June 20, 2023 - Ripe black fruit, very powerful, very meaty. More mature vs a previous bottle from last year, and less perfectly balanced. But certainly very enjoyable.
August 21, 2022 - Ripe mostly black fruit with meaty, savory spice, this is both powerful and still nicely fresh. I could easily have thought it at least 5 years younger. Lots here. Further upside.
January 10, 2022 - Consistent with the last note except less alcohol on the palate. Actually quite good and lasted a long time, even after the food was gone.
May 30, 2021 - No notes. Not nearly as fascinating as the last bottle. Just recall a tasty, monolithic wine with no hard edges. Same provenance as the last bottle.
May 6, 2021 - I've had about 2 cases of this wine over the past dozen or so years - its always been one of my favorite Oregon pinots. This bottle was defiinitely beyond its prime, but still interesting and very drinkable. The fruits were dried, but it had great depth and a full-bodied, slightly lush, silky mouthfeel. My last bottle - it was a terrific wine. Will not score as it is no longer representative.
February 25, 2021 - Got better in the glass. Initially, wife said alcohol dominant, she was right 14.5%. Mellowed out in the glass later and with King Ora Salmon it was pretty good. Afterwards the last glass had the sweetness yet the alcohol was still present. Drink/Hold.
December 4, 2020 - It had lost some of its freshness and the fruit was muted. At the same time, the texture was silky smooth and the wine still had great balance. I had an impression of earthyness and forest floor - but not really any specific flavors. Smooth edges but still with some grip. This one was past its prime, but still enjoyable.
October 1, 2020 - What a pleasant surprise. I was expecting a good bottle but got a great one. The color was a virtually opaque red-garnet with only a slight fading at the edge. The nose, from the moment it was open until the last sniff, was a panoply of spices, fruit, earth, and sous bois that seemed to boil from the glass. On the palate the wine was mature and balanced with most of the tannin resolved but still plenty of fruit and acidity to hold things together and create a very savory palate impression. Purchased on release and stored in my cellar since.
June 4, 2020 - Savory cherry with a hint of cola. Dark. Brooding. Paired very well with the roasted salmon.
January 5, 2020 - This black cherry O-noir was another nice bottle that just lacked the lift and life of the Littorai that was several years younger. From a famed Oregon Vineyard (and not his "special selection" bottling from the same place and time) this bottle paired well with food and was balanced, smooth and nuanced. It was a toss up between this and the Williams Selyem (we chose those two because they were about the same price at release and same vintage/age so we wanted to see what our $$ would have bought us). The consensus scoring placed this ever so slightly ahead of the later.