Adelsheim 2006 Pinot Blanc (Willamette Valley) – Fennel and minerals, with a fine spiciness. Light but firm. Tasty. (2/08)
oregon
Adel’ed wit
Adelsheim 2006 Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley) – Cherry, strawberry, beet, and blood orange rind. Floral and pretty. Nice, if perhaps a bit too easygoing. (2/08)
Pink is the new black
Elk Cove 2006 Pinot Noir Rosé (Willamette Valley) – Pretty. Strawberry, raspberry, with good length and texture. A little flowery. (2/08)
Lizzie’s closet
Adelsheim 2006 Pinot Noir “Elizabeth’s Reserve” (Willamette Valley) – Dense and earthy, showing full-bodied plum, juicy berries, and spiced beet. Big and fulfilling. It lacks complexity, but that will likely come; this has both the stuffing and the structure to age. (2/08)
Five stages of gris
Elk Cove 2006 Pinot Gris (Willamette Valley) – Sweet pear water ice (or, if you’re not from Philadelphia, Italian ice). This just tastes sweet with aught else to show for it; a common flaw with pinot gris. (2/08)
Cinq or swim
Elk Cove 2006 Pinot Noir Five Mountain (Willamette Valley) – Solid, with density traversing the palate. Very gravelly, some beet, but while there’s gravity there’s no freshness. (2/08)
Albion, Little River…
Elk Cove 2006 Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley) – Slightly dirty and hot. Baked plum and black cherry. And then, feel the burn. (2/08)
Let them blow
Patricia Green 2006 Pinot Noir Four Winds (Yamhill County) – Very appealing from the first sip, with oscillating golden beet and dried cherry given a mid-level acidic sizzle. With air, it collapses just a bit, losing its way on a finish that seems to dry out a bit, but before that happens it’s a lot of fun to drink, even if it doesn’t make many demands or promise much more than it gives. Drink it quickly, I guess. (2/08)
David
Brooks 2005 Riesling (Willamette Valley) – Acidic with a bite of tannin, showing clean and intense apple skin and lemongrass with a bite of squeezed grapefruit. Simple and direct throughout. I’d like more complexity, but maybe that will come. (1/08)
DDOld
Domaine Drouhin Oregon 1997 Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley) – Muscular and still primary…a deep dark Nuits still in the prime of its adolescence. While it’s a pleasant, if shoulder-dominated, drink right now, there seems little point in opening one anytime soon. (1/08)