| Oregon Pinot Envy Tasting Recap |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
Okay, I admit, I might be a bit biased here because
Pinot Noir is my favorite grape varietal, but I think
this was one of the best line up of wines that we ever
put together. Obviously, you can tell from the title of
our theme that these were Oregon Pinot Noir wines, a
state that boasts a latitude parallel to Burgundy,
France, the birthplace of great Pinot Noir wines. After
centuries of domination by the Burgundians, it was
Oregon that was the first place to ever challenge
France for the best Pinot Noir on the planet and quite
frankly, they are making the French sweat quite a bit!
Our host for this tasting was Chris and he did a
splendid job! Thank you so much Chris for lending
us your home! We had a variety of food for our event
that included Chris's homemade saffron risotto, some
spicy crab pea shooters, Asian noodles, smoked
salmon with dill sauce, spanokopita and a cheese
blossom. This time though, the wines stoled the show!
We had nine wines total from four different wineries.
Two from Raptor Ridge, one from Argyle, three from
Roco (A private label from the winemaker for Argyle,
Rollin Soles and his wife Corby) and a vertical of
three vintages starting with 2002 from Van Duzer.
Some wineries will tell you that they make Pinot Noir
in the style of Burgundy, but they rarely resemble
anything from those of the French. However Van
Duzer's Pinots did seem to have a lot in common with
Burgundy wines. They were different from the rest in
both color and aroma, boasting a rose/purple color as
opposed to the ruby red the others possessed. They
were also very floral with rose and violets on the nose.
We started with the Raptor Ridge wines first and they
were an excellent primer for our tasting. They had
just a little less body to them as opposed to Rollin's
wines.
All except one wine were very, very good, but to be
completely honest, Rollin's wines stoled the show!
Starting with the Argyle Nuthouse 2002, which was
probably most people's favorite Pinot of the evening
and then going into the Roco wines starting with their
2004 Pinot Noir and then tasting the 2003 & 2004
Private Stash wines. People were split as to which
style they liked better on the Roco wines. Some liked
the regular Pinot better and others preferred the
Private Stash wines. One thing is clear, the Argyle &
Roco wines were mysteriously the first wines to
disappear on this evening! It's a darn good thing I
have some left in my cellar, because I sure didn't get
much of them!
Argyle makes a variety of wines including a whole
series of sparkling wines and as a surprise for those
that showed up on time and a little early, I brought
out a bottle of their 2001 Vintage Brut Sparkling wine.
I think everyone would agree that it was quite
impressive and I will be adding some of these to my
personal stash. By the way, Beverage City on Park
and the Tollway, carries some of these, go in and ask
for Shawn if you're interested!
We finished the evening with some other Pinot Noir
wines not from Oregon and quite frankly, not worth
mentioning either and then the gentlemen retreated to
the patio for some cigars. I really enjoyed seeing
everyone and we had a great time. If you missed this
one, you blew it, the wines were incredible!
Pinot Noir is my favorite grape varietal, but I think
this was one of the best line up of wines that we ever
put together. Obviously, you can tell from the title of
our theme that these were Oregon Pinot Noir wines, a
state that boasts a latitude parallel to Burgundy,
France, the birthplace of great Pinot Noir wines. After
centuries of domination by the Burgundians, it was
Oregon that was the first place to ever challenge
France for the best Pinot Noir on the planet and quite
frankly, they are making the French sweat quite a bit!
Our host for this tasting was Chris and he did a
splendid job! Thank you so much Chris for lending
us your home! We had a variety of food for our event
that included Chris's homemade saffron risotto, some
spicy crab pea shooters, Asian noodles, smoked
salmon with dill sauce, spanokopita and a cheese
blossom. This time though, the wines stoled the show!
We had nine wines total from four different wineries.
Two from Raptor Ridge, one from Argyle, three from
Roco (A private label from the winemaker for Argyle,
Rollin Soles and his wife Corby) and a vertical of
three vintages starting with 2002 from Van Duzer.
Some wineries will tell you that they make Pinot Noir
in the style of Burgundy, but they rarely resemble
anything from those of the French. However Van
Duzer's Pinots did seem to have a lot in common with
Burgundy wines. They were different from the rest in
both color and aroma, boasting a rose/purple color as
opposed to the ruby red the others possessed. They
were also very floral with rose and violets on the nose.
We started with the Raptor Ridge wines first and they
were an excellent primer for our tasting. They had
just a little less body to them as opposed to Rollin's
wines.
All except one wine were very, very good, but to be
completely honest, Rollin's wines stoled the show!
Starting with the Argyle Nuthouse 2002, which was
probably most people's favorite Pinot of the evening
and then going into the Roco wines starting with their
2004 Pinot Noir and then tasting the 2003 & 2004
Private Stash wines. People were split as to which
style they liked better on the Roco wines. Some liked
the regular Pinot better and others preferred the
Private Stash wines. One thing is clear, the Argyle &
Roco wines were mysteriously the first wines to
disappear on this evening! It's a darn good thing I
have some left in my cellar, because I sure didn't get
much of them!
Argyle makes a variety of wines including a whole
series of sparkling wines and as a surprise for those
that showed up on time and a little early, I brought
out a bottle of their 2001 Vintage Brut Sparkling wine.
I think everyone would agree that it was quite
impressive and I will be adding some of these to my
personal stash. By the way, Beverage City on Park
and the Tollway, carries some of these, go in and ask
for Shawn if you're interested!
We finished the evening with some other Pinot Noir
wines not from Oregon and quite frankly, not worth
mentioning either and then the gentlemen retreated to
the patio for some cigars. I really enjoyed seeing
everyone and we had a great time. If you missed this
one, you blew it, the wines were incredible!
| While Chris our host was busy tending to the risotto, Sheree pitches in by putting on his belt for him! Ladies and Gentlemen, that's teamwork! |