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Red

2021 Cameron Pinot Noir Abbey Ridge

 Dundee Hills more
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11/20/2023 - Jack Cranley Likes this wine: 96 points

This is a top tier and very special Oregon Pinot Noir. Top effort from a top producer who has been consistently putting out peak experiences from the region for close to 40 years.

The 2021 Abbey Ridge Pinot Noir might just be the best wine I've ever tasted from them. It has this incredible ethereal balance and the perfect blend of red fruit, earth tones, foresty mushroomy goodness, framed with spice and nuance.

As is the case with all Cameron Pinot Noir, absolutely worth holding for many years in the cellar, But among the 2021 pinos the Abbey Ridge showed the most friendly and accessible in its youth. So there's just really no wrong answer here on how and when to drink this. Treat yourself to a case and watch it evolve over the years!

  • Comment posted by Jack Cranley:

    1/9/2024 5:24:00 PM - @kakpoo:
    Yes, fair point. Fortunately, I had the awareness of the vintage before any Cameron came my way, so I didn't have that experience of being slapped upside the head with smoke taint. But it sounds like you did and I'm sorry to hear that. I definitely experienced it with a few other labels that I thought I trusted, and definitely had that feeling of disappointment.
    Ultimately though, 2020 was completely unprecedented in the Willamette Valley so I can't really hold it against anyone whatever they decided to do that year. I can't imagine being put in that position where you're one chance to make your product that makes ends meet for the year is potentially ruined. I try not to be too judgmental about people's decisions because I just don't even know what I would do.
    If a smoke event like 2020 ever swept across the Willamette Valley again, I'm pretty certain that a lot of wineries would choose to do things differently.
    As it stands, I'm willing to chalk it up as an innocent mistake this one time. 😉
Red

2021 Granville Pinot Noir Louie

 Dundee Hills more
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11/20/2023 - Jack Cranley Likes this wine: 97 points

Tasted through the entire Granville 2021 Pinot Noir lineup. I don't have time to leave reviews for all of them but I thought I would at least summarize the tasting and leave a review for the one wine that took the crown. No surprise it's the Louie,as this is the Winemaker's best wine every year.

Incredible depth, richness, balance and structure on this world-class wine. Notes of black currant, black cherry, mocha, dried herbs, wet minerals, baking spice, and barrel toast - everything in check, everything in flawless harmony.

Built for the long haul, This is a wine whose peak is years away still. My guess would be somewhere around 2030 where it will then hold a 15-year plateau, easily.

One of the gratifying things of having become a fan of the label early is watching Jackson hone his skill set. Every year, he makes the best wines he's ever made, because he just continues to build upon his knowledge base and experience level and applies the many intentional strategies that he picks up along the way.

On top of all that, 2021 was just a phenomenal vintage, so this really is a special wine, And truly the whole lineup was superb so if you're looking at one of the other 2021 single vineyard Pinot Noirs, Just know that you have a superb wine in your hands. There was definitely some experiential differences between each bottling as you would expect, but not in a way which was like this one's better than that one or this one was a better success than the other. More just that this one expresses that terroir differently than this one expresses that terroir etc

The Holstein was super plush and friendly. The Eichler was pretty tannic and stout. The Koosah was bright red and lifted and pretty. And the Old Vine had this incredible complex minerality, along with a more savory bend to it.

Then the Louie came along with all of its big decadent dark rich characteristics That in my opinion just serves the house style the best. I don't always choose the biggest darkest richest Pinit in a lineup just because it's hedonistic. In fact I will often choose a more elegant bottling as a favorite. But in this case, Louie just really expresses what Jackson is trying to say best I think.

