Is Oregon Pinot Worth its salt?

Well, I have been lax on posting of late but I did want to be sure to post about this topic. Throughout the fall the harvest of grapes goes on, and by now all are off the vine. Several times this fall already I have been asked by friends is there an inexpensive Oregon Pinot Noir that is really good? In other words is Oregon Pinot worth its salt...

One of the great things and also maddening things in my opinion about wine is that its worth what people will pay for it. Do I think that you could find a good Oregon Pinot for $10 - personally, No! Do I think there are some nice Pinot Noirs from the area for $20 or less - absolutely!

Grochau Cellars (GC) Toute De Suite 2007 Pinot Noir - its Supercalafragalistic expidaladocius! The name of this wine may sound almost as strange to some when you say it but it reminds me of that old song and dance routine. Its happy, fun, bawdy, and a bowl full of bright fruity red cherries. Its a big red cherry soda that tickles the taste buds and dances a bit madly. Tastes of bright red pie cherries, dark floral tones, and baking spices swirl about the mouth. It evokes the color maraschino cherry red in my mind just thinking of the tastes, even though the color of the wine is more dark rose red. While not long I dare you to call this a quaffer. Its too vivacious for that. Tout de suite in French means immediately and after you have a glass or bottle I am guessing you'll understand and want to have more tout de suite! $

J. Christopher Zoot Allures Pinot Noir 2006 - Well wait I already posted on the Zoot Allures before; but no, this is a secondary release with different grapes. As much as I liked the original I like this even better! This second run had a bit more layers to it, with a dry high forest earthy smell reminding me of hiking through the ponderosa pine around central Oregon. As well, smells of bing cherries still on the tree of some Mt. Hood orchard with dark wild blossoms scents. So how's the taste? While moderately short bodied it still had a wonderful slippery, silky, and lightly acidic mouth-feel. Red cherry and berry combined with a more earthy finish. One taster commented white pepper although I more found fruit, oregon farming earth, and garden herbs. Again this is a real steal at the cost and with what I thought was a more combined and interesting palate than the prior more than worthwhile release. $

With these two, and others I have prior posted, you may find some inexpensive (at least in my mind) Oregon Pinot Noir. But does that $50-70/bottle Pinot really have that much of a difference? Well again that's pretty personal on tastes and what producers can sell their wine for. So I also wanted to include two from my favorite Oregon Pinot Noir producer Eyrie Vineyards that I believe are worth more than their cost albeit that each are not inexpensive.

Eyrie 1999 Reserve Pinot Noir - I felt as if on plush velvet pillows as I sipped ths wine, a middle-eastern experience for an Oregon Pinot. As I stuck my nose to the glass I was instantly met with the smell of pancetta fat, geranium, and cherries. I could imagine the spattering of pancetta in a sizzling hot pan with bits carmalizing and popping out all over a wood stoked fire. As with most Eyrie, this is lighter than the average Pinot; a light and rudy garnet red with a rusty hue. This is the color I most enjoy and why I admit to bias to the Eyrie Pinots. But that is not the only reason... That wonderful smell kept changing and different persons found thyme, clay dust, cranberry, raspberry and other scents. So layered is that nose! I would need much more discerning senses to smell all the aormatic molecules. When tasting I found there was a slightly more strengthened body and acid compared to some Eyrie I have had. Long acid feel ran back over my tongue with a traditional cherry and earth flavor, but with tangy red fruit that persisted throughout finishing with a slightly smoky spice. Perhaps my nose, transmitted taste to my tongue too but I swore I could feel and taste fat pancetta bacon. More than one taster expressed wanting this wine with Oyster stuffing at the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday meal. As I sipped and smelled I felt lazy or dreamy as lotus eatiers, or in a harem with houka and sweet sticky scents of zesty fruited smoke and spice. With the '99 Eyrie be your own Sultan, sip, and dream. $$

Eyrie 2003 Reserve Pinot Noir - Even though 2003 was not the it year for pinot noir; deftly touched, this is a wonderful wine. It was colored as garnets in sunlight with light cherry red/pink hue, and with what some would swear are orangish sparkles in the glass. Very ripe cherries are effervescent in the nose but with a lythe and light floral smell that quickly gave way - hibiscus was it? Delicate, demure, and gone too quickly. Further scents of drying hay and old barn plus what some described as a light warm Oregon costal breeze. I found a wonderfuly earthy scent remeniscent of filbert orchards and the dirt clods found within. Imagine the perfect filbert farm perched on the Oregon Coastal cliffs selling cherries and roasted filbers at the gate... The taste was layered, complex, and evoked discussion. While cherry and cranberry fruit were at the start, following was a full meat fat taste of game hen or wild bird on a grill or spit that made the tastebuds simply water- pheasant anyone? Finishing with filberts and dried up muddy earth, but with a refreshing savory herb that was decidedly Bay leaf. Its a long and austere wine with perhaps not as much plush as the 1999 but equally layered, driven, and still of more potence than other Eyrie I have had. Its a wine that drinks like an aristocratic meal of old, with all its courses and complexity of decor and warmth. Pull out the fine china and silver, the '03 Eyrie is at the table. $$