight note of candied cherry on the finish, but it doesn't dominate. Decent acid keeps this lively. At more than 25 years old, I'm impressed at how well this has aged, though I suspect it is headed down hill. Drink up.
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Cork Vault September Bottle Share -- 85/86 Dunn, 86 LLC, 96/99 Drouhin, & More! (Charlotte, NC): A late entry that was pop-n-pour. Sampled fifteen minutes later and it was ready for business. Vibrant nose of red fruits with a pleasant Old World profile misled me to expect a possibly still too-young wine. Smooth, soft and plush on the mouthfeel this was one of the easiest drinking wines on the night. Acidity nowhere to be found. Delightful but delicate flavors of raspberry and unsweetened cherry preserves. Medium finish. The nose would make you think this wine can go for years but the palate says this is a “drink now” wine. A fantastic showing that tracked the style and structure of the 86 Dunn Napa served this evening.
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From Magnum. I should have decanted this for about 5-6 hours. Upon opening, it was a bit acidic but did have some underlying fruit. After 1-2 hours, it started opening up. The acid approached some balance and the muted fruit showed a bit more. Plum, cranberry and some black fruits. It married well with food. Have one Mag left and when I open will try a longer decant.
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Had some VA on the nose initially, but that blew off after about 30 minutes. Pleasantly brickish in color, not too brown--surprisingly dark for a 12-year-old Pinot. Brambly huckleberry and plum fruit, some mossiness. More Burgundian in character than Oregonian. Initially I was impressed with a balance in fruit, acid and tannin, but tannin is definitely the weaker quality and the acid began to take over in a couple hours.
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Espressione sensoriale del Pinot Nero (Hotel Cavalieri Hilton, Rome): Garnet. Oxidized Sherry-like nose, with earth, minerality, slightly rotted fruit and a MLF-gone-wrong kind of smell. Lowish acidity, flat, simple, short, some VA. Half the Sommeliers picked this as the WOTN and thought it was the Grand Cru. My worst.
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Unlike the 95, which was poured next to this, the 96 is significantly fuller and fatter. Slight kirsch elements and a clear and perplexing sunflower seed note. It was uncanny how this wine smelled like a pet store (seeds and cat food). Light body in the mouth, with a short finish. Drinking at it’s best after 20 minutes, where it stayed for several hours. Stylistically, this wine doesn’t really do much for me and it has gone down hill from my previous tasting several years ago.
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Truffle Dinner, Pinot Tasting, and Piemonte (3x DRC, 2x Gaja, and more): Lightish red tending toward orange at the rim. The nose shows sour cherry, mushroom, a jarring note of tin, and a pleasant whiff of washed rind cheese. Wait a minute, I think there's a note of VA here, though I can't be sure. In just a flash, the VA note turns to freshly polished old mahogony. On the palate, this is drying up. It shows a light dose of simple plum and cherry fruit, then moves into a short but bright finish. This has good structural balance, but is missing fruit. I am told that this was sweeter and deeper before decanting. Was promising on the nose but has clearly gotten a good start on the slide down.
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The 1996 DDO is striking in it's clarity, poured from the bottle, you can see right through it. In the glass, it's ruby colored with medium intensity. Notes of candied cherries, although after an hour, the nose loses it's bright character and improves somewhat, taking on density and complexity. A hint of green pepper becomes apparent on the nose. Light to medium-light weight in the mouth, with a short finish of light cherries. I thought the wine might be close to decline (like the 95), but was impressed that it's no where near. Overall, I'd say this wine is not to my liking (and I no longer purchase OR Pinots), but if you appreciate the style, you might think better of it.
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11/12/2023 - manonthemoon wrote: 85 Points
Old oregon pn
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11/11/2023 - isaacjamesbaker wrote: 88 Points
Epic Blind Tasting with Great Buds (Virginia): Spicy red cherries on the nose with a lot of rhubarb, mulling and pickling spices, along with dusty earth and clay. The palate shows resolved tannins on a brisk and taut frame with flavors of raspberries and fig paste. Lots of earthy, savory tones underneath, but things do feel a bit muddied and blurred from time. Tasted blind, I guessed a 1995 Chinon. Was pretty impressed actually at how this held up given the circumstances.
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1/8/2022 - malbrecht wrote: 91 Points
Looking at the CT scores, I guess I'm the outlier on this one since I quite enjoyed it paired with duck breast.
