Happy Hour Wine Tasting Featuring Pinot Noir Oregon VS California

 

"It's a hard grape to grow. As you know. Right? It's, uh, it's thin-skinned, temperamental, ripens early. It's, you know, it's not a survivor like cabernet, which can just grow anywhere and thrive even when it's neglected. No, pinot needs constant care and attention. You know? And, in fact, it can only grow in these really specific, little tucked-away corners of the world. And only the most patient and nurturing of growers can do it, really. Only somebody who really takes the time to understand pinot's potential can then coax it into its fullest expression."

 

Miles - Sideways

 

I remember my trip to Oregon in the summer of 1994 for the IPNC (International Pinot Noir Celebration) this is one of the best wine parties that I have ever attended. The festival is limited to 500 attendees as it is hosted by McMinnville College and that is all they can accommodate in their lecture facilities. I remember not only were the quality of the wines at the highest level but the people in attendance were some of the most passionate Pinot Noir lovers that I had ever come across. And although winemaking began in the 19th century in this state it is only recently that its potential has been recognized by the rest of the world.

 

It was in 1979 when serious wine producers started to look at the potential of this area as Eyrie Vineyards' 1975 South Block Pinot Noir placed in the top 10 of Burgundy-style wines at the Gault-Millau French Wine Olympiades, and was rated the top Pinot Noir. This send the news around the wine world and shortly after Robert Drouhin, head of Burgundy's legendary Maison Joseph Drouhin, was visiting America's west coast promoting the Drouhin Burgundies. The California wine industry was just starting to receive its first recognition back then, but there was little if anything going on in Oregon. Robert's first visit to the Northwest and its earliest vineyards left him with the impression that it quite possibly would be Oregon, not California, that would ultimately prove to be the best place to grow the great grape of Burgundy - Pinot noir.

 

Inspired by his trip to Oregon and the results of 1979 tasting that was held in Paris, where, for the first time, the best new Oregon Pinot noirs were tasted in competition with the finest Burgundies. Robert decided to hold his own blind tasting in 1980 at the Drouhin cellars in France, with several of the best Oregon Pinot noirs going up against the finest Drouhin Grand Crus. It was a Drouhin Grand Cru that took first place this time, but an Oregon wine (the now legendary 1975 Eyrie Vineyards South Block) placed 2nd by a very narrow margin with the French experts. News of this tasting brought the first widespread international attention to Oregon Pinot noir.

 

After a few years’ time Robert's daughter Véronique just graduated with an advanced degree in enology from the University of Dijon, and wanted to expand her experience by working in Oregon. Véronique interned with Adelsheim Vineyards, Bethel Heights, and Eyrie for the 1986 vintage. Later on, Robert mentioned to David Adelsheim that it might be interesting to buy a piece of land in Oregon, to see what it might produce. What started as a passing thought began its transformation into reality when Adelsheim phoned the Drouhins in Beaune not long thereafter to tell them of a property that was for sale that they might be interested in. The rest is history and with one of Burgundies foremost wine producing families moving to Oregon the writing was on the wall that this wine producing region would soon get its much deserved recognition as one of the world's premier Pinot Noir growing regions.

 

Today, the state of Oregon in the United States has established an international reputation for its production of wine. Oregon has several different growing regions within the state's borders which are well-suited to the cultivation of grapes; additional regions straddle the border between Oregon and the states of Washington and Idaho. Wine making dates back to pioneer times in the 1840s, with commercial production beginning in the 1960s.

 

Currently there are over 1000 wineries in Oregon and a bustling tourism industry has developed around wine tasting. Much of the tourism focuses on the wineries and tasting rooms in and around the Yamhill Valley southwest of Portland.

 

Join us as we taste some of the top-level wines from Oregon next to some top-level wines from California to see just how they stack up today.  The fee for this tasting is $95 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.   

 

 

Happy Hour Wine Tasting Featuring Pinot Noir Oregon VS California

Thursday, June 12, 2025

6:00 PM

 

 

 

2023 Bergstrom Pinot Noir Cumberland Reserve Willamette

Price: $53.00                 Your Price: $46.64

A very pretty bouquet of baking spice, red cherry and raspberry fruit and a loamy earthy note to the bouquet. Bright and refreshing on the tongue with silky smooth tannins and a nice zest and spice to the finish along with light earthy notes. Finish 40+ Excellent +

 

2022 BRITTAN VINEYARDS PINOT NOIR ESTATE MCMINNVILLE

Price: $45.00                 Your Price: $39.60

The Brittan Estate Vineyard lies just 12 miles southwest of McMinnville, tucked into the foothills of the Coast Range. The original 18 acres were planted in 2001, but due to the challenging nature of this site and limited topsoil, only eight acres survived. Since 2004 when Robert and Ellen purchased the vineyard, it has been an ongoing rehabilitation project: replanting, retraining, and learning the unique landscape that has become Brittan Vineyard.

