Wines of Oregon at 18 Reasons
18 Reasons, SF
Tasted May 12, 2015 by RajivAyyangar with 353 views
Introduction
Pamela Busch @ 18 Reasons, SF
Pamela was knowledgeable and frank as a host/tasting leader. The tenor was mostly for the layman, with a few more experienced (though not super-technical) tasters present. The format was superb - they provided spittoons, bread, and water, and the pace left lots of room for discussion and questions.
A few takeaways:
-There was more experimentation in the 1990’s, but recently vintners have been more orthodox, retreating to less wood, and the organic principles of David Lett (Eyrie).
-Oregon does Pinot Gris, but not quite at the level of Alsace.
-Oregon Pinot is slightly cooler climate compared to California > Sonoma. New world style. Many producers are doing a terroir-driven, low oak style, and overall Pamela thinks the quality is higher than CA and a bit higher than NZ.
-LIVE Certification seems to have some weight. Encourages organic viticulture (not as stringent as organic). 35 of ~500 wineries have LIVE certification.
Notes on regions:
Columbia Gorge AVA, Walla Walla AVA - on the border with Washington, and most of each AVA is actually in Washington.
Willamette Valley AVA - largest wine region. Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay. Also Riesling, Gamay, Pinot Blanc, Gewurz, and some others. Subregions include Chehalem Mtns, Ribbon Ridge, Dundee Hills, Yamhill-Carlton District, Eola-Amity Hills, McMinnville.
Umpqua Valley AVA, Rogue Valley AVA - southern regions. More rhone-like climate.
The Wines:
Overall I didn’t find much to really get excited about, especially for the price, but the Pinot Gris and the Grenache were pretty solid.
Flight 1 (3 notes)
Aromas are somewhat funky, with a hint of lambic character and some TDN/Petrol (I’m a bit hesitant with the TDN - it didn’t remind me of clear plastic pool toy like the Hugel, and it was closer in direction to the waxy/beeswax and ultimately saffron-botrytis end of the spectrum. But ultimately it was far from saffron - inorganic and gasoline-like). Definitely some funky stuff going on here. Not Brett, but maybe bacterial flaw or other weird yeast?
In the mouth, dry, light bodied, with small-ish bubbles, nice texture, and ripping malic acid on the finish. The overall impression is too lean, too austere, too tart, too malic. No phenolic bitterness.
I don’t know what to make of this. It could have used more fruit and more tartaric rather than malic acidity. But a lot of things about this are nice. It’s cool to smell Riesling and taste bubbles.
Score: around 8.
Methode Champenoise, dosage includes inoculation with yeast from the vineyard.
$50
Score: Around 8.5
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Full Sensory:
Clear, day-bright. Medium Gold, L+ Concentration in the glass (a bit lighter than I’d expect from an Alsace PG, perhaps?). M+ tears [I think I was biased, expecting a higher alcohol wine].
Nose: Medium intensity, peach, nectarine, very ripe notes - sort of like overripe banana, but maybe more in the direction of peach. Ripe and a bit savory. Hint of lemon spritz on the back end.
Youthful, pretty straightforward - not complex.
Palate: Dry, medium plus body, moderate plus alcohol - 13.5? [actually only 12.5% - I think I have a bias expecting higher alcohol because it’s New World - actually it’s pretty cool up there.] Weighty, textured, with balanced moderate acidity - just enough to give it some brightness, low+ phenolic bitterness. No evidence of oak.
Balanced in a slightly rich way. Low complexity. Finish is moderate plus in length.
$20
Nice aromatics. Very light palate balanced with phenolic bitterness. Simple.
Score: around 8.
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Full Sensory:
Light gold with reflections of green in the glass.
Nose: Elevated intensity, clean. Very bright, high-toned terpenes. Fresh roses just sprayed with water. Secondaries of fresh grapefruit pith (bitter thiols).
In the mouth, Moderate plus alcohol (13%) [only 11.3% - totally off! Next time pay attention to the weight, not just the overall balance which is affected by low acidity.]. Light all around. Moderate phenolic bitterness. Acidity is moderate minus. Overall balance is light and bitterness-driven, not acid-driven. Finish is mostly phenolic bitterness.
$30
Flight 2 (4 notes)
Nose smells off - coin polish and a bacterial/lambic/sour beer smell.
Palate: Balanced, but I can’t see past the lambic notes. Many people in the room liked this, though one older gentleman said he too was put-off by the first whiff.
Score: Around 6. Seems like faulty winemaking to me.
$30
Score: Around 8
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Full Sensory:
Clear, day-bright. medium-bright ruby, light + concentration. No gas/sediment, moderate tears.
Nose: Moderate intensity, clean. Reductive, plummy, red fruit. Raspberry (baked), hint of barnyard and burnt toast (brief memory of baking bread, slightly toasty aromas).
Youthful.
Not complex.
Palate: Medium minus body, medium alcohol 13.5%? [got it - 13%]. Overall, tart. In balance (acid-driven). Some grippy tannins (light plus).
Straightforward.
Moderate minus finish.
$26
Score: Between 8 and 8.5
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Full Sensory
Clear, bright, dark ruby, light concentration, no gas/sediment, moderate tears.
Nose: Moderate plus intensity, clean. Reductive baked raspberry, strong associations of black pepper (I need to figure this out - I know there’s no rotundone here). baked cherry. I like the fruit tones on this. No signs of oak on the nose.
Youthful.
Not complex.
Palate: Medium plus body, medum plus alcohol [13%], baked cherries, reductive black raspberry jam, hint of oak - fine grained aroma, slight baking spice/woody aromas - maybe a small percentage, or used barrels? ~10% French? [25% new oak - unspecified origin].
Acidity is elevated.
Moderate minus tannins, fine-grained.
Not complex.
In balance - fresh and acid-driven.
$37
Score: Around 8.
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Full Sensory:
Medium minus concentration (maybe a bit dark for Grenache), bright ruby. Clear, day-bright, medium tears.
Nose: Off-aromas suggesting bitterness, reduction? Beneath those, indistinct baked fruit, red fruit. Youthful and uncomplicated.
Palate: Full body, elevated alcohol(14%?) [bingo - 14%!].
Bright, ripe cherry. No evidence of oak [10 months in neutral French barrels]. Slightly elevated to moderate acidity (a nice jolt of brightness!). Light plus tannins.
The wine is balanced in a fresh, rich way. Uncomplicated. Finish is a bit short, with some bitterness to the tannins at the end.
$25