Wine shows mild bricking. Cherries and light mushrooms on the nose. Opens with notes of dark cherries before transitioning to notes of light mushroom and some mild floral notes. There is a slight note of candied cherry on the finish, but it doesn't dominate. Decent acid keeps this lively. At more than 25 years old, I'm impressed at how well this has aged, though I suspect it is headed down hill. Drink up.
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9/9/2021 - kevinpatrick Likes this wine:
Cork Vault September Bottle Share -- 85/86 Dunn, 86 LLC, 96/99 Drouhin, & More! (Charlotte, NC): A late entry that was pop-n-pour. Sampled fifteen minutes later and it was ready for business. Vibrant nose of red fruits with a pleasant Old World profile misled me to expect a possibly still too-young wine. Smooth, soft and plush on the mouthfeel this was one of the easiest drinking wines on the night. Acidity nowhere to be found. Delightful but delicate flavors of raspberry and unsweetened cherry preserves. Medium finish. The nose would make you think this wine can go for years but the palate says this is a “drink now” wine. A fantastic showing that tracked the style and structure of the 86 Dunn Napa served this evening.
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8/11/2016 - Dvogt wrote: 88 Points
From Magnum. I should have decanted this for about 5-6 hours. Upon opening, it was a bit acidic but did have some underlying fruit. After 1-2 hours, it started opening up. The acid approached some balance and the muted fruit showed a bit more. Plum, cranberry and some black fruits. It married well with food. Have one Mag left and when I open will try a longer decant.
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9/29/2008 - oddangel wrote:
Had some VA on the nose initially, but that blew off after about 30 minutes. Pleasantly brickish in color, not too brown--surprisingly dark for a 12-year-old Pinot. Brambly huckleberry and plum fruit, some mossiness. More Burgundian in character than Oregonian. Initially I was impressed with a balance in fruit, acid and tannin, but tannin is definitely the weaker quality and the acid began to take over in a couple hours.
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9/15/2008 - Barbara B wrote: 79 Points
Espressione sensoriale del Pinot Nero (Hotel Cavalieri Hilton, Rome): Garnet. Oxidized Sherry-like nose, with earth, minerality, slightly rotted fruit and a MLF-gone-wrong kind of smell. Lowish acidity, flat, simple, short, some VA. Half the Sommeliers picked this as the WOTN and thought it was the Grand Cru. My worst.
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10/19/2006 - Mark wrote: 84 Points
Unlike the 95, which was poured next to this, the 96 is significantly fuller and fatter. Slight kirsch elements and a clear and perplexing sunflower seed note. It was uncanny how this wine smelled like a pet store (seeds and cat food). Light body in the mouth, with a short finish. Drinking at it’s best after 20 minutes, where it stayed for several hours. Stylistically, this wine doesn’t really do much for me and it has gone down hill from my previous tasting several years ago.
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12/1/2005 - jrufusj wrote:
Truffle Dinner, Pinot Tasting, and Piemonte (3x DRC, 2x Gaja, and more): Lightish red tending toward orange at the rim. The nose shows sour cherry, mushroom, a jarring note of tin, and a pleasant whiff of washed rind cheese. Wait a minute, I think there's a note of VA here, though I can't be sure. In just a flash, the VA note turns to freshly polished old mahogony. On the palate, this is drying up. It shows a light dose of simple plum and cherry fruit, then moves into a short but bright finish. This has good structural balance, but is missing fruit. I am told that this was sweeter and deeper before decanting. Was promising on the nose but has clearly gotten a good start on the slide down.
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11/27/2005 - SteveH wrote: 83 Points
Not a whole lot left of this one -- fading fast!
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10/5/2004 - Mark wrote: 86 Points
The 1996 DDO is striking in it's clarity, poured from the bottle, you can see right through it. In the glass, it's ruby colored with medium intensity. Notes of candied cherries, although after an hour, the nose loses it's bright character and improves somewhat, taking on density and complexity. A hint of green pepper becomes apparent on the nose. Light to medium-light weight in the mouth, with a short finish of light cherries. I thought the wine might be close to decline (like the 95), but was impressed that it's no where near. Overall, I'd say this wine is not to my liking (and I no longer purchase OR Pinots), but if you appreciate the style, you might think better of it.
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