I first found out about Cana’s Feast Winery when touring around the WIllamette Valley last fall. I didn’t pay it much attention, as we drove by on our way to a Pinot Pit Stop, primarily because they made other wines that weren’t on my hit list. Bu also because I was overwhelmed with other deliciousness. I finally woke up when my friend and fellow wine blogger started working there. Well! Fortunately for me, Tamara was able to send me samples as part of her marketing job, and I received a bottle of the 2008 Meredith Mitchell Pinot Noir.
I wasn’t very happy with this wine at first, because it was very woody, and suffered from a bitter quinine aftertaste that just didn’t sit right with me for an Oregon Pinot. There was some burnt sugar and earth, and it was overwhelmed with dusty baking spice. Where was the fruit? Where was the PINOT in this Pinot?
Well, far be it for me to throw away wine. It’s just not in my making to dump Pinot! So I left it, for about an hour, corked but not completely closed. When I came back to it, it was beginning to wake up but there really wasn’t any THERE there if you know what I mean. Oh well. Fortunately, the next night, since I already had two open bottles of Pinot, both from Willamette, I was able to re-taste it. What a different a day makes! Now, I tasted bright cherries, pomegranate, cranberry. There was my red fruit! There was my acid! It really opened up nicely, and turned in to a wine that I very much enjoyed. The lesson here is DECANT DECANT DECANT! It needs some serious air to show her true colors. I’d also cellar this for at LEAST 2 years to get the full benefit.
Which brings up an interesting point. When I was poking around in September, I really didn’t like the 08 Pinots coming out of Willamette. They were just too ripe, too big, too Russian River, bordering on Sta Rita Hills. Gasp! Shock! Horror! That wasn’t what Oregon was supposed to be! WHere was my Burgundy? Where was my restrained style and light body? I was sadly disappointed. That said, here were are 6 months later; I’ve been tasting several of the 08s, as they are the current release for the most part. My my my what a little bottle age will do! They are improving, slowly but surely. I think 2008 might not be such a bad year after all…
This bottle of Oregon Crack was supplied by my dealer at Cana’s Fest. Thanks guys!
I walked by the TWELVE Wines tasting room in McMinnville, OR last Labor Day weekend, but didn’t get the chance to pop by since we were on our way to meet my dear friends from Republic of Jam, Lynnette & Amy.
As luck would have it, I was contacted by their PR rep, and received samples of the 2005, 2006, and 2007 Pinot Noir 144 to taste. Yay! Twelve Wines is a family owned winery in the Yamhill-Carlton area of the Willamette Valley AVA in Oregon, where they have 11 acres of Pinot Noir planted.
First up, I opened the 2005 Pinot Noir 144 after a long day of spring cleaning. Sipping away in a long bubble bath while reading about Spain, I really enjoyed the boldness of the wine on a cold San Francisco day. the trick with bold Pinots is that they don’t really evote a Pinot Noir feeling however. This wine is 50% Pommard clone, 17% Wadenswil clone, and 33% 115 clone. It was 100% destemmed, and fermented in 50% new French Oak for just shy of a year. This was a big Pinot, with flavors of cranberry, dark strawberry and rich raspberry with some strawberry jam, with huge cherry pie filling. I detected a bit of cola nut as well as some strong dark plum characteristics. I’d TRY this if you’;re curious about the area, but you might save your money for the later vintages. I enjoyed this wine, but prefer my wines from Oregon to be a bit more Burgundian in style, and not so much Santa lucia highlands. there was an unexpected smoke to this, and it was way to full bodied for my expectation of Oregon.
In contrast, the 2006 has a much higher acidity and a lot more zing. This is somewhat surprising given that 2006 was quite a warm year in the willammette and the ABV is over 14%. There were a lot of bright cranberry, hibiscus, and raspberry flavors, followed by a touch of violets and spice rack, with some root beer and bark, and a touch of vanilla. It was much lighter than the 2005, but stil had a medicum body with crisp acidity. I think it was great with food and would BUY it if i found it on the shelf.
As luck would have the wines kept getting better and better. nowing that, for hte most post, Oregon is known to have the best vintages in odd years, I was looking forward to the 2007. I certainly was not dissapoitned as this was my favorite of the three by far. It was was classically burgundain, iwth lovely acidity and bright red fruit. The spice notes were earthy and forest floor, and it was simploy a lovely example of what I love about Oregon wines. big bright red cherries and a touch of nutmeg were clearly present, but it almost tasted older than an 07, in the very best way. this is a MUST BUY for me and is still affordable for this quality of wine. This is a wine that you MUST BUY if you are in the area and are a Pinotphile!
I fully expect great things to continue to come from TWELVE Wines, and really look forward to seeing what else they come up with. They also make a Pinot Gris, and I look forward to tasting that when i thaw out.
Happy drinking, and I look forward to bringing you more pinot nori from the 2011 Pinot Noir Summit in Feburary!
No people were harmed in my desire to run to the nearest Pinot Noir, but these wines were provided as samples.
