Pinot Noir Tasting at Café Maxx

"The pinot noir grape has been cultivated perhaps since antiquity in Burgundy. And it is precisely this ancient and inherited winemaking knowledge that has contributed to its success."

Pompous wine writer Leslie Brough (lecturing while promoting his book "The Grape and I" at Firestone Winery):

Pinot Noir has taken the country by storm and since the “Sideways” phenomenon almost everyone in the U.S. that drinks wine has searched out a glass of Pinot Noir to taste what all the excitement is about. This evening we will feature selections from three of the best areas for this varietal in this country: Sonoma, Santa Rita Hills and Oregon. This evening we have one of the most exciting new Pinot Noir producers of California Pali wine company along with one of the pioneers of Oregon, Erath Vineyards.

Chef Oliver Saucy will be sending out a few small courses to accompany the tasting wines. The fee for this event is $35 + tax. For reservations call 954-782-0606.

Pinot Noir Tasting at Cafe Maxx
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
6:30 PM

Tasting line-up:

2009 Pali Pinot Noir Riviera Sonoma Coast
Price: $21                             Sale $18.48          Case $215

This is the entry level wine from Pali and is a blend of several different vineyard sites in the Sonoma Coast fruit.  Dark cherry fruit very ripe almost liqueur like in concentration and depth of flavors oriental spices, pretty floral notes. Rich ripe cherry fruit, brown spice, and pretty floral notes with good freshness for such a ripe and lush wine. Finish 40+ Very Good +

2010 Pali Pinot Noir Alphabets Willamette Valley
Price: $22.25       Sale $19.58          Case $227

The 2010 vintage in Oregon was cooler than in 2008 or 2009, resulting in wines that are more typically Oregonian, with deeper, earthier flavors, as opposed to candied, ripe fruit.  A smoky minty nuance to the red cherry and strawberry fruit, a nice amount of spice on the nose here very pretty. A good amount of that spice for the nose showing up on the palate with smooth velvety tannins and lovely freshness bright raspberry and strawberry fruit through the finish. Finish 40+ Excellent

2009 Pali Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills Fiddlestix Vineyard
Price: $51                             Sale $44.88          Case $521

A very pretty bouquet with a pot pouree of flowers delicious red cherry pie like fruit and exotic spices. Sweet red berry fruit on the tongue with silky smooth texture and very elegant showing lots of that floral perfumed nuance from the nose through the finish. Finish 40+ Excellent +  Only 110 cases produced.

2008 Pali Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard Willamette Valley
Price: $51                             Sale $44.88          Case $521

Shea Vineyard in Willamette Valley, Oregon is owned by Dick and Deirdre Shea and was first planted with wine grapes in 1989.  Today Shea Vineyard has 135 acres planted with Pinot Noir and another 5 acres planted with Chardonnay.  The vineyard sits on sedimentary soil over fractured sandstone.  Shea Vineyard is one of only 32 farms out of 500 in the Yamhill River basin that has been recognized by the Conservation Security Program as "meeting the highest standards of conservation and environmental management."

A good amount of spice on the nose with black raspberry fruit, minty notes very exotic spice, very complex. A big Pinot Noir with lots of spice and minty notes to the finish very fresh and bright finish smooth velvety tannins but with very good freshness and that minty note. Finish 45+ Excellent +

Erath Oregon Pinot Noir 2010
Price: $17                             Sale $14.96          Case $174

“Bright red cherry, violets, vanilla and pie crust aromas, punctuated by an alluring smokiness, are a vivacious introduction to this Oregon vintage. A sweet approach leads to a satiny mouthful of red plum, cranberry and sage. Food friendly acidity allows for a spirited, lasting finish.”

2009 Erath Pinot Noir Estate Willamette Valley
Price: $35                             Sale $30.80          Case $357

Winery Notes:  Erath's Estate Selection is a blend of the finest vineyard sites from across the Willamette Valley.  If Oregon’s beauty could be captured in a bottle, it might be found in Erath’s 2009 Estate Selection Pinot Noir. Comforting wafts of balsam, vanilla and bay leaf swirl together with characteristic fresh cherry and soft floral notes. A bright palate of red plums and currants affords a sweet, juicy entry that builds and flows with a subtle smokiness, seamlessly surrendering to a lingering finish.

2010 Erath Pinot Noir Leland Willamette Valley
Price: $39.50       Sale $34.76          Case $403

Winery Notes: A classic nose showcasing red currant and cherry flavors is vanilla spiced and scented with a tantalizing whisper of cinnamon-laced chocolate. The cherry notes carry through the palate, blending with cranberry and soothing mid-palate graham. A silky mouth feel yields to a characteristic – and pleasing – lift of Leland acidity.

