Pacific Northwest Tasting Trip, Day 4

Day 4 started out great, more VD or otherwise known as the breakfast of champions. The we opted for another great tea ceremony at the Chinese Garden that offers excellent shade grown, old plant tea from different provinces of China. After this we toured the gardens which are always impressive. Next up was a light lunch of Dim Sum at Fong Chong which was excellent as always, plus very cheap as well, which never hurts. Plus I was wearing my big Middle Finger Mastodon shirt which always throws people for a loop at first, especially the wine crowd.

We have only visited here twice now due to the location being so far north of our main stops, but yet they have always seemed to be high on our list of wines we really like. We spoke with Kevin who works the tasting room and were actually able to give him some advice about Walla Walla as he was heading that way on Tuesday with one of his friends for a couple of days of tasting. He was really cool guy and let us taste through the entire lineup and gave us some background on the winery itself. The Reserve was one of the top wines from the trip, but at 3 bills (release price) it is a hefty price to pay, but if you can score some for in the 70s I would say do it. The Roosevelt has always been one of my favorite bottlings year in and year out as well.

• 2008 Elk Cove Vineyards Pinot Blanc 86 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Nose of bartlett pear, little minerality.
  Palate of pear, minerality, little cream.

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• 2009 Elk Cove Vineyards Pinot Gris 87 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Nose of lime and salt.
  Palate of apricot and peach, some minerality.

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• 2009 Elk Cove Vineyards Riesling Estate 86 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Nose of white flowers and minerality.
  Palate of pineapple, acid, little sweetness.

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• 2009 Elk Cove Vineyards Pinot Noir Rosé 83 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Nose a bit perfumey, strawberry.
  Palate of strawberry, mineral, almost off dry.

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• 2008 Elk Cove Vineyards Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 87 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Nose of red cherry, cedar, cinnamon.
  Palate of red cherry, acid, and a little floral soap?

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• 2008 Elk Cove Vineyards Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard 89 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Nose of red raspberry, and pepper.
  Palate of red fruit and high acid.

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• 2008 Elk Cove Vineyards Pinot Noir Windhill 89 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Nose of cherry, vanilla, and spice.
  Palate of cherry, good grip, spice, and nice structure.

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• 2008 Elk Cove Vineyards Pinot Noir Mount Richmond 90 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton

  Nose of black fruits, underbrush, spice.
  Palate of mixed berries, with deep flavor, some spice, and acid on the tail
  Finish is shorter than you would expect.

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• 2008 Elk Cove Vineyards Pinot Noir Roosevelt Vineyard 92 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Nice nose of dark fruit, spice box, forest loam, floral, and fall leaves.
  Palate of more dark fruit, forest floor, minerality.
  Above average finish and great structure and balance.

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• 2008 Elk Cove Vineyards Pinot Noir Reserve 94 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Darker color thhan the others.
  Really nice nose of mixed berries, underbrush, forest floor, asian spices.
  Palate of lush mixed berries, forest floor, spice box, really compacted at this point but you can tell there is stuff there.
  Long finish and a really nice mouthfeel.
  Probably my favorite finished pinot of the trip.

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This is one of the best tasting room layouts of the wineries in the valley. Good quality wines overall, but I always get a sense of a little pretentiousness from this place, don't know why. I really liked the Bergstrom Vineyard, but the wife perfered the Elk Cove for roughly the same price with a discount. This was another one of the stops where it was interesting to listen to the other tasters and their perceptions of the wines. One younger lady was a sommelier at some resort in Montana and was all about the 09's which I found pretty funny from a wine perspective.

• 2009 Bergström Gewürztraminer Hyland Vineyard McMinnville 84 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, McMinnville

  Nose of wet dog and floral soap.
  Palate was sweet with more floral notes and something like detergent that was off putting, and spice.
  Not my style of Gew.

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• 2009 Bergström Chardonnay Old Stones 90 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Nose of white peach, apple, little hazelnut.
  Palate was lush, but balanced with good acidity with sour apple, cream, minerality.
  90-91

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• 2009 Bergström Pinot Noir Old Stones 87 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Nose of red fruit, vanilla, spice.
  Palate of mixed raspberry, little baking spice, and tannin.
  Decent mouthfeel.

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• 2009 Bergström Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard 89 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton

  Nose of lots of red cherry, and cinnamon.
  Palate had lots of fruit, some asian spices, and a little structure.
  meh.

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• 2008 Bergström Pinot Noir Cumberland Reserve 90 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Nose of very funky earth, cherry, spice box.
  Palate of mixed berry, cherry, forest floor, little baking spice.
  Good balance and acidity.

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• 2008 Bergström Pinot Noir Bergström Vineyard 94 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

  Really nice nose of mixed berry, floral, nutmeg, some all leaves, sassaras.
  Lighter color than expected, more red.
  Palate of mixed raspberry, forest loam, baking spice, cinnamon, minerality.
  Really nice balance over all and a long finish.
  93-94

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This place was jammed packed and filled with the know-it-alls of the wine world. One guy was just preaching his wine knowledge to the group he was with, then I overheard him saying I didn't realize this was the Arcus, I didn't really like it even though it got a 94 or whatever because he had been raving about it to the group he was with, so funny. The one he had thought the Arcus was the Looney and it was pretty unbalanced overall, IMO. With this said we had a great time tasting with the tasting room manager who was probably turned off by the shirt at first, but after spending 20 minutes or so speaking with him about the winery and the changes that had taken place over the past few years, I was really impressed with the place. The first time we had visited they were so pretentious that we vowed never to go back, but after hearing they had cleaned house and changed styles some what we decided to give it one more try. They must of really extracted the wines though to get the power from the 07s that these seemed to have, plus I think they are pretty high on new oak as well. Solid lineup of 07s though, IMO.