Holy cow! Where has the time gone? I'm not quite sure how this happened, but it's almost Halloween, and I find myself struggling for words. I know I know, it's a shocking turn of events for this Gemini gal, who basically blogs because she likes to talk. Truth be told, between work, events, friends, breaking my first bone, catching the crud in the hospital when said bone wa" data-image="http://lusciouslushes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/lemelson.jpg" data-site="">
photo provided by Chow Studios
Holy cow! Where has the time gone? I’m not quite sure how this happened, but it’s almost Halloween, and I find myself struggling for words. I know I know, it’s a shocking turn of events for this Gemini gal, who basically blogs because she likes to talk. Truth be told, between work, events, friends, breaking my first bone, catching the crud in the hospital when said bone was being fixed, and feeling overwhelmed, I haven’t been blogging like I used to. I apologize for that, but I have lost my mojo. I havent’ stopped drinking however, since I frankly find Pinot NOir a better pain killer than vicodin and since the combination of those two might permanently delay my wine adventures, I choose Pinot noir.
So here goes: My medication, as found in Oregon, over Labor Day weekend at Lemelson Vineyards. Naturally, I wanted to go to Lemelson because they made a wine especially for me, Thea’s Selection! Lemelson Vineyards produces Pinot Noir (as well as Pinot Gris and Chardonnay) from 7 estate vineyards, which are all Certified Organic. the winery’s location just east of Carlton, Oregon in the Willamette valley AVA is on a meandering country road which combines rural farm agriculture with vineyards, making it a diverse and beautiful area to explore.
First and foremost, let’s talk about my wine. The 2007 Thea’s Selection Pinot Noir is the benchmark blend for the vintage, and is made of a combination of six mature vineyards. It had a dark ruby red color, and flavors of black cherry, rhubarb, and black pepper as well as bright cherry, and blackberry followed by earthy spice. It really opened up after a few minutes in the glass, and the majority of the bold fruit blows off, leaving a clearly Burgundian style wine with earth & spice. This is MUST BY, particularly since I got a case of the 07 during and end of vintage sale. And to show off my name on a wine bottle obviously!
The follow up vintage of Thea’s Selection, 2008, was very similar but brighter than the 07. The first impression was bright cherry, earth, and freshly ground cinnamon. it was clearly a forest floor influence with mushrooms and dusty spices, but it wasn’t funky. the dark plums and dark red fruit were more present than in the 07, with a lot of cherry pie and baking spice. This is a STRONG BUY, especially fi you try the vintages side by side.
The 2008 Six vineyards was designed to be a restaurant wine, particularly for a by the glass program; this was an easy drinking, smooth and mellow wine. I enjoyed it but found it a big pedestrian if I were to buy a bottle. It’s made from six mature vineyards, and is a light translucent ruby red. It was very light, and had cranberry, rhubarb, and dusty nutmeg flavors. It’s a great VALUE so i would TRY this if you are looking for an everyday wine ~$20.
2007 Meyer Pinot Noir shows as quite acidic, with leaner, stronger red fruit flavors. The 07 vintage had strage weather in Oregon, and early rains caused some challenges. This had flavors of wild strawberry, raspberries and baking spices with some cola. It was lean and quite austere, with a luscious and bright with a long clean finish. There was a lot of minerality on the finish, and it was very different than the others. This is also a STRONG BUY.
The 2008 Meyer was an ideal vintage. It was hotter, so this wine is more reminiscent of a Russian River wine to me; I found a caramel chocolate finish, with big bold root beer and cola notes surrounded the cherry and strawberry jam base. It finished dry with dusty nutmeg. The bold fruit forward style gave way to a classic Oregon wine, which I would BUY again if I found it.
2007 Stermer Vineyard Pinot was very bright and light. The raspberreis and cherries showed first, with rose petals and cranberry right behind. There was just a hint of earthy spice and red apple lingering. TRY this wine for variety. While I liked the 07, I did NOT enjoy the 2008 Stermer and I would AVOID that one.
The 2007 Cuvee X Pinot Noir is a blend made up of 99% Meyer Vineyard. It comes from the highest elevation of the vineyard, and was picked before the rain in 07, and aged in 100% new French oak, which, in my opinion, overwhelmed the wine. I didn’t like it and if you are not an oak monster, I’d AVOID it.
2008 Jerome Reserve Pinot is a blend of the six mature vineyards, where the most age worthy selections of wines are hand selected for blending and aging. This was an interesting wine, and I’d HOLD on to it for a fe years to see how the sarsaparilla and root beer flavors give way to the black cheery spice. It’s a baby, but I can see a lot of potential.
All in all, I really enjoyed my visit to Lemelson, and can’t wait to open up my case of wine!
Have you had these wines? What did YOU think?
Holy cow! Where has the time gone? I'm not quite sure how this happened, but it's almost Halloween, and I find myself struggling for words. I know I know, it's a shocking turn of events for this Gemini gal, who basically blogs because she likes to talk. Truth be told, between work, events, friends, breaking my first bone, catching the crud in the hospital when said bone wa" data-image="http://lusciouslushes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/lemelson.jpg" data-site="">
and giggle our way through the area.
Somewhere along the way of my Alphabet Challenge, I lost my path and started speaking in tongues, which made my order slightly questionable. Well, I’m back, from outer space, and am restarting with the letter E.
