Cristom pinots have a specific use case for me that came to me last summer in terms of food pairing. They are an ideal match (apologies for rather broad generalization ) for Mediterranean and Middle eastern meat based entrees. Their exotic spice DNA just plays so well off grilled lamb and other fair and was on point last night with ras-el-hanout spiced ground lamb and fresh herb and carrot salad. Oh the wine, yes, while young of coarse, there is some serious structure going on and I mean that in the best possible way. Dark cloves and cinnamon bounce of the wines core of dark currant fruit with impressive balance and precision. I easily see this going 20+ years as the track record is absolutely there.
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Decanted and drank over 10 hours. Best drinking window was between hour 1 and hour 3. This juice is very acidic; not sure if it’s too young to be drinking right now or if the 2021 vintage is just heavy with under-ripe fruit. Very tight and did not seem to want to open up, even with the extended time in the decanter. I have been a big fan of Jessie over the years and have always rated older/aged vintages between 91 - 97 pts. I won’t be buying the 2021 vintage again, but rather will search out older vintages between 2012 - 2019 instead. Rating the 2021 on 2/11/24 as 87 pts. Might improve over time, but wouldn’t open until after 2026/2027.
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Day one- the wine was so tasty I didn’t save as much as intended. Day 4- The tiny amount that opened in the closed bottle over the last 4 days has blossomed amazingly. Spicy, floral, intense, peppery with sweet dark cherries. An amazing bottle of Oregon Pinot. Cheers!
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Tasted at Cristom Winery tasting room. The Jessie Vineyard is claimed to be the steepest vineyard in the Willamette Valley. This wine was fermented 52% whole cluster for 18 months in 44% new French oak barrels. Nicely balanced wine with good structure for aging. More tannic than the Eileen and Louise cru's. Nose and palate show violets red berries and minerals but the fruit is a little hidden by the more overt minerals and tannins. Needs some cellaring to allow the fruit to show through and add a little more complexity.
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(Cristom Vineyards, Jessie Vineyard Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir / Pinot Nero, Willamette Valley, Eola-Amity Hills, Oregon, USA, Red) Login and subscribe to see review text.
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5/12/2024 - Dale M wrote: 94 Points
Cristom pinots have a specific use case for me that came to me last summer in terms of food pairing. They are an ideal match (apologies for rather broad generalization ) for Mediterranean and Middle eastern meat based entrees. Their exotic spice DNA just plays so well off grilled lamb and other fair and was on point last night with ras-el-hanout spiced ground lamb and fresh herb and carrot salad. Oh the wine, yes, while young of coarse, there is some serious structure going on and I mean that in the best possible way. Dark cloves and cinnamon bounce of the wines core of dark currant fruit with impressive balance and precision. I easily see this going 20+ years as the track record is absolutely there.
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2/11/2024 - pinothoarder wrote:
Decanted and drank over 10 hours. Best drinking window was between hour 1 and hour 3. This juice is very acidic; not sure if it’s too young to be drinking right now or if the 2021 vintage is just heavy with under-ripe fruit. Very tight and did not seem to want to open up, even with the extended time in the decanter. I have been a big fan of Jessie over the years and have always rated older/aged vintages between 91 - 97 pts. I won’t be buying the 2021 vintage again, but rather will search out older vintages between 2012 - 2019 instead.
Rating the 2021 on 2/11/24 as 87 pts. Might improve over time, but wouldn’t open until after 2026/2027.
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12/7/2023 - Eatmypixels Likes this wine: 91 Points
Really young. Good. Has potential. Need years.
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12/2/2023 - PDX-S wrote:
Day one-
the wine was so tasty I didn’t save as much as intended.
Day 4-
The tiny amount that opened in the closed bottle over the last 4 days has blossomed amazingly. Spicy, floral, intense, peppery with sweet dark cherries.
An amazing bottle of Oregon Pinot. Cheers!
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9/5/2023 - oldwines Likes this wine: 93 Points
Tasted at Cristom Winery tasting room. The Jessie Vineyard is claimed to be the steepest vineyard in the Willamette Valley. This wine was fermented 52% whole cluster for 18 months in 44% new French oak barrels. Nicely balanced wine with good structure for aging. More tannic than the Eileen and Louise cru's. Nose and palate show violets red berries and minerals but the fruit is a little hidden by the more overt minerals and tannins. Needs some cellaring to allow the fruit to show through and add a little more complexity.
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