I feel like we've been on a lucky streak lately when it comes to good Oregon Pinots for a good deal (meaning the quality is high for the cost). The Phelps Creek and Grochau Cellars are both outstanding. So here I am at Fred Meyers and I see a sign for this Pinot -- saying it's great Pinot for $13.99! And they posted another note quoting Katherine Cole
Westland that this is a "screaming deal". So apparently we're on a roll ... maybe.

The nose was really great: white pepper, some subtle clove, red cherry, and some earth y mushroom. But the body was really thin. The taste was a red cherry and strawberry mix. And there was a slight vanilla. But, again, it's just super thin. There's a slight sourness on the finish. And, well, I'll say it again: it's thin.

This really reminded me of a German Pinot Noir. Assuming I would have tasted this blind, I would bet I would think it was from Germany, not from Oregon. And in fact, looking at Katherine's columns, see also liked the J Christopher and Loosen "Two Worlds" Pinot -- one that I also didn't care for. So clearly this a question of style. Again, I liked the nose. And maybe if it was a hot summer day and this was slightly chilled, it would probably be tasty. But, it's just not my choice of style. Denise didn't care for it at all.

Cost:  

Rating:    5.5

Our son (who's four) loves Sal's restaurant. His favorite dish there -- strangely for such a young one -- is their butternut squash raviolis. And if that isn't enough, it's done in a drawn-butter sauce with crumbled gorgonzola and toasted sage. He turns down pizza for this. Seriously.

Anyway, we go there every so often and they have this Montepulciano there that I really like -- the Avignonesi, "Vino Nobile di" (2005). So here I am at Zupan's and here's this wine in their news letter. Same vintner, but half the cost. I have to to try ...

The nose is bark, red cherry, pepper, artichoke, squash, and dusty. At first the taste is  pomegranet. It's very light; lighter than expected. Light red cherry flabors, and some -- seriously -- watermelon. However, it's totally dry (not sweet at all). The finish remains dry, along with pepper, subtle anise, something earthy and cola. Definitely cola!

This is not a bad wine; but then, it's not great. It has some of the earthy characteristics of it's big brother. Yet it's a little too thin. It's probably a good wine to chill slightly and serve on a hot day.

Cost:   

Rating:    6.0

(40% Prugnolo Gentile, 30% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon)

This is essentially a part 2; we drank and reviewed this right after another Pinot from Carabella (in case you're interested).

First off, I have to say that I was really excited to open this bottle. I discovered Grochau Cellars ("gc") recently, and their 2007 "Toute de Suite" is just really great for the price (~$16). Then we found the gc "Commuter Cuvee". This is simply unbelievable: tasty Oregon Pinot for $12.50. Crazy (and probably gone, gone gone ...).  So here's their high-end Pinot. Expectations were high.

The nose was super dusty -- like sitting in a pile of hay in a barn. That was immediate and strong (but I like that sort of earthy goodness). I also got some white pepper (subtle), and fairly strong vegetable: turnip and artichoke. Denise found violet, and some light oak in there too.

So, the bad news: our guest reviews had a total industrial and medical experience. Comments and descriptions included: rubbing alcohol, Desitin and that (lovely) Doctor's office smell. I have to say that I was alone in that I didn't smell these. But everyone else did. Denise also discovered a metallic smell akin to a sardine can. Someone mentioned Pineapple.

The taste was very much berry: raspberry and strawberry. Kim said it also tasted (subtly of course) like ham! That pepper came back in the taste for me. Peppered ham, perhaps?

The finish was almost non-existent; it was really short. This was made stark by the first wine -- the 05 Carabella -- which had a very long finish. What this had going for it was the mouthfeel; it was pure velvet. And despite the Doctor's office.

I was pretty disappointed; I was hoping this bottle would knock me on my knees. And it was hard to follow that really incredible Carabella 05. But, despite all these seemingly bad characteristics, everyone agreed that this was a very nice and enjoyable bottle of wine. Seriously. It just had a hard act to follow.

Cost:   

Rating:    8.0

Our friends Ken and Kim were in town and they were really excited to participate in our blog. Who doesn't like good food and wine? The problem is that we're still living in a hotel because of water damage to our condo. So we had to get takeout from McCormick and Schmicks. We got a number of salads -- butter lettuce, Caesar, and beets and goat cheese -- as well as some crab cakes and a Salomon saute dish with rice, wild mushrooms and a sherry cream sauce. Our friends brought some artisan goat cheese (that was really amazing) and smoked salmon for appetizers.

Our friends really like wine, but aren't connoisseurs. They left the wine selection to us. So I decided on some nice Pinot to accompany all that Salmon. We've really been enamored with Grochau Cellars recently. See the other reviews; they make some great and low priced Pinot. So I was excited when I got my hands on their high end version of their Pinot (we'll review that GC bottle next). And we're big fans of Carabella, and I've been saving a bottle of their 05 Pinot for awhile (we recently reviewed the 06 too).

