Mountains to Metro

I really enjoyed this event last year and was excited to attend again. I definitely did not enjoy the wines as much this year, but I think that's simply due to the prevalence of the 2009 vintage, which I am not a fan off (with some exceptions). This is still an excellently laid out event, though it did seem as if the attendance was way down this year from last... At four hours its a good length, but I particularly took it slow, only visiting 14 of the 35+ winneries available! Bummer... The ones I really wish I had hit are Adelsheim, Beckham Estate, Carabella, J.K. Carriere, Le Cadeau, and Utopia. I'll try and speed up next year, and there were still some I wanted to visit that I failed to get to.

• 2009 Archery Summit Pinot Noir Premier Cuvée 86 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Very large and exuberant aromas with some slight funk. Very large and modern, with juicy fruit and slight briar. The palate is equally juicy, large, and modern, but it is better contained than I expected. Pretty yummy fruit. The finish is tart and grippier than I thought it'd be. It's puckering, but still just really extracted and large.

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• 2009 Archery Summit Pinot Noir Looney Vineyard 88 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge

  More balanced than the Premier cuvee in the aromas, offering some nice spice and earthiness. Pretty and soft. Nice core of red fruit on palate entry. Mild green tannins, and pretty soft. The finish is pleasing, with good integration today but lacking much character. A pretty big wine, initially hitting with dark berries, then a wall of grippiness without much depth. Not really compelling, especially at this tariff.

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• 2010 Bergström Chardonnay Old Stones 87 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Nice and crisp aromas, offering some nice tropical fruits. The palate has this chunky texture that I'm not a fan of, but it offers nice crisp mineral tones with bright white fruit. Tart finish with nice acids after a second, but not much depth of flavor. Much better than the previous vintage.

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• 2010 Bergström Pinot Noir Cumberland Reserve 86 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Nice soft fruited aromas. Bright red tone character. The palate initially lacks on the attack, feeling soft, but also a bit watery. Very light acid, and not much fruit present. The finish is light and soft. Again lacking much fruit or any real flavor... just mild soft structure.

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• 2009 Bergström Pinot Noir de Lancellotti 88 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains

  Much larger than the previous wine, with dark color, big fruit, and deep aromas. There's some nice depth that goes beyond just the dark bomb it may come across as, including some briar aromas. The palate offers a nice soft integration. Really good texture, but the flavors get a bit large as its held on the palate. Spicy, grippy, and tart on the finish. Large flavors. This is pretty big without much grace; a real wollop of a Pinot Noir.

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• 2009 White Rose Estate Pinot Noir Appellation Series Chehalem Mountains 87 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains

  Some big time alcoholic spice coming through in the aromas. There's also some tart smells, with interesting fruit, but there's also something that isn't too pleasing or integrated about the nose. Much better palate, with really nice soft fruit. Good structure, and quite lithe and soft. Pleasing softness and grace into the finish as well, textually. Still some off balanced alcohol, but the fruit here is nice. Just an awkward fellow.

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• 2010 White Rose Estate Pinot Noir Luciole Vineyard 89 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains

  Soft aromas, with nice baking spices including baking soda and cinnamon. Nice soft fruit on palate entry. Quite structured now, but feels pretty thin for an '09. Soft finish with nicely mild tart fruit. Light, without much of an impression here, but nice stuff.

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• 2009 White Rose Estate Pinot Noir Lia's Vineyard 90 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

  Soft, and larger than the Luciole. Pretty big red fruits, with some spice and gravel as well. Very juicy on palate entry, but great balance and texture. Really pretty fruit and nearly floral flavors build as its held on the palate. Really juicy, yet restrained, on the finish, with a wave of red fruit initially that is then crushed 5 seconds later by a larger wave of acid that dominates at the end and deep into the finish. Nice acid for '09.

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• 2010 Artisanal Wine Cellars Pinot Blanc 87 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Very bright, soft tropical fruits dominate the nose... this smells almost sweet, with lemon and honeydew melon prominent. Lighter on the palate, but nice acid ramps up as it warms. Not as much interest on the finish... fairly quiet and boring, in fact.