Drink 2030-2045

  • Comment posted by Jack Cranley:

    12/22/2023 8:05:00 AM - Wise choice! I can't think of a better club to be part of right now based on the quality of the wine, the implied longevity of what you're getting, plus the fact that you're getting in on the ground level of a rising star so one day you'll be able to look back and say hey, we were part of this before it was cool. 😜 Enjoy!
Red

2012 White Rose Estate Pinot Noir White Rose Vineyard

 Dundee Hills more
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10/6/2023 - tastark Likes this wine: NR

Drinking very well right now, but has lots of time left. Nose has some nice ripe stemmy notes along with fresh cherry, raspberry, violets, a hint of tar. Very clean nose. Color is starting to mature a touch. On the palate, this wine really comes alive. Lots of cranberry, good acidity, some stemmy spice. Silky smooth tannins. The wine is singing right now. Delicious.

  • Comment posted by Jack Cranley:

    12/17/2023 7:03:00 PM - Great note. I just pulled my only bottle of this out of the cellar and plan to drink it within the next couple months. Your note has encouraged me to go forward.
    I tasted a 2013 White Rose recently and it was over the hill, So I kind of panicked a little. But 2012 was a much much better vintage for them and for the Willamette Valley in general. In fact I would wager a guess that 2012 will go down as the best vintage that White Rose ever made, because it was the last great vintage before their winemaker died in 2017.
    And even though you stated that it could continue in the cellar, it was actually one of the tasting room staff at White Rose Estate that taught me an important lesson - that, it's so hard to catch the peak of any wine, it's better to miss it on the front end rather than the back end. 😉👍
Red

2020 Cameron Rouge Clos Electrique

 Oregon Pinot Noir more
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3/1/2023 - John Dunlap wrote: flawed

Haven't purchased a wine this bad in a long time. I liked the 2019 a lot, but this is terrible and an insult for $63. Lots of band-aid bret and immediate volatility. Tossed down the drain.

  • Comment posted by Jack Cranley:

    11/21/2023 1:31:00 PM - What a bummer. By now, I'm sure you've heard about the challenges of the 2020 vintage in the Willamette Valley. What's interesting is that, what makes that vintage bad for almost every label is not necessarily only the smoke. Because some producers did this or that to mitigate the smoke taint. But all of the mitigation techniques also resulted in loss of quality and complexity in the wines.

    Many of the top producers chose not to make a 2020 vintage at all. In my opinion, they were the wise ones. Other labels went ahead and made a 2020 vintage but then bottled it under a label other than their standard label. Also a wise strategy.

    But then some labels decided to roll the dice and just make the wine and slap their label on it and put their normal price tag on it. And unfortunately, that was a bad gamble. I know that many of those types of producers lost lots of loyal brand customers and wine club members. I dropped a few wine clubs of my own because I simply did not want to have to pay full price for a flawed wine with a premium price tag on it.

    It's frustrating and disappointing that a label with as much integrity and history as Cameron decided to go that route. But in the end, all I really needed to do was skip that vintage with them and then jump back into the fray with 2021, which, thankfully, redeemed itself as one of their best vintages ever!
Red

2021 Cameron Rouge Clos Electrique

 Oregon Pinot Noir more
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11/20/2023 - Jack Cranley Likes this wine: 95 points

Superb. An incredible achievement of New world Pinot Noir. A dead ringer for Burgundy. With both richness and decadence balanced with restraint and elegance. And just the right amount of cellar funk.
Smooth and ripe yet still structured and firm. Approachable and easy yet still worthy of the long-term cellar. Really quite perfect in almost every way.
Compared to the other Pinots from the same house and vintage, this one had the most darkness and spice.
Easily good for 20 years if you have the patience

  • Comment posted by Jack Cranley:

    11/21/2023 1:18:00 AM - I sure did! Also nearly perfect. I should leave a review.
Red

2021 Holocene Pinot Noir Apocrypha

 Willamette Valley more
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5/14/2023 - Neecies Likes this wine: NR

No fining, no filtering, whole cluster, mostly neutral French Oak. No evidence of fire smoke. A little more fruit intensity than the Memorialis but no less elegant and complex. A lovely Oregon pinot.