I've not been generally happy with the 05 Oregon Pinot vintage. It's not that it's all bad, but yet, more often than I want, the wine tastes more citrusy, more acidic than I like. Lots of orange and nectarine. So I was a bit worried about the Carabella and decided to start with that. Despite my fear (and typical loathing) of the 05's, this was a really great bottle of wine. Ken took one sip and exclaimed: "wow, yummy!".

The nose was some oak and vanilla. Clove. Leather. Pepper. Some of that magic spice smell that I love so much. Kim got some hints of curry too. After much discussion, we all agreed that while subtle -- curry indeed. Interesting. The taste was totally black cherry for Ken. He really loved that in fact. He said it was like drinking super smooth black cherry juice. I tasted the cherry, but also boysenberry (just a hint of a sour berry taste under the cherry). The finish was long, with pepper and leather. And then at the very very end: butterscotch!

Ken said this was the best wine he's ever had -- "super smooth".

Cost:   

Rating:   9.0

This is arguably Domaine Serene's top Pinot -- it's named for co-owner Grace Evenstad. And this was our second bottle of the night, immediately preceding a very nice bottle of Duck Pond.

Now on the one hand, I have to disclose that this is a highly regarded wine. Wine Spectator says of this bottle: "truly elegant stuff ... finishing expressively and in fine balance". They gave it an esteemed 93 points. On the other hand -- and while I am a HUGE fan of Pinot, especially Oregon Pinot -- I am not liking the 05 vintage, generally.

So what was it like? First, the nose was: white pepper! That was my first impression. It also had that Oregon Pinot spicy magic; it's hard to describe this, but now I'm an addict if I can find it. Though, depressingly, I usually find it in the more expensive bottles. I also found the usual suspects: red cherry and vanilla; but also clove and basil. The body was really satisfying: full bodied and a great mouthfeel.

Everyone at dinner -- except for me -- had an initially adverse reaction. To them it was bitter. "Ear wax" was one description. Another was that it tasted like radicchio. Honestly, I didn't taste this, but I was in the minority. My experience was a smooth, quiet, and -- well, "serene" -- wine.

The taste was black cherry, maybe blackberry and a little violet. And later on as the wine opened up, I got a lot of vegetable -- asparagus and green bean. And while I can't pinpoint it, there was something mineral in there too; not exactly Burgundian, but definitely mineral. Later still, the wine finished with nutmeg, some clove -- and always with red cherry and white pepper. At one point my Dad said emphatically: "watermelon".

The Duck Pond was clearly the favorite for everyone -- everyone but me (this isn't to say I disliked the Duck Pond, I just happened to prefer this Grace). The criticism was that the Duck Pond had more favors, whereas this started off a bit, well, bitter. I missed the bitterness, and instead I was taken away with the pure velvety goodness. Yes, it was subtle; but I think that's why I liked it so much. Oh, and it's worth nothing that this bottle is twice or perhaps three times the price of the Duck Pond (you've been warned).

Perhaps most telling -- and admittedly entirely anecdotal -- but often with a really good bottle of wine, I can "taste" -- perhaps "feel" is more accurate -- the wine the next day (sometimes days later). This was one of those -- rare -- wines. It's slightly haunting, but in the best possible way. Denise agreed: I definitely remembered that wine.

Cost:   

Rating:   9.0

We recently reviewed the 05 version of this wine, and it stood up remarkably well to another more expensive wine that we drank along side it then. We had no intention of doing this again, but, well, read on for the details ...

We're still dislocated from our home due to water damage to our condo, so the parents invited us over for dinner. It's worth noting that the parents love wine, and especially love a great bottle of Pinot. So why not bring over something nice? We decided on this Duck Pond.

The first thing I smelled was something akin to a Dixie cup from elementary school. Vanilla ice cream and orange sherbet and that little wooden spoon -- not literally of course, but that's what the smell reminded me of. Denise got something citrusy -- maybe kiwi or maybe grapefruit. Or was that cola?

The taste was marionberry and boysenberry, along with hazelnut. At first the finish had hints of peach, though later on as the wine opened up (after about an hour), that peach disappeared. The finish was long, and was mainly boysenberry -- though there was a bit of nutmeg and perhaps black cherry too. And the finish was dry; it almost had that apple dryness I usually get with something French.

This was a very smooth, fruity, and medium body Pinot. In fact, the wine got smoother as the night progressed. And when I say "fruity" I don't mean to imply that the style is that stereotypical Oregon jammy "fruit bomb". No it's more like cross between Oregon and Alsatian Pinot -- lighter and fruitier.

