My law school wine club (the big one, with over 100 members) had its last tasting of the year tonight- theme: The Wines of the Pacific Northwest. Wines were non-blind, but I'd never heard of any of them but the Pinots so it didn't matter than much.
2006 DeLille Cellars Chaleur Estate Blanc (WA)- Bordeaux blend: ~2/3rds Sauv. Blanc and the rest Semillon. Tied for WOTN from the group, my WOTN. Incredibly smokey nose, with some honey and salt...this reminded me of the smell of scotch smoked salmon. It was rich and intense, with waves of honey and lemon, smoke and a touch of grass, glyceriny mouth feel but loads of acid, and a loooooong finish. Very, very, very good, especially for an American white.
2007 Penner-Ash Viognier (OR)- A little flabby. Classic viognier nose of flowers & pineapple/apricots. This promised alot up front, but didn't deliver- it was hollow and had a slightly bitter finish and, I thought, a touch of heat. Fine, much better than most American viognier's I've had, but not in the same ballpark as the first wine. My #7 wine.
2007 Montinore Pinot Gris Reserve (OR)- A single vineyard wine. Quince fruit, a good dose of white pepper, some acidity. It's a little overripe, though- this has some heat showing through and its lacking in mineral core. OK. My # 6 wine.
2004 Hamacher Chardonnay 'Cuvee Forets Diverses" (WA)- In spite of myself, I kind of liked this. It was flabby and had already lost its fruit and was basically a neutral vehicle to deliver oak. But I strangely liked the oak treatment- instead of vanilla and caramel, this was filled with cinnamon and clove. Not great wine, but I reluctantly enjoyed. My #8 wine.
2007 Ken Wright Pinot Noir Meredtih Mitchell Vineyard (OR)- Awful. Thin, lean, acidic, with dill and pickle juice notes. The person who opened this wine swore that it was great for the first 10 minutes, but by the time we got to it an hour later it was a limp acidic shell akin to bad-producer, off-vintage burgundy. Tasted a second bottle with consistent notes. Other people didn't get the pickle juice I got in this but I think they're just not sensitive to it- I know from pickles and this had pickles. Uniformly disliked by the group. Only 12.5% alcohol. My #10 wine (of 10!).
2007 Patricia Green Cellars Pinot Noir Etzel Block (OR)- Tied for group WOTN, my #5. Tart cherry, some spicy oak, tea, and a musky, leathery nose. Very pale color. Ok, but not OMG to me. Worlds better than the Ken Wright- this was decent off-vintage pinot. It lost some fruit as it sat in the glass, drink up.
2006 Pepper Bridge Merlot (WA)- No tannin, little acid. Some amorphous red fruit, chocolate, sort of a grapey thing going on. Simple, straightforward. My #9 wine.
2005 Spring Valley Vineyard 'Uriah' [60% Merlot, 31% Cab Franc, 9% Cab Sauv and Pet. Verd) (WA) - Sort of a violets-blueberry-blackberry nose, and you think you're getting a fruit bomb, but when you taste it its got acidity and a good dose of powdery tannin. Very integrated--this has attack, mid palate, and a decently intense aftertaste. For what it was, I liked lots. My #3.
2005 Waters Cabernet Sauvignon Estate (WA)- Like Bordeaux with a little bit of heat. Cassis, herbs, menthol, dirt, tannin, and relatively low-key oak.. After 2-3 hrs or so, it got a little bit of New World-style cherry fruit, but at its core remained resolutely Bordelais. You could tell this was 14.8% alc, but it carried it fairly well. Reminded me a lot of a La Lagune I had last year. Would be worth aging. My #2.
2005 Long Shadows 'Sequel' Syrah (WA)- This was definitely WA Syrah- 15+% alc, black fruits, vanilla. Rich, a little too intense, with menthol and noticeable heat. But I got a distinct salt & bacon note out of this, even before I saw that it was a Syrah, and I liked the Rhoneish varietal typicity. A little short, and lacking in tannin (but actually, it had some tangy acidity). My #4.
The guy who led our tasting is an experienced taster who leads tastings for Acker's Wine Workshop. After the tasting was over we were discussing the Pinots and got into a fairly robust discussion about whether "cherry" fruit is a correct varietal aroma for Pinot. I swear I get firm, red bing cherry type aromas in a lot of burgs and dark, overripe Bing in a lot of New World burgs- he said that if you were tasting Cherry in a pinot, it was overripe and/or overextracted. Thoughts?