Dark strawberry red, very slight bricking. Dusty cherry and cassis nose. Red fruit, primarily strawberry, with cassis, complex flavor profile going on. In a great window for drinking. Excellent!
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The acidity was pretty strong on opening, but subsided after an hour or so of decant. Nice red fruits/cranberry and cherry. Some earthy tones, wet forest floor maybe. Overall, I liked it, but I liked my one Murto better.
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Dark fruits with some noticeable oak and a touch of acidity. Lacked depth or a strong finish, but enjoyable. No need to wait if you have some bottles left I'd drink over the next 2 years max
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Tastes like an '06. It's "big boned." Lots of purple fruit, not hot, just full flavored. Drinking well now, don't think it will gain much in complexity so I would advocate enjoying the fruit on the younger side. The balance of vintages like '02/'04/'05 in OR isn't really here to carry it the distance. A good wine for tasters than like Russian River PN as I found more similarities to that than the "classic" OR style.
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Oak and some very typical Oregon pinot character on the nose, touch of barnyard and red fruit. Succulent on the palette (!), wrapped in ripe, tart cherry moving through to a spicy mid palette and finishing in ultrasmooth tannins. Bravo Brian!
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The vintage really shines through here, maybe also not playing well with the house style. Heat and real spicy oak (I assume) on the finish. Avoided the stewed fruits one often finds with 06 Oregon pinot, but honestly nothing endearing about this wine. I'd be really surprised if this could turn into something good at this point, drink em up...
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Rather nice; lots of lovely acid and structure left. A little heavy on the wood. Shame; the fruit has a lot of potential that is overshadowed by it, it seems.
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Decanted for 2 hours. A medium to light ruby color. Cherries, smoke, dried leaves, wet earth, and a slight herbal note on the nose. Light to medium body with very soft, ripe tannins and very good acidity. Crisp and clean on the palate with the red fruit and earthy elements coating the palate and slowly giving way to the spice and herbal elements. Decent length on the finish. I may not have been able to guess Oregon, but this is definitely from a cool region/vintage. I liked this a lot and wish I had more.
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Sept. 25, 2010. Second Blind Pinot Noir tasting of 6 Oregon wines with the Johnsons. Dinner was green beans and grilled tuna steaks with peach/mango salsa. Beautiful evening on the deck.
2006 Belle Pente Estate Reserve 93.25 avg. for the 4 of us. Burgundy color, lovely fruit, strong finish. C correctly id'ed blind. G and R tied for favorite.
Blind tastings make you humble! We are clearly paying for labels and reputations in many cases. Next time mix up the varietals and open the wines and let them breath for an hour or so (Difficult to do when people coming from a distance). Great evening!
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This will be a mini TN. Opened last night to mark the passing of a very special man and a friend. Lovely last night, it continues to expand on the nose and palate. More smoke, more spice, more coffee and a bit of brown sugar (2006 sneaking in there). What an expression of ripe Pinot fruit that still includes enough acid and beautiful tea and mineral notes. Brian does a great job. Serious thumbs up.
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Expedition Wines American Homegrown: nose: very tart nose filled with cherries, mixed berries, bits of spices and round tones of plum. Fairly plush and relatively forward on the nose, but still retains its oregonian sensibility
taste: well balanced with medium acidity providing tones of tart cherries, plums, and spices
overall: a very nice and relatively forward wine. Fairly typical of the good 06 oregon pinots as it is well put together with plentiful fruit and good expression. Not disjointed like some other 06s that I've come across and while forward it is still fairly oregon
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5/1/2020 - Atwellian wrote: 93 Points
Dark strawberry red, very slight bricking. Dusty cherry and cassis nose. Red fruit, primarily strawberry, with cassis, complex flavor profile going on. In a great window for drinking. Excellent!
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2/9/2014 - KPieper Likes this wine:
The acidity was pretty strong on opening, but subsided after an hour or so of decant. Nice red fruits/cranberry and cherry. Some earthy tones, wet forest floor maybe. Overall, I liked it, but I liked my one Murto better.
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11/26/2013 - brianakrin wrote: 90 Points
nice rich round Oregon pinot. ready (rated compared to other domestic pinots)
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10/28/2013 - Emvip wrote: 88 Points
Dark fruits with some noticeable oak and a touch of acidity. Lacked depth or a strong finish, but enjoyable. No need to wait if you have some bottles left I'd drink over the next 2 years max
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8/9/2013 - Emvip wrote: 89 Points
Not a bad Pinot, but lacked depth and complexity to me. Darker fruit flavors and a lot of oak and smokiness. Short finish, but above average Pinot
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6/22/2013 - dmellinger wrote: 96 Points
Smooth. Great nose, lost of fruit on tongue. Blackberry, cherry. No tannin. Apricot forward.
