July 14, 2020 - Medium garnet red color. PNP, split bottle over 3.5 hours. I'd been saving this bottle for a special occasion, and our anniversary fit the bill nicely. I can't really believe it had been five years since we last had a bottle, but time sure does fly. Well I had very high expections for this bottle based on previous experience with it and how the '07 St. Innocents have aged. This started rather slowly out of the gate and I was wondering if I'd missed the window for a few minutes. Silly me, as this just started blossoming after about 20 minutes in glass. And it just kept building and adding to the complexity through the next three hours as we reveled in our good fortune. Caveat Emptor: If you just drink this down, you will likely not get the same experience. This was one of those wines that hit on all cylinders for me. What a beguiling and seductive nose filled with pretty red fruits, more strawberry and raspberry, but still some cherry notes too, wonderful earthiness, more to underbrush and dried earth, dried flowers, baking spice, and fine ground tobacco. The palate is sublime and seamless, elegance in a glass, medium bodied, featherweight really, perfectly balanced with the same red berries showing, nice purity to the fruit and still the cherry notes showing here too; dried earth, truffle, sous bois, and later showing more damp earth and tobacco. Very long, feminine and seductive. All you could ever ask for in a pinot for my tastes. Adored it. This is the kind of wine you don't want any food to interfere with it - just savor every contemplative sip by itself. Clearly this has plenty of gas in the tank as this didn't really open for a half hour and then improved for a couple hours. I won't open my last one for a couple years anyway. 95+ to 96pts and my wife said is 97 too high - probably not.
April 5, 2020 - Left in our cellar maybe a bit too long and selected it to pair with surf & turf as a 'whoops, better drink up' choice, but it was just as we remembered, didn't seem to be negatively impacted by its 8 years in cellar.
November 18, 2018 - Corked - bummer!
September 26, 2018 - Stellar right out of the gate on Pnp. Notes after 30 minute slow ox in glass. Same Burg funk like last bottle (notes on 11/29/15) along with complex aromas of damp earth, black tea, fresh mint and slate minerals. Fantastic! Palate: Beautiful and ethereal with red fruits, perfect, velvety tannins, inky density yet elegant (very cool dichotomy to be sure), and a long, super refined finish. This last bottle of mine garners 94 points (best of all tastes and bottles I've had). Talk about leaving on a high note!
July 20, 2018 - Either past its drink date (fruit subdued, fades with aeration) or wait a few years and hope for a nice aged blend.
May 26, 2018 - Willamette Valley Weekend Visit; 5/26/2018-5/27/2018: Tasting at the winery. Earth, spice and red fruit in wonderful balance. Very good right now.
May 16, 2018 - A bit of orange on the rim but still a vibrant red. Great nose and taste of a mellow blend dark cherries, cedar and spice box, nice medium mouthfeel, and a great finish. Paired well with simpler food. Vibrant and poised at first, it faded more quickly than I would have liked, with the fruit and cedar receding by the end of the meal. Based on the first glass, I'd say drink within 3 years, but based on the last glass, I'd say drink up now.
March 21, 2018 - A good match for a classic beef bourguignon and a close contender next to a Chassagne Montrachet rouge 1er cru.
February 17, 2017 - P n P. Paired w seared Ahi. Alive n well. Nicely balanced Oregon Pinot. Min sludge at bottom of btl. Soft red fruit, some herbs n earth here too. No flaws, just a nice food friendly wine. It will be fun to see how the White rose in the Shea vineyards show.
December 23, 2016 - Cherry cough syrup nose with tar elements. Little of the cherry fruit on the palate with a lingering celery note. Nothing like I remember this wine to be. Perhaps I've kept this too long or this bottle is slightly off.