Tag: Oregon
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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