March 22, 2024 - Our penultimate bottle, served double blind to our dinner companions. Light color suggests it is older. Quite floral and elegant with aromas of rose petal, cherry, lavender and crushed mint. Slightly warmer fruit on the palate, with more of a cherry and raspberry compote quality along with a soft but noticeable vein of acidity. Picks up an orange peel quality as it sits, along with a subtle earthy note. There's a subtle sulfur note that blows off after a few minutes. This had been gently double decanted off its sediment about an hour earlier, and it held up nicely over another 3-4 hours. Many guesses for Burgundy. WOTN for a couple of folks. I'll plan to open our final bottle sometime next year.
January 2, 2024 - This was a magnum, my last and I probably opened it years too early.
Opened and not decanted we let it air for 3 hours before pouring about half of the bottle in the glasses and started drinking it. At first very sour, and with tulip stems up to the hilt. Then after another 5 hours the bottle half empty it really started to shine. Now the beautiful red fruit comes through and there is more of dark cherries and a little cola nut sweetness and tang that is integrated.
Wish we had treated this differently, but all in all it was a brilliant wine in the end so don't get to nervous around your Thomas Pinots is the lesson, hold out and let the funk air out.
November 14, 2023 - Pretty nose with cherries and spices that is still surprisingly primary. Good acidity on the palate with more red cherries, raspberries, underwood, and juicy fruit. Nice finish. It's only showing a hint of age at this point. A great wine that should continue to age beautifully. I'd wait another 5-10 years. 93+
July 29, 2023 - IPNC Weekend 2023; 7/26/2023-7/31/2023: Small glass. Salmon bake. Thomas mini vertical. This was nice, but losing some of the fruit, still some red berries, dry earth, potpourri, spices. Was expecting more from the '05.
June 26, 2023 - Popped and poured, exploded cork (should have used the Durand - doh!). Initially green and tertiary, quickly transitions towards pronounced aromas of sappy, sous bois-laden cherry/cherry cola red fruits and exotic spices. Medium body, balanced acidity. On the palate, where to even begin...just a kaleidoscope of red fruits and black fruits, complemented by impressions of stark minerals (almost saline), big league chew bubblegum and a menagerie of exotic vegetal notes. Surprisingly chunky tannins carry through the lingering close. Just an absolutely fascinating Pinot, simultaneously scrumptious and complex yet surprisingly youthful as well...that said, clearly seems to be reaching an apogee in terms of overall deliciousness so probably best to consider drinking over the near term.
Quick commentary: A winery-reconditioned bottle of the 1996 Eyrie South Block Reserve is the only OR Pinot Noir I've had that's truly better than this one
July 15, 2022 - Continues to age beautifully! Delicate floral and red berry aromas and flavors with pine needles and mineral notes on the palate with delicious savory notes and acidity on the long finish.
January 14, 2022 - Enjoyed This bottle off the list at Earth and Sea restaurant in Carlton Oregon.
Our experience with this bottle was nothing short of transcendental. An absolute pinnacle achievement of Oregon terroir. This wine closes in on the concept of perfection in the way that it truly expresses the time and place from which it came with flawless balance and subtle assertion.
There were murmurs across the table of, "best Oregon Pinot Noir I've ever had" and even, "perhaps the best single wine I've ever had." Whether the latter is accurate or not really becomes irrelevant at this level of experience. Because once you've arrived at this echelon of wine, there's only slight variance on how much or why you enjoy it. Sometimes the set and setting comes into play. To be sure, we were having a delightful dinner and celebrating my birthday, so spirits were high. But I'm not easily blown away anymore, and I don't have a general penchant for hyperbole. No matter what, this bottle of wine ranked among the finest and most memorable experiences of my life, and that is just the facts. I'm a better and more refined person for having experienced it!
Unfortunately I was so engrossed in the moment, that I neglected to take detailed tasting notes. Well, perhaps that's for the better anyways. What I do remember is layer upon layer of unfolding complexities unfurling from the glass like a lotus flower on a time-lapse. Everything a Pinot lover hopes for in an aged bottle can be found here. Red fruit, blue fruit, baking spice, herbal notes, floral overtones, earthy components, a kiss of barnyard, a substrate of mushroom, a matting of pine needles and forest twigs, all wrapped up in a silky smooth and deftly balanced structure. Finally, leading to the kind of finish that seems to crescendo even after the wine is gone from the palate and lingers in a way that seems to echo like music of the spheres, gently into infinity.
What a wine. I hope you, dear reader, can experience this one like I did. Therein you will find the muse you seek!
October 29, 2021 - I double decanted this off its sediment and then removed the cork and allowed this to breathe once we arrived at the restaurant. By the time we poured our first glasses I'd guess it had been about 3.5 hours since the cork was first pulled. It definitely needed the time to open up and breathe, gently. Aromas of cherry, tea leaf, rose hip and sous bois. Flavors of cherry, earth, licorice, mineral, spice and black cherry. Lingering finish. Still has great acidity- this is perfect at the supper table. 94+ pts.
July 10, 2021 - Initially there is a hit of bright red fruit on the nose with its freshness tempered by earthy tones underneath. More high-toned than your typical Burgundy but undeniably pinot anyway. Eventually, the nose is dominated by an sweet and sappy core of ripe raspberries. The palate still has a little bit of dissolved carbon dioxide; a vigorous shake gets rid of that promptly. Similar to the nose, there are flavours of sweet red fruits followed by earthy tones afterwards. The intensity and length is less than what you might expect from the ripe fruit. Acid-dominated finish.
May 23, 2021 - Single Blind Burgundy vs Oregon (Ciao Bella): Savory cherry, forest floor, rich earth, a bit of an acidic tweak on the palate that was quite unique.