2002 Benton-Lane Pinot Noir First Class

Community Tasting Notes (4) Avg Score: 90.5 points

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  1/21/2017 - PhN Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Drank the last bottle tonight. Sigh. Wonderful flavorful Oregon PN. Served with chicken pounded and sauteed. Rice, vegetables. Wonderful pairing. This wine got better and better. Still red, few signs of age. Wish I had more.

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  3/9/2014 - PhN Likes this wine: 90 Points

  On opening, great fruit, black cherry, good tannins. Delicious without much nose. I drank this over three days, gassing and stoppering between. It continued to open. The third day still lots of fruit, acid, much more nose. I agree it needs, demands, food and went very well with a mildly flavored pork marinade and roasted vegetables. Cheddar after dinner. I wish I had a few more bottles. Good for a year or two.

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  1/25/2014 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 90 Points

  2002 Oregon Pinot Retro + Port/Madeira (JV's): I had this at 85 points the first time thru. It got better all night with air. It really improved with some cheese. There is an acidic streak that demands food. Purple/ruby in color. The nose has lots of spice, rhubarb, cranberries and cherries. Medium bodied. Tart cherries on the palate. With food and air, it starts to show some complexity. Probably near peak, but some air time would still be a good idea.

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  3/22/2008 - winegr wrote: 90 Points

  89-90 pts. Really well made wine. More serious than I was expecting. The regular bottling is more like cherry cola. This First Class offering is much more serious, with solid structure and tannin. Less overtly fruity(but plenty of fruit) with more balance. A beautiful color and great, dark cherry nose. Strong dark and sour cherry palate, with some spice, slight oak, and nice tannins. This definitely has a few years of good drinking left. A bit more complexity would have pushed this to a clear 90 pt wine. As this evolved, at various points tasted a bit cali, a bit oregonian, and a bit burgundian. Nice effort in a pretty serious PN. Day 2: Not as good. More grapey and not as good.

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