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• 2009 Roco Pinot Noir 88 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Nice Pinot spice aromas. Pretty bright fruit here, and you can almost smell the acidity. Very nice and soft, and pretty light for 2009. The palate is elegant and soft, with nice fruit, tannins, and spice. Just the slightest bit of earth. More spice and acids on the finish. The acids do resemble that of '09, but still not sure I'd pick this as that vintage blind. I think this has nice room to improve from here. 88+

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• 2008 Roco Pinot Noir Private Stash 90 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains

  Very very spicy aromas, nice earth, with sweet soil tones. Definitely shows the beauty of 2008 on the palate. Bright, soft red fruits on entry with dancing acids and really nice soil tones. The finish offers decent depth and grace, with good earthiness and spice. Pleasing, but not the most depth.

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• 2009 Roco Pinot Noir Private Stash 84 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains

  Much larger and bigger, with more noticeable oak than their 2008. Lots of oak spice here, and it feels a bit fat... it smells like it has a muffin top. Better palate entry, with nice fruits, but it gets progressively deeper and darker as its held. This offers blackberries that are heavy and ripe. Alcoholic and far larger on the finish than I prefer... pretty darn off putting alcohol, in fact.

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• 2008 Anam Cara Pinot Noir Vineyard Selection 87 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains

  Soft aromas. It's light, with mild fruit and still some slightly oaky aromas coming through. Nice bigger red fruits on palate entry, and fairly juicy without much structure. But really nice purity of fruit flavors. Juicy again on the finish, with mild tannins. Surprisingly grippy notion is felt long after swallowing.

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• 2007 Anam Cara Pinot Noir Nicholas Estate

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains

  Pretty nasty again... this was earthy, but more like its bretty. Funky fruit on the palate, with mushrooms and some funk that I like, and there's still some red fruit balancing it out. Oak funk on the finish. Some bitter, puckering tannins as well. This is funky and thin... just not too good; something may be off with this bottle, but it's not like I exactly liked this last year either.

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• 2009 Anam Cara Pinot Noir Nicholas Estate 86 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains

  Very very quiet aromas... really nothing interesting here. The fruit opens up fully, with large dark fruit. Spice, but really pretty disintegrated and large. Not well balanced. Soft and boring finish without any angles.

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• 2010 Lachini Pinot Noir Rosé 85 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Very fresh aromas... quite nice. This is bright and tart on the palate, but not showing enough character. It needs more acid and fruit showing up. The finish is soft, without much cut.

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• 2010 Lachini Pinot Noir "S" Lachini Vineyard 87 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains

  Very soft aromas, light, but also elegant. Feels shy, but like something beautiful is hiding. Certainly show's intrigue and makes me want to dive in. The palate is unfortunately more obvious, with soft tart fruit and not much depth. The red undertones are nice, with some juicy near bubble gum flavors, but it's all on a nice light frame. Pretty nice acidity on the finish, but really lacking depth that'd be worth getting excited about.

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• 2009 Lachini Pinot Noir Lachini Family Estate 86 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains

  Mild aromas, and deep notions of dark fruit, with hints of briar and spice. Quite nice fruit on the palate, with pleasing depth and tart tannins, but still something that's a bit awkward and reminiscent of too many 2009s. More off balanced on the finish, with some soft fruit at the end, but spice and alcohol are a bit too overpowering and make this not very interesting.

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• 2008 Lachini Pinot Noir Cuvée Giselle 88 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Elegant and soft aromas. This oddly smells like breadcrumbs, but with nice red fruit on top. Soft and light, and really needs some encouragement to come out. With some more swirls I get some spree and even some broccoli stems. Awesome attack of elegant red fruits on the palate. Quite nice and balanced, offering an overall tart profile, but it never fully comes out, and stays slightly concealed. Not too much depth on the finish today. Things drop off quite a bit, actually, and this is just acting tart and closed. There's definitely potential here, but today it's just not ready to come out and fully express itself. 88+

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• 2010 Omero Cellars Pinot Noir Iliad 87 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Very fruit forward aromas, but not showing much depth. The palate offers some green fruit on a pretty nice and tart frame. Soft in texture, but light. More soft green fruit on the finish. Not much depth here, but certainly very quaffable.