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6/16/2013 - dmellinger wrote: 92 Points
Nicely aged with fruit forward smooth taste. Lived it
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2/1/2013 - btock wrote: 88 Points
Tastes like an '06. It's "big boned." Lots of purple fruit, not hot, just full flavored. Drinking well now, don't think it will gain much in complexity so I would advocate enjoying the fruit on the younger side. The balance of vintages like '02/'04/'05 in OR isn't really here to carry it the distance. A good wine for tasters than like Russian River PN as I found more similarities to that than the "classic" OR style.
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1/16/2013 - vancouvermatt wrote: 90 Points
Grippy and young, with a good amount of oak.
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1/16/2013 - wffinn Likes this wine: 90 Points
The excellent bouquet suggested a complex wine but not entirely so. The fruit - while not intense - was multi-layered but lacked an equivalent finish.
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11/25/2012 - pbard wrote: 92 Points
Oak and some very typical Oregon pinot character on the nose, touch of barnyard and red fruit. Succulent on the palette (!), wrapped in ripe, tart cherry moving through to a spicy mid palette and finishing in ultrasmooth tannins. Bravo Brian!
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11/15/2012 - Traxx wrote: 80 Points
The vintage really shines through here, maybe also not playing well with the house style. Heat and real spicy oak (I assume) on the finish. Avoided the stewed fruits one often finds with 06 Oregon pinot, but honestly nothing endearing about this wine. I'd be really surprised if this could turn into something good at this point, drink em up...
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6/25/2012 - rmgroves wrote: 90 Points
Very nice smooth subtle red fruit. Not much complexity but nice nevertheless
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1/9/2012 - atubbs wrote: 92 Points
Rather nice; lots of lovely acid and structure left. A little heavy on the wood. Shame; the fruit has a lot of potential that is overshadowed by it, it seems.
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12/26/2011 - JoachimS wrote: 91 Points
Scored this at 92 in 2011. Had it again this thanksgiving, and would rate it 90. Still very nice, but not as vibrant.
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12/6/2011 - Porchino wrote: 90 Points
Not as fruity as 09 but still a nice pinot
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4/3/2011 - cbbrown3 wrote: 92 Points
Decanted for 2 hours. A medium to light ruby color. Cherries, smoke, dried leaves, wet earth, and a slight herbal note on the nose. Light to medium body with very soft, ripe tannins and very good acidity. Crisp and clean on the palate with the red fruit and earthy elements coating the palate and slowly giving way to the spice and herbal elements. Decent length on the finish. I may not have been able to guess Oregon, but this is definitely from a cool region/vintage. I liked this a lot and wish I had more.
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9/26/2010 - Atwellian wrote: 93 Points
Sept. 25, 2010. Second Blind Pinot Noir tasting of 6 Oregon wines with the Johnsons. Dinner was green beans and grilled tuna steaks with peach/mango salsa. Beautiful evening on the deck.
2006 Belle Pente Estate Reserve 93.25 avg. for the 4 of us. Burgundy color, lovely fruit, strong finish. C correctly id'ed blind. G and R tied for favorite.
Blind tastings make you humble! We are clearly paying for labels and reputations in many cases. Next time mix up the varietals and open the wines and let them breath for an hour or so (Difficult to do when people coming from a distance). Great evening!
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2/28/2010 - mye Likes this wine: 89 Points
medium red color, pop an dpour. Lovely nose of cherries, and red fruit. bright acidity. medium finish. good effort from Belle Pente
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2/21/2010 - cmlee7 wrote:
classic "cool weather" pinot. lighter in color. bright cherry. interspersed with hints of leather, tobacco, barnyard. good value in oregon pinot.
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2/18/2010 - ChrisBeacham wrote: 92 Points
This will be a mini TN. Opened last night to mark the passing of a very special man and a friend. Lovely last night, it continues to expand on the nose and palate. More smoke, more spice, more coffee and a bit of brown sugar (2006 sneaking in there). What an expression of ripe Pinot fruit that still includes enough acid and beautiful tea and mineral notes. Brian does a great job. Serious thumbs up.
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3/30/2009 - KeithAkers wrote: 91 Points
Expedition Wines American Homegrown: nose: very tart nose filled with cherries, mixed berries, bits of spices and round tones of plum. Fairly plush and relatively forward on the nose, but still retains its oregonian sensibility
taste: well balanced with medium acidity providing tones of tart cherries, plums, and spices
overall: a very nice and relatively forward wine. Fairly typical of the good 06 oregon pinots as it is well put together with plentiful fruit and good expression. Not disjointed like some other 06s that I've come across and while forward it is still fairly oregon
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