The parents really liked this one. Marcia said it was "easy to drink", and that it was "like chocolate, I just want to keep sipping it". And finally, she pronounced: "this is the kind of wine I like".

And remarkably, this wine ($45) was the favorite of the group over the bottle that the parents pulled out to follow: Domaine Serene's "Grace" (~$120). That review will follow.

Cost:    

Rating:    9.0

We've been dislocated! Our poor condo has been flooded by the upstairs neighbor's faulty hot water heater. Our dinning room area looks as if Harry Tuttle had arrived from the movie Brazil without his 27B-6 form.



There are industrial fans everywhere, hoses running into our walls and very noisy dehumidifiers running 24/7. Suffice it to say, we've been staying in a hotel, and with a 4 year old. So, we've been a bit slow with the blogging lately.

But last night was different. The kid stayed with the grandparents and we got to go out for Valentine's day. We went to Wildwood, who lucky for us, had a last minute cancellation that we jumped on.

On to the wine ... I decided on Bergstrom tonight as we've never blogged this wonderful wine.

To tangent for a second: while we really love the food at Wildwood, on too many occasions we've been served wine there at that's literally warm! And tonight (unfortunately) was not an exception. The Bergstrom was definitely above room temperature, so I had the waiter put it in the fridge for 15 minutes. Seriously. Despite the mistreatment, I think the wine was okay. Anyway ...

The nose was vanilla (but not overly so), arugula, white-pepper, and house plant potting soil. The taste was strawberry and red cherry and vanilla. The vanilla and oak really made it smooth.

The finish was super long, and complicated. There was arugula again and the potting soil. In the middle was red cherry. At first, this cherry was mixed with blood orange -- citrusy. Later as the wine opened up, that citrus/orange turned into a lovely peach -- subtle. We also started getting various spices, including anise.

This is certainly quintessential smooth, jammy, full-bodied Oregon style Pinot -- and it was done well. Complicated and yummy.

Cost:   

Rating:    9.0

My brother was in town and we always like to have a great dinner and drink great wine. He generally likes French: both Burgundy and Bordeaux. He also likes Oregon Pinot, though prefers an earthiness to his wines.

So I picked out two Oregon Pinots and thought we'd have fun comparing them. In this corner, we have an old favorite (see our past review here):



Daedalus Cellars, Labyrinth, 2005

And the contender in the other corner:



Duck Pond, Jory Cuvee, Pinot Noir, 2005

They're both 2005, and both the "high-end" versions of their respective Pinots. Duck Pond is from St. Jory Vineyard, located in the Willamette Valley’s South Salem Hills; whereas Daedalus is sourced from Maresh (Dundee), Carabella (Chehalem) and Seven Springs (Eola). And in fairness, the prices are a bit off -- Daedalus is $50 and this Duck Pond is $30. So not exactly the same, but pretty close.

First, the Daedalus. My brother's first comment was that he "wouldn't have thought this was Oregon Pinot", as it was much less fruity and jammy than he expected. The nose was allspice and earthy. The taste was rainier cherry, earth, and it was just super smooth. My brother went so far as to say it was "velvety".



Logistically, while most Duck Pond wines are simply corked or sport the new screw tops, this particular bottle was sealed in a plastic coating over the top of the traditional cork. At first glance, I figured it was a rubbery wax. Not so; instead it was hard plastic and was a bit tough to remove. However, having opened a bad bottle of Domaine Drouhin 'Laurene', 2000 (a magnum no less) which was sealed with wax, this treatment is likely to ensure that it ages without fear.

The Duck Pond nose was floral, violet and vanilla. More subtly, there was a fern earthiness and some cinnamon. This wine was also very smooth -- and there was enough vanilla to give it a slightly creamy mouthfeel. The taste was predominantly raspberry when we first opened it; later the taste was closer to pie cherries. There was the taste of vanilla as you swallow -- giving it a little of that vanilla sweetness, but not overly so. Later on, the taste evolved a bit; as I said, it was much less raspberry, and more like cherries -- and dusty. Not earthy per se, and maybe this was what made us think of ferns (think dusty ferns in the woods), but definitely dusty (in a good way). Denise also tasted maple, and I got hints of pepper.

The Daedalus was darker in color, and had more body for sure. On the other hand, the Duck Pond was more delicate and had a much longer finish than the Daedalus. The Daedalus came on strong and incredibly smooth, but this just dropped off quickly; whereas the Duck Pond started slower and keep on giving for a lot longer. The Duck Pond was much more fruity and more quintessential Oregon Pinot -- and yes fruity and jammy. As I mentioned, my brother was surprised that the Daedalus was from Oregon; it had much more subtle fruit and was much more earthy.

