Tag: Oregon
Matello Whistling Ridge Pinot Noir 2008
Serendipity is an amazing thing. Happenstance, chance, whatever you want to call it. Sometimes you just luck out. This happened to us recently, as we stumbled across a great little wine shop, and an absolutely top-notch winery. In some sense, we have the weather to thank.
As you may have heard, it tends to rain a fair amount here in Portland. Particularly in the winter, the weather can be pretty fickle, switching from overcast, to patches of sunshine, to drizzly rain in the space of a few moments. And that covers the pattern of most days. Then occasionally, pretty infrequently, it starts to really come down in buckets.
On a recent Friday afternoon we had opted to walk home from the city center, and were about halfway when the sky really opened up and let us have it. The rain was coming down in droves, and even with our umbrellas (yes, we carry umbrellas) we were getting pretty soaked. Just as we were starting to envision the need to swim home, we realized that we’d made it as far as a wine shop that we had been intending to stop at for some time. So, welcoming a break from the slogging rain, and with no time as good as the present, we stopped in at Garrison’s.
This is one of those ideal wine shops that has a good selection without being too big, and who have clearly made careful, well thought-out decisions about which wines to carry. The selection was pretty well-balanced between U.S., French, and Italian wines, with the majority of the U.S. wines given over to Oregon selections. Not surprisingly, Oregon had the greatest presence among these wines, with several wineries represented that we had not yet come across.
What was most exciting was the selection of half-bottles of Oregon Pinot Noir. Half-bottles are a real rarity in general, and particularly so for Oregon Pinot. But Garrison’s had several available, including some of multiple vintages. The owner, a friendly and very tall guy by the name of Travis, was very helpful as we selected a few half bottles to take home with us. All in all, we’re looking forward to going back for more good recommendations.
This bottle was one of the ones we picked up that evening. Matello is a small winery located in Newberg, Oregon, with an annual production of 2000 cases. They make a number of pinot noirs, alongside a couple of whites, a rose, and a few wines made from other red grapes. At Garrison’s, Travis had spoken very highly of the wines and the winemaker, and this bottle very much confirmed the impressions he had given.
The Whistling Ridge Pinot Noir is produced from grapes sourced from the eponymous vineyard, located in the Ribbon Ridge AVA. This is a sub-AVA of the larger Willamette Valley AVA, and includes 20 vineyards covering 350 acres of grapes. It’s a relatively recently identified AVA, having become official in 2005. But grapes have been planted here for three decades. The vineyard that Matello sources its grapes from is made up of very shallow soil, forcing the vines to work that much harder to dig their way into the ground for nutrients. The result are grapes with great intensity that produce tightly wound wines that will take time to open up in the glass (and in the bottle).
Tasting Notes
The wine is medium-hued, pouring a dark-toned ruby red. The nose is fresh and lively, with notes of cranberry, black cherry, cocoa, and menthol. The palate is soft and supple, with flavors of currants, plums, figs, ash, underscored by a subtle creaminess, lively acidity, and medium-strong tannins. The lengthy finish has methol and dark fruits.
All in all, a very exciting wine. It felt as though it needed some more time in the bottle for the tannins to mellow out. But, this didn’t detract from how enjoyable it was. We’ve got a couple other bottles of Matello Pinots on hand – their Willamette Valley and Souris bottlings – and this wine very much whet our palate for them. So stay tuned, more to come on this winery!
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Montinore Estate Willamette Valley Pinot Gris 2006
Pinot Gris is one of the small selection of white wine grapes that intrigues me, that when I see a bottle I take notice of, and that I look for in shops I’ve never been in before. Alongside chenin blanc, sauvignon blanc, and gruner veltliner, pinot gris is one of those white wine grapes that I think of as producing a very clean, nicely acidic, not too sweet wine with a nicely mineral edge. Now, I’m fully aware that this is not always the case and that there are any number of examples of all of these that are nothing like I describe. But in my mind, that is what I picture and what I’m looking forward to.
So when a recent issue of The Wine News featured pinot gris as its cover story I couldn’t resist. I bought the issue, and instantly started looking for bottles of pinot gris to start trying (if only I could find the Eyrie Vineyards Pinot Gris somewhere in Boston!). In reality, I think I’ve only tried one since then, and while I enjoyed it, the truth is that white wine weather is quickly slipping behind us here in the Northeast as the cold weather moves in. It’s a bit hard to get excited about white wine when it’s 50 or below outdoors.
But tonight we opened this bottle of Montinore Estate Willamette Valley Pinot Gris 2006 with dinner. Outside it was cold, drizzly, and looked like Fall and the first thing that I noticed about the wine itself was the smell of apples. Perhaps it was in my head on account of the Fall weather outside, but I’m sure that I wasn’t making that up.
The wine itself is the color of polished gold, with a bit of luster to it. The nose that initially smelled of apples has dimmed somewhat and is more herbal and grassy now, a note of hay, with hints of citrus and sweets. The palate is nice, soft with a mild acidity around the edge, coupled with tart apples and lemon. The finish is quiet, the taste of the wine ends in your mouth by softening and developing a rounded, smooth sweetness. The subtle taste of lemons is what really stands out as the finish fades away.
I like this wine. It is a bit heavier in the mouth than is my preference, but it has some nice flavors going on. I do wish I was drinking this while it was about 20 degrees warmer outside and I was sitting on the back porch, but what can you do? In some ways it speaks of Fall, and since it is cool and drizzly outside I guess it’s a bit like Oregon here tonight.
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Benton-Lane 2006 Pinot Noir
On a whim tonight, we picked up a bottle of Benton-Lane Oregon pinot noir. I have always had this fascination with pinot noir, and Oregon pinot noir in particular, even though I very rarely buy a bottle because it is bit beyond my comfort level in terms of price. But I felt mildly celebratory tonight, and so splurged.
Benton-Lane Winery is based in Monroe, Oregon, in the Willamette Valley. This was the 2006 vintage of their pinot noir. The color was a mid-deep red, becoming much lighter at the edges. Very promising – sometimes I’m scared by wines that are too opaquely red. The wine took a while to open up, at first it was mildly astringent but after 20 minutes or so it had calmed down and had grown softer. The wine had nice flavors of almost-ripe raspberry, tart yet sweet. It was soft, very easy to drink, kind of plush on the palate but not too thin. At the same time, the flavors didn’t feel fully developed. And the finish was ok, but not compelling.
A nice wine which we thoroughly enjoyed in a non-contemplative kind of way. It didn’t ignite a desire to run out and buy any more Oregon pinot noirs anytime soon (which is a good thing!).
Buy again: No
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