  • Comment posted by Jack Cranley:

    9/22/2023 3:34:00 PM - Well, there wouldn't be any evidence of fire smoke in 2021. That was 2020 😉
Red

2018 The Eyrie Vineyards Pinot Noir Sisters Vineyard

 Dundee Hills more
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11/11/2022 - Jessie and Max Likes this wine: 92 points

This was our favorite of the several Oregon Pinot Noirs we tasted on our trip to Portland, and we bought a bottle at the vineyard tasting, where it stood out among three Pinots as the one that suited our taste the most. It had no Pinot funk, but rather, had outstanding fruit: ripe red cherry with hints of caramel (the quintessential Oregon "cherry cola" combo), with retronasal earthiness. Length and balance were great, too.

  • Comment posted by Jack Cranley:

    7/14/2023 1:24:00 PM - Great note, I'm with ya! A flawlessly built Oregon Pinot, That really stays true to the purity of the fruit without being overtly "fruity" A remarkable paradox!
Red

2018 Brick House Pinot Noir Les Dijonnais Ribbon Ridge

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10/16/2022 - ewsds wrote: 89 points

Seemingly at the tail end of it's drinking window, despite being stored in a 55 degree cellar since acquiring it directly from the winery. Fading fruit, with virtually no structure left that it's not a wine I want to drink at only four years of age. So disappointing that I can't even describe how disappointed I am. Formerly one of my favorite wineries.

  • Comment posted by Jack Cranley:

    2/14/2023 8:43:00 AM - Last one of these I opened had a whiff of brett on it. This of course can make a wine seem prematurely tired. Sometimes a brett issue infects an entire cellar and is almost impossible to get rid of. Other times, it pops up in one vintage and then is gone in the next. (If for instance it was just one barrel that was infected)

    I haven't tasted the 19s from Brick House yet, and besides those wines might still have enough youthful fruit on them to mask any underlying brettanomyces, But it will certainly be interesting to see how it plays out. I agree that the 2018 Les Dijonnaise was a disappointment. I'm still holding out hope that it was an anomaly. 🤞
Red

2015 K Vintners The Boy

 Walla Walla Valley Grenache more
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9/11/2022 - SeaWine wrote: NR

I guess this is a good example, in part, of why we have CellarTracker. Reviews here are all over the place, and I'm not sure why, but I have to suspect bottle variation. I cracked this in part just to see where my observations would fit on the spectrum. Interesting that it was only this vintage that seemed to be a significant outlier vs. earlier and subsequent vintages. If I understand correctly, this was the first vintage from its current/continuing single vineyard source of Powerline Vineyard.

Several people have cited "ashy" tastes, one person said it tasted (not smelled, but tasted) of manure. As someone who grew up on a farm and knows the smell of both ash and manure, I tasted neither of those. Not even a remote hint, nor did my wife who tasted without any context of reviews here. Didn't really get rubber band, either, as some have cited, though there was a touch of something that was a little unusual, but very slight. Not many green pepper notes, either, contrary to several tasters. Overall, the aroma and taste were consistent over three days.

23 ratings overall thus far. 5 ratings of 90pts or higher, 12 ratings 84 points or lower.

What I did get are candied cherry Lifesaver (edging towards, but not quite, cough syrup) notes and density in spades. Any obvious flaws? No. Did I love it? No, it's not really my style these days, and didn't have the complexity or elegance I'd prefer and seek out, but it was certainly drinkable and I know I could pour (or gift this) for others... assuming no bottle variation.

Again, I just have to suspect bottle variation here, of the sort where I guess I got lucky. Your mileage may vary, I suppose.