• 2007 Archery Summit Pinot Noir Premier Cuvée 91 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Nose of good forest loam, fall leaves, red fruit, violets.
  Palate of cherry, baking spices, eart, a little fling and a little chocolate tannin on the back end.
  Bigger than most 07's and really nice at the entry level bottling, still pushes it for the price.
  90-91

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• 2007 Archery Summit Pinot Noir Looney Vineyard 87 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge

  Nose of a little grapey, some lilac, and spice.
  Palate of black raspberry, little cherry, and spice.
  Weak mid palate.
  My least favorite of the lineup, horrible qpr at 85$.
  87-88

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• 2007 Archery Summit Pinot Noir Arcus Estate 92 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

  Nose of cherry, forest loam, violets, for a really nice nose.
  Palate of Cherry, forest loam, little spice.
  Really elegant, with good structure, balance, and good focus.
  My favorite of the lineup.
  At triple digits still a very questionable qpr, but one of the better wines of the vintage.
  91-92

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• 2007 Archery Summit Pinot Noir Red Hills Estate 91 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

  Nose of forest floor, floral perfume, black fruit.
  Palate of black cherry, blackberry, cinnamon, good acidity.
  Nice mouthfeel and above average finish.
  90-91

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Our second time around here as well. The chard really stuck out the most to us, really good bottle of wine. The Pinots were solid as well, the taster was kind enough to let us taste a few extra bottles that had been opened for a premium tasting earlier in the day. Good wines, just a little pricey for the quality of a pour vintage.

• 2007 Domaine Serene Chardonnay Dijon Clones Etoile 92 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Nose of pineapple, little vanilla, little licorice.
  Palate of pineapple, lime, minerality.
  Really good structure and long finish.
  Best finished chard we tasted at a winery.

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• 2007 Domaine Serene Pinot Noir Yamhill Cuvée 86 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Nose of wild strawberry with a little cedar.
  Elegant palate of strawberry, sandlewood, little earth.
  Bad QPR.

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• 2007 Domaine Serene Pinot Noir Fleur de Lis Vineyard 89 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Nose of red fruit, candied pomegranite, little cedar.
  Palate of red fruits on the palate with a little earth and spice.

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• 2007 Domaine Serene Pinot Noir Guadalupe Vineyard 92 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Nose of raspberry, cherry, forest floor, spice.
  Palate of black raspberry, fall leaves, spice.
  Really elegant on the palate with really good focus and acidity.
  Favorite of the offerings. 92-93

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• 2007 Domaine Serene Pinot Noir Mark Bradford 91 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

  Nose of light blueberry, hay, little floral and spice.
  Palate of black cherry, little vanilla, spice, earth.
  Good finish.

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• 2006 Domaine Serene Pinot Noir Evenstad Reserve 91 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Nose of dark fruit, licorice, cola, vanilla, little blue fruit.
  Palate of black and blue berries, little black tea, dried flowers, and clove.
  Could use a little more structure and acidity.

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• 2005 Domaine Serene Pinot Noir Côte Sud Vineyard 92 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

  Nose of mullberry, floral, and spice.
  The palate was the most fullbodied of the offerings, big, with more mullberry, and mixed raspberry, spice and acidity.
  Above average finish.
  92+

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• 2005 Domaine Serene Syrah Rockblock Del Rio Vineyard 87 Points

  USA, Oregon, Southern Oregon, Rogue Valley

  Nose of dark fruit, plum, green pepper.
  Palate of plum, juniper berries, and smoke.

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• 2006 Domaine Serene Syrah Rockblock Seven Hills Vineyard 88 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley

  Nose of blackberry, cola, little spice.
  Palate of blackberry, chocolate, and spice.

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The food is amazing at this resturant, the appetizers were solid, the main courses were amazing, and the deserts were probably the best we have had this year. The wife went with the Foie Gras profiteroles and they were amazing, think cream puffs but with Foie Gras mouse in the middle. I went with the apricot bacon maple cornbread which was cornbread with maple icecream pieces of bacon overtop and bacon grease poured over the top to melt the icecream. Will always stop by this place when in the city. Also had a Jura white with desert that was a great night cap.

• 2007 Cameron Blanc Clos Electrique 93 Points

  USA, Oregon

  Had at dinner at Le Pigeon in Portland. Really nice wine, good balance and complexity.

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• 2006 Andrew Will Ciel du Cheval Vineyard 92 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain

  Had at Le Pigeon in Portland. Really nice new world Bordeaux blend. Good nose and mouthfeel, and definately a fruit forward wine, but not overdone.

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• 2008 Saviah Cellars Une Vallee 90 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley

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Solid day of tasting and a great dinner led to an early bedtime. The funny thought of the day was that so many of the uppertier places are still pouring the 07s because they don't want to loose brand equity by lowering their prices with a subpar vintage. This was easily obvious when you can try a 40 dollar 08 pinot that scores the same as a 75 dollar 07 pinot. Then again most of the time you are just paying for the name on bottle anyway.