2010 Erath Pinot Noir Prince Hill
Price: $42.00       Sale $36.96          Case $429

Layered and complex, this Pinot invites you to linger and explore. The first swirl reveals warm fragrances of sandalwood, rising bread dough and graham that later also reveal hints of mint and aromatic carnation. A sweet entry of framboise yields to a silky mouthful of cherry, root-beer and baking spice. The lingering finish leaves a soothing vanilla-infused impression.

A bit about Erath Winery:

You would have to look hard to find a more self-effacing wine "giant" than Dick Erath, Erath's founder, owner and winemaker until 2006 when Chateau ST. Michelle Wine Estates bought the brand ensuring the future and legacy of the Erath name in the Oregon wine industry. 

One of the founders of Oregon's wine industry, Dick is quick to play down his role in the industry.   "The Northwest was my home as a teenager," says Dick, "and I saw how well many different types of fruit grew in this climate.  It seemed to me that vinifera grapes should thrive in this environment since it so closely resembles Northern France."  A man with an imposing frame and searing eyes, Dick Erath had his first career as an electrical engineer with Tektronix Corporation.  He began his winemaking career by making Bordeaux-style wines in the basement of his California home.  In the fall of 1967 Dick came to Oregon to purchase some pinot noir grapes.  The quality of the wine produced from these grapes so impressed Dick that he and his family purchased land almost immediately in the Dundee Hills in the northern part of Oregon's Willamette Valley.  The family moved to Oregon early in 1968 and began planting their vineyard that spring.

Dick Erath and his former partner, Cal Knudsen, started Knudsen Erath Winery in 1975.  The relationship with Knudsen began in 1972 when Erath developed a vineyard for Cal Knudsen in the picturesque Red Hills near the town of Dundee.  Erath and Knudsen each wanted to have their own separate wineries and share the cost and the use of expensive winemaking equipment.   Legal restrictions prevented them from carrying out their plans, and instead the two men joined in partnership in 1975 and formed the Knudsen Erath Winery.   At the time, there were only a few other wineries in the state.   The first crush at Knudsen Erath produced a total of 216 cases of wine split between three varieties: Pinot Noir, Gewürztraminer, and White Riesling.  While living with his family in an unheated logger's cabin, Erath built the original winery building and the family home.  Once the first cedar log structure was completed, wines were fermented and cellared in the garage, while the Erath family lived upstairs.  In subsequent years the winery has expanded to include five other buildings devoted to winemaking, case storage, and aging.  

For a time the wines were sold under separate labels; but beginning in 1980, Knudsen Erath adopted a single uniform label for all their wines.  In 1988, Erath acquired sole ownership of the winery.  In Oregon small wineries are the rule, but Erath ranks among America's largest producers of Pinot Noir.  Erath produced 27,000 cases of Pinot Noir in 1993, using fruit from estate vineyards and from Eola Hills and Dundee Hills vineyards in the northern Willamette Valley.  The winery regularly produces three different bottlings of Pinot Noir: Dundee Villages Pinot Noir, a regular Pinot Noir, and a Vintage Select Pinot Noir.   Also, from time to time when the vintage warrants it, several other special Pinot Noirs are produced.  In 1992 the winery produced a single vineyard Reserve Pinot Noir from the Leland Vineyard and also produced a reserve-styled Pinot Noir from the Niederberger Vineyard.  We were quite impressed with the 1992 Vintage Select Pinot, which was rated an impressive "Best Value" (91) in The Wine News.  The 1994 vintage provided the best fruit that Oregon winemakers had seen to date in this infant wine region, and it turned many heads, giving true hope to the plight that this could be the new world’s best piece of real estate for Burgundian style pinot noir.  Erath produced a stunning 1994 “25th Anniversary Bottling” Pinot Noir, which opened in the glass for hours and seemed much better the second day after the bottle had been opened.

From its rather modest beginnings, the winery has become known for its quality and value - now a tradition for more than twenty years.  Robert Parker wrote recently of Erath's Pinot Noirs in The Wine Advocate: "To his credit, Erath will never be accused of overcharging for his wines, as they offer some of the best values in America...How many readers can find a Pinot from Burgundy priced under $20 that can compete with the attractive strawberry and cherry fruitiness of these medium-bodied, supple-textured, lush wines?"  In addition to being one of Oregon's oldest producers of Pinot Noir, the winery also creates Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer, and Riesling. 

Because great wines cannot be made from anything less than the best grapes, Erath grows many of its own grapes in vineyards in the Dundee Hills.  Dick Erath also works closely and has established long-term contracts with the northern Willamette Valley's premier growers.  From nursery propagation to bottling, Dick Erath is fully involved in the winemaking process.  Dick devotes a great deal of his time to the viticultural aspects of the business, since he believes as he says: "Great wines are made in the vineyard."  After more than twenty Oregon vintages, Dick can tell by taste when the time is right to pick.  In 2003 the winery hired Gary Honer to take the reins from founder Dick Erath at the winemaking helm.