  • Comment posted by Jack Cranley:

    1/14/2023 10:24:00 AM - What a strangely divisive wine, eh? It's definitely oddball, so I can understand if someone goes into this thinking "hey, I'll have me a nice juicy Walla Walla wine" and then they get smacked with all this weird esoteric stuff. As someone who tastes a huge number of wines, I tend to enjoy the strange and peculiar just for a change of pace. But I totally get it when someone is thrown off by something like this. I think the ashy/manure comments are simply grasping for words for something pretty difficult to describe!
Red

2019 Antica Terra Pinot Noir Botanica

 Willamette Valley more
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8/13/2022 - Jack Cranley Likes this wine: 90 points

Antica Terra Pinots always have such a cool tension between this serious, stately essence, and a playful, feminine, floral quality.
That is especially true in this 2019 offering which carries both sides of these worlds in spades.
Barrel toast and baking spice interplay with rose petal, potpourri, and patchouli.
This drinks velvety but lacks a little bit of "pop" - perhaps a little short on acid and the tannins come across a little "managed."
But don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful wine, and honestly it might just be my palate after having tasted a couple really bright Chardonnays.
A little walnut and hay on the finish. Honestly coming across a little oddball at the moment... Might just be young still. Will check in again in a couple years.

  • Comment posted by Jack Cranley:

    8/13/2022 11:19:00 PM - Something about it left me feeling like it was disjointed which is uncharacteristic for Antica Terra. Too young is the only logical explanation I can come up with, so I would say hold until 2025+ Cheers!
Red

2016 Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes

 Red Rhone Blend more
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10/15/2020 - Jack Cranley Likes this wine: 97 points

First of all, I opened my first of three bottles way too young.

Not that it wasn't enjoyable but just that I can see there is so much more potential locked inside.

That first pour straight out of the freshly opened bottle kind of reminded me of raw bread dough. Really tight and raw and kind of yeasty.

To its credit, it started opening up pretty quick. The overwhelming impression of this wine is an incredible essence of fresh tree ripened mulberry. The resemblance is unmistakable and uncanny.

This is the kind of wine that takes hours to really pry itself completely open. Along the way it reveals layers upon layers, petals upon petals like an enormous rose all clustered together in a bud, slowly unfurling and opening up into a flower the size of a dinner plate.

The mulberries never do go away which is just absolutely delightful for me. That's such a rare and special treat, and so is this wine.

Along with it you get a menagerie of black, blue and dark red fruits. Cherries, blackberries, blueberries, black currant... all of them in that sort of freshly picked and still hot from the baking sun kind of fresh. Drinking the wine conjures childhood memories of precariously bushwacking into walls of Himalayan blackberries to find the biggest fattest ripest ones.

Slowly, the nuances and intricacies of this wine unfurl. Dry, rocky forest earth. Blackened cured meats. Rusted metal. Moist riverside moss.

Chewy, fine-grained tannins. Beautiful, perfect tart acidity that cuts through the intense, concentrated nature of the fruit. Everything is in this state of nervy, tense balance. Absolutely mesmerizing.

As mentioned, this is pretty young. Decant vigorously or drink 2026 and beyond.

  • Comment posted by Jack Cranley:

    8/6/2022 4:06:00 PM - Thanks! Glad you enjoyed. I just wrote from the heart. ☺️ This wine moved me! Can't wait to check back in on it in like 12 years. 😜
Red

2018 Andrew Rich Pinot Noir Volcanic

 Willamette Valley more
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2/2/2022 - Jack Cranley Does not like this wine: 82 points

I'm a bit disappointed by this. The overall impression of this wine is of something a little too manhandled.
Oxidized cooked fruits predominate, the mid palate was a little hollow, and the finish was short with a bitter streak.

  • Comment posted by Jack Cranley:

    2/27/2022 9:16:00 AM - LOL Thank you for pointing that out! Typo!
Red

2019 Reynvaan Family Vineyards Syrah In the Hills

 Walla Walla Valley more
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2/9/2022 - Jack Cranley wrote: 86 points

So, I'm coming to terms with something I've been avoiding saying for some time, because I really truly love the aromatics on all Reynvaan wines. I mean like - these things smell like heaven. The bouquet just leaps out of the glass in a fireworks display of flowers, blue and purple fruits, meaty savory notes, sage and herbs and soil and everything you could ever hope from a top shelf wine. Truly a stunning aromatic bonanza. Every. Single. Time.