In all honesty, we all preferred drinking the Daedalus over the Duck Pond, but that's not to say that we didn't like the Duck Pond or that it was bad in any way. To the contrary, we all agreed that despite this preference, we all would rate these two wines the same in terms of a number. The Duck Pond just embodies a different style. If you like the typical Oregon style, I'll bet you'll like this Duck Pond too. And besides, it was $20 cheaper!

Cost:   

Rating:    8.5

I picked up this wine at Fred Meyers. This was another instance of a sign that was too intriguing not to buy. It said that Wine Enthusiast gave this an 88 along with this description: "think of a really good village Burgundy, but at a much better price". We couldn't agree more.

To start, it's worth pointing out that this is a Columbia Gorge Pinot -- not Willamette Valley and not Umpqua Valley. So, this isn't the normal prime Oregon real estate for such a grape. However, I did have a Cameron awhile back that was sourced from the Gorge and was quite good.

The nose was powdery, really floral and fruity. There was a sweet vanilla smell, maybe clove. Baby powder. And arugula in the spicy sense. The taste was fruit: strawberry and raspberry. There was also vanilla; it was slightly sweet but really nice. Rose and violets. The finish was raspberry.

This was was like a low brow Beaux Freres. Denise likened the wine to the best strawberries in June. She went on describing it "like a 14 year old Russian ballerina -- tiny and light and dances all over you mouth". And while this wine had a prominent vanilla smell and taste -- which Denise usually doesn't like -- yet she really loved this wine. We've talked to the wine steward at Fred's and while they're out, more of this wine is due on Wednesday. We'll be there to pick up more for sure!

Cost:

Rating:    8.0

Our friends Madeleine and Andrew won a auction item at a benefit which was a wine tasting flight, hosted by wine explorer Sharona Tsubota. Sharona picked a number of "Pinot Noirs of the World" for us to sample and talk about (see all the reviews). It was really fun, and afforded us a convenient opportunity to blog more wine.

My running joke (funny to me) is that, while I hear that New Zealand Pinots can be world-class, I have yet to taste one that I like (or even think is that good). Unfortunately, I'm still searching. Anyway ... cast and crew include:



Dana: Dana is a stay-at-home mom to her four-year old boss. She doesn't know a single thing about wine. Dana's hobbies include golf, hiking and skiing. Dana also has good parking karma.

Mike: Like his wife, Mike doesn't know anything about wine either. Mike listens to live music as a hobby and peddles consumer electronics for his job. He is also still recovering from the 80's. Mike tries to walk the elusive zen tightrope of finding value in the world and enjoying his family while needing to work for a living.

Madeleine: Madeleine is a part-time Mental Health Therapist and yoga instructor. She speaks fluent French and Spanish. When not working, Madeleine enjoys knitting, "date nights" with her husband and playing with her four-year old daughter.

Andrew: Andrew works for a large corporation and frequently travels around the world on business. Ironically, unlike his wife, Andrew does not speak other languages. But to his credit, Andrew graduated with a PhD from Stanford University. When at home, Andrew enjoys time with his wife and playing with his four-year old daughter.



Dinner: This dinner was hosted at Madeleine and Andrew's home. We were one of the lucky couples invited to participate in a very fun tasting of Pinots from around the world, ran by wine educator, Sharona Tsubota (wine_ed@sharona.biz). The wine tasting occurred first, so by the time dinner was served at 9:00pm, Andrew was handing plates of food to several drunken, scatological idiots. Lots of laughter and indecency were had by all.



One of our friends learned a great fish trick from his Chinese mother: to get rid of a strong fishy taste, cook your fish with some ginger and sherry. Fishiness, gone! Andrew used ginger and sherry on his fish and it was divine.

• Appetizer of olives, nuts and cheese
• Roquette (wild arugula) and tangerine salad
• Andrew's ginger and cilantro trout with jasmine rice
• Madeleine's chocolate torte

Wine:

• La Crema, Sonoma Coast, Pinot Noir, 2006
• Maysara, Jamsheed, Pinot Noir, 2005
• Devil's Corner, Tasmania, Pinot Noir, 2007
• Francois Gay et Fils, Chorey-les-Beaune, 2006
• The Red Square, Pinot Noir, 2005

So this was the last wine we had during our "Pinots of the World" flight night. First New Zealand, then France, Australia, Oregon, and now California Pinot Noir.

The nose was vanilla, white pepper, cinnamon, dust, hyacinth or maybe violet. The body was medium (the Oregon and this California had much more body than the rest, but then, that's their reputation). This had a real meatiness to it; that was the consensus. The taste was white pepper again, red cherry, strawberry, and it was spicy (not really discernible). The finish was back to the red cherry and it was long -- longer than any of the others.

Overall, the consensus was that this La Cream and the Maysara from Oregon were the clear favorites (though I still think about that Chorey-les-Beaune).

Cost:    

Rating:    8.5