 

 

2022 Kelley Fox Wines Pinot Noir Mirabai Willamette Valley

Price: $45.00                 Your Price: $39.60                      Quantity in Stock: 43

the nose is beautifully perfumed. While there is (in its youth) a sense of fragility and nerviness, there is power that is more tensile in nature than in obvious structure or bulk. The Mirabai is an utterly transparent, light red with youthful, fuschia highlights at the edges. It is far deeper in flavor than the colour might suggest. It has the classic Maresh sun-warmed Hood strawberry and spice, with the classic Red Hills of Dundee silkiness, but this wine is fleet-footed, aerial, mercurial, and evokes flight, wind, and swift movement. Over time, this will likely be one of my most complex and age-worthy Mirabai’s to date.

After all of these years writing these kinds of notes and hoping to not have them sound like grocery store lists or to imprison my wines with my words, I have begun to sometimes include quotes from my friends who have tasted the wine in question.

 

 

2023 Ken Wright Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard Willamette Valley

Price: $78.00                 Your Price: $68.64

Savory, floral and spice focused—Inviting Honeycrisp apple, raspberry and tart cherry dance with delicious baking spices of cinnamon, cardamom and anise. Beautifully balanced palate with a warm milk-chocolate finish.

 

 

2021 Soter Pinot Noir Mineral Springs Ranch WIllamette Valley Oregon

Price: $89.00                 Your Price: $78.32      Quantity in Stock: 34

 This wine is sourced entirely from the Mineral Springs Ranch, located east of the town of Carlton. This is the home base of operations for Soter Vineyards; it is the site of our prize vineyard, winery, tasting lodge, and eventually the Soter home. In short, it is the entire domaine. Planted to 30 acres of Pinot Noir, this beautiful ridge top just east of the town of Carlton has commanding views of the valley, with mature stands of oak trees and Douglas firs lining the road. The 2005 vintage marked the inaugural bottling from the Mineral Springs Vineyard.  This 2021 vintage had all the ingredients to make incredible wines hot and dry weather and modest yields. Oregon broke records when in June, a normally wet and fickle month, brought in a heat dome to the state blanketing the Willamette Valley in extreme temperatures.  And all before there were even grapes on the fine!  The trend continued throughout the summer and finally cooled off in October allowing the grapes vital hang-time to develop complex, mature tannins.  This 2021 Mineral Springs Ranch pinot noir offers up plenty of dark cherry berry fruit along with blueberry and marionberry.  Pretty aromas of violets and sweet herbs compliment the fruit and a firm hand of acidity gives this wine backbone and a long layered finish.  Finish 50+ MOST EXCELLENT

2022 Bethel Heights Pinot Noir Estate Eola Amity Hills

Price: $40.50                 Your Price: $35.64                      Quantity in Stock: 8

This wine blends fruit from all the different sections of our estate vineyard. It truly encompasses the entire breadth of expression at Bethel Heights from the youthful exuberance of our youngest vines planted in 2002.  A good amount of black raspberry and dark cherry fruit pretty floral notes and some exotic spices here on the nose a bit of a sauvage like character.  A big and fruity wine with a firm hand of acidity silky smooth tannins and a nice balance of spice, earth and fruit.  Finish 45+  Excellent +

 

 

2021 Domaine Serene Pinot Noir Yamhill Cuvee

Price: $49.50                 Your Price: $43.56

The 2021 Domaine Serene Yamhill Cuvée is a delightful wine that showcases a beautiful array of flavors and aromas. On the nose, there are notes of sweet kirsch cherries, fresh fir tips, potpourri, and sandalwood that create a complex bouquet. As you take a sip, the wine is fruit-forward and plush with a juicy and lush mouthfeel that is both soothing and inviting. There is a delicate balance to this wine, which is not too lean, yet still maintains a sense of delicacy. The palate notes are alluring and pleasurable, with the fruitiness on the nose coming through on the palate, and a finish of rose petal and floral.

 

2021 Composition Pinot Noir Willamette Valley

Price: $99.00                 Your Price: $87.12

The fermentation starts naturally with native yeast, and light pump overs are performed to facilitate a gentle extraction; later in the fermentation, a few punch downs are performed each day that will allow for extracting some fine tannins. The wine team blends the free run and pressed wine, and patiently waits a few weeks to rack those wines into their barrels at 20% new oak from Tonnellerie Plantagnêt Nuance toast for ten months of aging. The 2021 Composition Pinot Noir was bottled the second week of September 2022.