But then there's something else that happens every time. And that is: the weight of the wine just kind of falls a little flat for me. It's like there's this big hollow hole in the mid palate and it just kind of falls apart on the finish. Almost to the point where it makes me shudder in that way that happens after you take a sip of something that's difficult to drink. It's so weird and so incongruous with the experience on the nose. And for years I have told people that Reynvaan is one of my favorite Washington labels solely based on the ecstasy it brings me on the nose.

But now that I've tried a good half dozen of their wines, it's becoming undeniable that there is also a common thread running through all of their wines, and that is - the juice that is a little flat and hollow on the palate. I wish it weren't so.

So while you get this absolute festival on the nose, you take a drink and it just kind of goes blahhhh down the throat with no real tannins to speak of, no liveliness, and no finish. There's no oomph. And believe me, I can appreciate a restrained wine. But that's not how I would describe this. I would describe it as lacking.

So there it is. I've said it. I've come clean. I love smelling Reynvaan wines, but I don't really care for drinking them. And that's a big deal. In fact, I have a confession to make. After coming to this realization tonight, I took what was left of this wine and I also grabbed another bottle that was already open of some big, juicy, jammy Washinton Red (Valdemar Estate Cab Sauv) and I blended them in my glass. It wasn't my proudest moment, but I undeniably wound up with a more drinkable wine than I had in my glass before I did it.

For the love of god, have I lost my mind? Or is there anyone else out there that feels the way I do?

(Scored as follows: 96pt nose, 86pt flavor, 82pt structure, 82pt finish. Averages out to 86pts)

  • Comment posted by Jack Cranley:

    2/10/2022 4:12:00 PM - Your question about whether perhaps the wine is just too young is totally valid, however the one that I had just prior to this one (maybe about 6 months ago) was a 2015 In the Rocks, and it suffered from the same malady.
    Perhaps one could argue that even a 2015 is too young, but there's such a lack of tight tannins in these wines that I just don't know if they are really built to go the distance. I will find out though because I still have about six of those 2015's and I'll be checking in on them every few years.
White

2018 The Eyrie Vineyards Pinot Gris Dundee Hills

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7/16/2020 - DrX wrote: 92 points

As always, a nice solid wine that will improve for the next 40-50 years.

  • Comment posted by Jack Cranley:

    9/5/2021 5:01:00 PM - I was at that tasting! There was a Pinot Gris in the lineup I think it was maybe 1973? Un-b-lievable. Still alive with fruit and snap. Incredible tropical fruit notes but with all kinds of crazy complexities like nuts caramel marzipan creme brulee baked pear etc etc. A truly eye-opening experience for this sometimes overlooked grape.
White - Off-dry

2015 Von Schubert Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Riesling Spätlese

 Mosel Saar Ruwer more
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8/29/2021 - Jack Cranley wrote: 87 points

For me, this is just a little bit of a run of the mill Riesling. It's certainly not bad and I can drink a little bit of it and I can definitely pair it with some food and be happy about it, but I love Riesling and I love to get excited about a good one. This one just didn't have much to offer me. I like a little more petrol, a little more slatey minerality. This one is very soft on the nose, mostly ripe pear fruit and light honey. The mouthfeel is nice and round the finish is a bit short and one dimensional.

  • Comment posted by Jack Cranley:

    8/29/2021 7:45:00 PM - The acid is sufficient to carry it through further aging. In fact I would guess that the only way this wine could become exciting to me would be with 15 or 20 years in the bottle letting it evolve into a nice deep rich honeyed note.
    Personally, I chase the petrol in Riesling, So I do not consider it a flaw whatsoever. I definitely get it from certain German producers. Maybe a little more common in Alsace. My experience with Aussie Rieslings is a little more limited but I have noticed it there as well! I think it can be just such a delightful, interesting nuance. So I've come to almost expect it.
Red

2018 Big Table Farm Pinot Noir Willamette Valley

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3/21/2020 - Scamber Likes this wine: NR

Fantastic and delicious now. Rarely have I regretted opening BTF PN early, no exception here. Lively red fruit, orange peel, tea, cola, baking spice. Medium plus body with a really long finish, longer than other recent vintages of this wine. Wonderful stuff.