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• 2010 Omero Cellars Pinot Noir Odessey 90 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Very nice exuberance on the nose; soft with some spicy green fruit that's quite nice. The palate is soft and exuberantly fruited here too, offering soft and light flavors. Very pleasing and balanced attack, with nice texture remaining no mater how long I hold it in my mouth. The finish is soft, with light green/red fruit. Really yummy with pleasing tannin/fruit/acid balance. Light, but this is very good.

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• 2010 Alloro Vineyard Chardonnay Fattoria 84 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Nice fruit aromas. Pretty darn flat and chunky texture on the palate, though. This offers some decent acidity, but again a flat finish without much fruit or minerals to balance anything out.

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• 2010 Alloro Vineyard Pinot Noir 86 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains

  Very oaky aromas, with tart fruit. Pretty boring palate, with nothing jumping out; no excitement. Some green/red fruit that I like at the end, but not much depth.

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• 2010 Vidon Pinot Noir 3 Clones 90 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains

  Perhaps the top wine of the event. This offers very spicy aromas, almost medicinal in nature. There's definitely an herbal character that's very nice. The palate is tart, with pleasing red fruits and impeccable balance. This balance carries into the finish with grace, with impressive tart fruits but on a very soft textural feel. I need to revisit this wine.

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• 2009 Vidon Pinot Noir 3 Clones 82 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains

  Wow, what an incredible difference from the 2010 3 Clones!! This is very much darker in color and definitely overall character. This smells like jam. The palate is soft and tart, but there's tons of alcohol that's immediately noticed. This is monster stuff that I had to dump out.

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• 2009 Blakeslee Vineyard Estate Chardonnay Select Cluster 85 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains

  Similar to the 2008 in enjoyment (i.e. not much). The aromas here are just generically tart. The palate is mild, soft, and very lightly fruited. Very fruity finish, but really not much depth of level of engagement.

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• 2008 Blakeslee Vineyard Estate Pinot Noir Select Cluster 86 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains

  Decent fruit here, on a forward and bright frame. The palate is tart and light, without much going on. Soft, but not much fruit. Tart green fruit on a straight forward finish.

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• 2007 Chehalem Pinot Noir Ridgecrest Vineyards 81 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge

  Wow, really funky. Do I smell brett? Really earthy aromas; red fruits; mushrooms. The palate is funky and tart, but feels balanced. Soft fruit which is nice, but too dirty, almost to the point of flawed.

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• 2008 Chehalem Pinot Noir Ridgecrest Vineyards 87 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge

  Tart, light aromas. The palate is soft, with elegant acid. Kind of funky, and pretty grippy and tight. Strange mouth feel, with a tart coating finish that's similarly strange... not sure what to make of this.

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• 2008 Longplay Chardonnay Jory Slope Lia's Vineyard 88 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains

  Quite nice gummy flavored fruit on the aromas. Nice balance. The palate is tart, light, and mildly creamy in texture. Good soft fruit. Nice pleasing, balanced and creamy finish.

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• 2009 Longplay Chardonnay Jory Slope Lia's Vineyard 89 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains

  Better than the '08, offering brighter, and slightly yeasty aromas. Really nice fruit on the palate, though it's pretty soft. I wish this had more acid and mineral cut. Similar finish.

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• 2010 Longplay Pinot Noir Lia's Vineyard 88 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains

  Very exuberant red fruited aromas that are quite pleasing and soft. The palate is rich, soft, and delicious, with very nice soft fruit and grippy structure builds. The finish is softer though at the same time grippy tannins are present. This is pretty light, and I was left wishing for more depth. Nice underlying material.

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• 2009 Longplay Pinot Noir Lia's Vineyard 90 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains

  More exuberant than the 2010, but this time it's not a bad thing. This offers very nice, deeply pitched red fruit aromas not veering off to the dark fruit. The palate is rich, deep, and offers mild red fruits and tending towards the dark end of the spectrum, but not off the deep end. Rich, deep, impressive fruit on a deliciously soft frame. Juicy but still pleasingly structured.

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• 2009 Ponzi Vineyards Pinot Noir 89 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Nice fruit; soft. The palate is nice and soft as well, with pleasing fruit and fairly elegant for this level. Yummy. Nice balance on the finish too. Impressive effort for a pedestrian level 2009.

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• 2009 Ponzi Vineyards Pinot Noir Reserve 89 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

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