So while visiting Oregon last month, a friend generously put on a tasting of eight 2010 Ken Wright single vineyard wines. Also present was Monte, the owner of Patton Valley Vineyard who brought another 2010. The wines were served blind in two flights of four each.
I've done a lot of verticals but never a horizontal as extensive, nor this far out. The differences were very distinct and in some cases startling. The influence of a single winemaker among them wasn't really apparent.
I went into this neither friend or foe of this winery, btw. I know I've had some in the long ago past that I thought too oaky, and some I've liked. None of these came across as heavily oaked, but then, a lot of wine was consumed before dinner and these were served with the meal. Notes are sparse as a result.
Flight #1:
2010 Ken Wright Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard Yamhill-Carlton
Plummy, earthy, fungal. Good spice too; there's a tad of heat on the finish but everything else is so good, without the microscope of a tasting flight you probably wouldn't quibble. My/group second place.
2010 Ken Wright Pinot Noir Canary Hill Eola - Amity Hills
Bright, plummy, tomato and celery with a heavily acidic finish. Drinks like an out-of-sorts Beaujolais. Last place in its flight.
2010 Ken Wright Pinot Noir Carter Vineyard Eola - Amity Hills
Earlier poor notes unfairly damned this wine for being thin or done when in fact it was merely asleep. But it's awake now: Good balance with a very complex finish. Filled out in the glass, and my/group fave in its flight.
2010 Ken Wright Pinot Noir Savoya Yamhill-Carlton
Very similar to the '10 Guadalupe but a little hotter with a harshness in the finish that keeps it low in the voting. Third place.
Flight #2:
2010 Ken Wright Pinot Noir Nysa Vineyard Willamette Valley
Classic OR PN: plummy with something vaguely Asian and exotic. Has evolved very well but it doesn't come across as complex as the Guadalupe. My #2/group #1.
2010 Ken Wright Pinot Noir Freedom Hill Vineyard Willamette Valley
Lots of strawberry, tomato and thyme, and particularly bright acidity (was tasting in a flight of KW pinots). More like Santa Barbara than OR as I know it--let alone Freedom Hill and Pommard Clone. Everybody's last place.
2010 Ken Wright Pinot Noir Guadalupe Vineyard Willamette Valley
Classic OR PN with dark, plummy fruit and incense notes. Beautifully evolved, very complete. My #1/group #2.
2010 Ken Wright Pinot Noir Abbott Claim Vineyard Willamette Valley
Full of raspberry and tart cherry. Nice mineral and green tea notes for balance. Third place for all.
2010 Patton Valley Vineyard Pinot Noir Lorna-Marie Willamette Valley
Lovely wine. Was the 9th wine after eight 2010 Ken Wrights and showed the best of all. Certainly the most youthful, with lots of evolving yet to do where many of the Ken Wrights were closer to the end. Excellent.
