Aging Oregon Pinot Noir
Monday, March 30th, 2009Last week I had the opportunity to taste a 1994 - 2007 vertical of Chehalem’s Reserve Pinot Noir. I have had some of those wines individually and tasted smaller verticals, but this was the first time I had tasted through them all. It was instructive. It definitely challenged conventional wisdom about what makes a “good” vintage.
Since 1994, there have been a number of “great” vintages in Oregon according to the press. Let’s compare Wine Spectator, Robert Parker’s view of the vintage and my experience with Chehalem’s Reserve Pinot:
| Vintage | WS | Parker | DRS (Chehalem Reserve) |
| 1994 | 92 | 92 | *+ Tight, sharp and tannic. |
| 1995 | 81 | 76 | ** Simple. |
| 1996 | 87 | 83 | ***+ Wow, nose. |
| 1997 | 84 | 87 | ***+ Gorgeous nose. Tight. Leathery. |
| 1998 | 92 | 89 | ** Nice aromatics. |
| 1999 | 93 | 92 | * Youthful nose. Prune. Very tannic. |
| 2000 | 91 | 86 | *** Leather with tannin. |
| 2001 | 93 | 85 | **** Funky. Red fruit. Pretty. |
| 2002 | 96 | 92 | *- Disappointing. |
| 2003 | 88 | 88 | * Stewed black fruit. Ok. |
| 2004 | 94 | 86 | ** Big bramble. Big mid palate. Weighty. |
| 2005 | 93 | 85 | ****? Bramble and red/black fruit. |
| 2006 | 92 | 93 | *? Dark cherry. medicinal. |
| 2007 | 84 - 87 | 84 | ***+? Big red fruit. Primary, but wow. |
It seems that I am not on the same wavelength as Harvey and Robert, particularly on the older vintages. A great Oregon Pinot to me is one, I guess, from a so-called lack-luster vintage that has 5+ years of age. In my view, the “great” vintages: 1994, 1999, 2002 and, by extension, 2006, are for drinking within the first couple of years, before the alcohol and tannin takes over the fruit.
I am going to finish off my 2002 - 2004s and 2006s. The 2005s, 2007s and eventually 2008s are going to sit for a long time.
Of course, this is only one set of data-points and might not apply equally to all producers, all AVAs, etc. But I think it is a good starting guide. I am not convinced at this point that most producers lower-end bottlings will have the longevity of the higher-end stuff (this is the “Reserve” after all), but I am not sure. It could be that, in a cool vintage, there is too much underripe fruit in the non-reserve stuff but perhaps not.
We also did a 1996 - 2007 vertical of the Ian’s Reserve Chardonnay. More on that later…
