"Running" Club Oregon vs the World - Chardonnay & Pinot Noir

Al fresco in leafy West London
Tasted Saturday, April 20, 2024 by lozatron with 52 views

Introduction

The idea was to try out a few Oregon Pinots and Chardonnays and have a couple of well known calibration points among them to be able to form a clearer view. This was a primarily non wine-nerd crew, but they gamely went along with the idea and kindly contributed their votes and opinions.

We ate like spoiled teenage boys - Fried Chicken made with the Serious Eats recipe, smoked Pork and Beef ribs and pulled pork, with fat and skinny chips fried in beef dripping. We also had a guest who follows a vegan diet so had fun experimenting with Sweet Baby Rays air fried tofu, which was even better than it sounds.

Flight 1 - Sherry Aperitif (1 Note)

Flight 2 - 21 Morgen Long Chardonnays (3 Notes)

  • 2021 Morgen Long Chardonnay

    USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

    Pale colour. Subtle nose, you need to really sniff, then a hint of the kind of not quite cut grass smell i associate with chardonnay. Let's be honest - it smells of chardonnay. Light on the palate, pleasing acidity and poise, but not much substance there.

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  • 2021 Morgen Long Chardonnay Durant

    USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

    Pale colour. A bit more intensity on the nose, a very gentle vanilla not perhaps? And some lemon, almost candied lemon, lovely linearity and purity.

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  • 2021 Morgen Long Chardonnay Seven Springs Vineyard

    USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola - Amity Hills

    But a pup! Again, a little more substance than the first in the flight, a little more heft here perhaps. That pleasing delicacy but again, not quite enough substance to back it up. The experience of the following flights suggests that, at least in part, these just need time. As a slight aside - I wonder if one thing the Oregonians have managed to replicate is the dumb phases of burgundy?

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Flight 3 - The rest of the Chardonnays (3 Notes)

  • 2015 Morgen Long Chardonnay Sandi

    USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

    This is lovely - perhaps a slightly muted cousin to the 16 tasted alongside. Real line and zip to it, there's a bit of breadth on the palate but it's still somewhat tightly coiled, as if it's not fully ready to share its pleasures. My 4th wotn and the table's 8th.

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  • 2016 Morgen Long Chardonnay Sandi

    USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

    Ah now, this is more like it. Again, a pale colour. On the nose, grass clippings, a hint of lemon meringue perhaps. On the palate, lovely and balanced, real line and zip with a bit more generosity than previous bottles - the oak is evident but ever so well done. The table's wine of the night and my #2.

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  • 2021 Riverby Estate Chardonnay

    New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough

    This is a banker and we put it in the line up as a calibration. More substance here, that lemonade ice lolly stick thing again, a hint of gooseberry bitterness at the back of the palate that maybe seems a little clumsy by comparison to the MLs, but this is a substantial wine that makes no apologies, but still manages to dance somewhat gracefully on its 14% abv feet. Mine and the table's #3 wotn.

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Flight 4 - Pinot Noir (3 Notes)

  • 2017 Hundred Suns Pinot Noir Old Eight Cut

    USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

    First sip was really engaging but - perhaps because i so rarely drink New World pinots, it's charms quickly faded for me. Some raspberry fruit there, a bit of jamminess, the oak bite is apparent, not clumsy in any way but the kind of thing that you have to be there for, and I wasn't there for it. Interestingly this was the most divisive wine at the table, being one person's clear favourite and others least liked.

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  • 2019 Riverby Estate Pinot Noir

    New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough

    Lovely - really engaging, delicate brambly nose. Hints of savoury strawberry on the palate, just ever so slight jamminess but with a kind of herbaceous character that balances it well. My best experience with this wine I think. My #5 wotn and the table's #7.

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  • 2013 Le Grappin Beaune 1er Cru Boucherottes

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru

    Well. The age maybe makes it an unfair comparison but clearly the top of the reds. Real depth there, lovely cherry / bramble on the nose. The palate has some structure to it, real savoury character and just a hint of cherry stone on the finish. My wotn and the table's #2. Interestingly the table was evenly divided between people who preferred this and those who preferred the Hundred Suns.

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Closing

Really good fun evening. What did I learn? Well I think i have a great deal of respect for Morgen Long as a producer, but we get back to the problem that when your quality approaches that of the great French regions, and your price exceeds it, and you're not *quite* as reliable...you need to love it to buy it.

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