  • Comment posted by Jack Cranley:

    9/13/2020 5:46:00 PM - Agreed, their wines are almost never "too young" to drink. At the same time, they age so wonderfully! I just enjoyed a 2013 this afternoon that was absolutely revelatory. Best of both worlds!
Red

2018 Big Table Farm Pinot Noir Willamette Valley

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8/18/2020 - Scamber Likes this wine: 93 points

2nd bottle from a case. Still wonderful and delicious now, very similar to previous bottle from March but this one showed some early signs of turning inward. Still lively red fruit, orange peel, tea, cola, baking spice, but more melded this time, not quite as open knit. Medium plus body, long spicy finish.

For BTF fans, so far I’m enjoying the 18s (WV PN) a lot more than the 17s (WV PN and Sunnyside so far; other vineyard designates are laying down). Others’ thoughts on BTF from these two very good vintages?

  • Comment posted by Jack Cranley:

    8/31/2020 3:07:00 PM - I would agree that today, (in 2020) the 18s are more "friendly" than the 17s. However, I think the 17s will win the long race. They are more poised to put on that really intriguing set of earthy/mushroomy/mineral character that makes BTF wines so special. It's just going to take a little time.
Red

2016 Lillian Winery Syrah

 Santa Barbara County more
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8/19/2020 - Burgundy Al wrote: NR

Still too young, but this is clearly a very good wine in development. Black plum, cherry and cassis with sweet spice aromas. Similar flavors come across as slightly riper today, but with the substance and dry extract that makes me confident this will soften and evolve into a real beauty, with 92-93+ point potential, probably 2024-2036+.

  • Comment posted by Jack Cranley:

    8/31/2020 3:02:00 PM - Wow - 20 years recommended on a Cali Syrah! A rare breed indeed!
Red

2012 Ayoub Pinot Noir Estate

 Dundee Hills more
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10/24/2014 - BadOyster wrote: 92 points

A beautiful pinot that needs some bottle age. A little too aggressive up front with the sour red fruits, but some real class on the finish. Going to wait for bottle #2.

  • Comment posted by Jack Cranley:

    5/24/2020 7:15:00 AM - Very interesting to read that this wine gave the impression of sour red fruits in its youth, because today, in 2020, it had nothing of the sort! Clearly a characteristic of youth. I hope you have another one still! This wine is really singing right now!
Rosé

NV Frank Cornelissen Susucaru 2

 Sicilia Nerello Blend, Nerello Mascalese more
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4/14/2020 - walkerjfw wrote: 65 points

So...I tried this when first purchased and really disliked it. In my cellar at temperature since and thought I would see if any better. Short answer...No

I hear the hype on this producer, the artisan bent to the wines, new different etc...Too many other great wines to drink without struggling to figure out why something should be good when its hard to drink. Chalking this purchase up to being a sucker for a good story from Garagiste...this is to be avoided at all costs. Dumped remaining bottles

  • Comment posted by Jack Cranley:

    5/24/2020 7:05:00 AM - "Too many other great wines to drink without struggling to figure out why something should be good when it's hard to drink."

    Haha I love this quote! Comes up a lot in "trendy" wines.
Red

2008 Arterberry Maresh Pinot Noir Juliard

 Dundee Hills more
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2/3/2011 - Jack Cranley wrote: 85 points

Really nice Pommard-driven nose with coffee and petrol notes plus massive lillies. Really enticing! Flavor falls completely flat. Very light, major drop-off mid palate and almost no finish to speak of whatsoever. Major disappointment. 93 pt. nose, 79 pt. flavor. I'll give it an 85 overall.

  • Comment posted by Jack Cranley:

    5/11/2013 9:41:00 AM - I'm willing to give this wine a second chance. I have learned since writing this tasting note, that the '08s are just way too young to be drinking and judging. My score for this wine is now "incomplete" ;)

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