 

 

 

2021 Arista Pinot Noir Russian River Valley

Price: $79.50                 Your Price: $69.96

(95 Points) Some blue fruit with iron and lavender character. Very perfumed. Medium-bodied with fine tannins and a bright finish. Linear and tight. Hibiscus at the end. A blend of declassified barrels from the single-vineyard wines. Drink or hold James Suckling

 

 

2022 Davies Vineyards Pinot Noir Ferrington Vineyard

Price: $88.50                 Your Price: $77.88

The Ferrington Vineyards property, located approximately 100 miles north of San Francisco and 17 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean, is in a fertile pocket of land found at the edge of the foothills in Mendocino County’s Anderson Valley AVA. Between 360 and 440 feet above sea level, the three acres of vines utilize over six feet of Boontling and Pinole loam soil, sustainable farming practices, and deficit irrigation to produce three tons per acre. Aromas of dense black cherry blended with crushed herbs, graham cracker, and vanilla gently arise from the glass. The layered palate coats with cranberry; intermingles with Santa Rosa plum, mocha, and sage

2020 Foxen Pinot Noir Santa Maria Valley

Price: $40.50                 Your Price: $35.64

"A light to medium ruby core with an orange rim, the focus is earth and spice on this [...] Pinot Noir from Foxen. Notes of baking spice, leather, wet earth, cedary herbs are front and center, while black cherry, red currant, and blue plum notes finish things out. Plenty of tannins and acidity are present." - Jeremy Taylor, International Wine Report

 

 

2020 Etude Fiddlestix Vineyard Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills

Price: $49.50                 Your Price: $43.56                      Quantity in Stock: 36

In the heart of Sta. Rita Hills, Fiddlestix Vineyard was deliberately planted for Pinot Noir and the alluring varietal remains not only the vineyard’s, but the appellation’s Forté. Comprised of the finest blocks of the vintage, Etude Forté is a limited bottling that best exemplifies the characteristics of Fiddlestix Vineyard: dense concentration of fruit flavors, natural balance, and vibrant acidity.

 

 

2022 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

Price: $95.00                 Your Price: $83.60

Dark cherry, raspberry, and elderberry intertwine with intriguing hints of fresh basil, and pomegranate. Decadent fruit flavors unfold, showcasing remarkable acidity with dynamic structure and an enduring finish.

 

 

2022 The Hilt Estate Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills

Price: $52.50                 Your Price: $46.20

(93 Points) The 2022 Pinot Noir Estate is glorious. A rush of inky dark fruit, spice, lavender, licorice and mocha are all front and center. Plush and explosive, with tremendous textural density, the 2022 has so much to offer. This is an especially large-scale, voluptuous wine from The Hilt. -- Antonio Galloni, Vinous, August 2024

 

 

 

2018 Gambal Work Pinot Noir Francesca Santa Rita Hills

Price: $64.50                 Your Price: $56.76      Quantity in Stock: 54

2018 Francesca’s nose is clean as fresh ripe raspberries jump from the glass. It is of medium weight in the mouth and reminds Alex of a 1er Cru from Beaune, such as a Clos des Mouches or a Vignes Franches. Its distinct mineral mouth feel, not heavy nor light, has the texture one finds in wines grown in the limestone of Burgundy. It will be at its best in 2-4 years.

 

 

2018 Gambal Work Pinot Noir Bentrock Vineyard Santa Rita Hills

Price: $64.50                 Your Price: $56.76                      Quantity in Stock: 32

2018 Bentrock has the rich nose of the Cote de Nuits with the black briary fruit one finds in the wines of Morey-St. Denis and the 1er Crus on the north side of Gevrey-Chambertin such as Combe au Moine and Les Cazetiers. Its mouth feel, really the texture of the wine, is complex and sophisticated giving the wine a long finish. It will be at its best in 4-6 years.

 

 

2017 Lobo Wulff Vineyards Pinot Noir Oak Knoll District Napa Valley

Price: $60.00                 Your Price: $52.80      Quantity in Stock: 48

WINE WATCH REVIEW:  This winery owns 17 acres on Oak knoll and 4 acres on Atlas Peak.  This Pinot Noir has a pretty nose of ripe cherry pie like fruit with pretty floral notes and a touch of exotic spices.  Bright red berry fruit on the tongue with a silky smooth velvet like texture, a nice touch of spice on the finish, nice ripeness but also has a good amount of freshness a well-balanced wine with nice length on the finish.  Finish 45+.  Excellent +  TASTING DATE 2/21/22

 

Menu

Strawberry, Peach and Prosciutto Flat Bread with Brie Cheese, Mint and Basil

King Salmon in Crispy Wonton with Hoisin BBQ

Foie Gras Mousse on Whole Wheat Cracker with Cherry Jelly

Pork Belly Bites with Orange Honey Marmalade Dipping Sauce

Eggplant Caponata with Asiago Toast Points

 

The fee for this tasting is $95 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.