2000 Medici East Vineyard Estate Reserve
Generally, people underestimate how well Oregon Pinot Noirs can age. I am often asked at Chehalem how long to cellar a wine for and I generally give a monologue on ageability rather than a pat answer. You can all it copping out if you want, but the question is a tough one. My experience has shown that Oregon does the most ageable Pinot in the country. But that assumes you like what becomes of our Pinot Noir when it has been in the bottle for a while. If you like the big, juicy berry fruit, drink them in the first couple years, because that isn’t going to get any better. But for my palate, the fruitiness is replaced by something lovely and interesting.
Case in point: the 2000 Medici East Vineyard Pinot. Not a fruit bomb by any stretch. The fruit was pretty, but staid. The color was red-orange with definite brick-color developing. The nose had that distinctive funk of old Pinot and oak which smells a bit like BBQ sauce and maraschino cherry… (wait for it)… but in a good way. The wine was light-bodied with earth and red fruit and a bit of a tart bite, which I liked very much. It finished with flavors of coffee and cherry, with still a touch of tannin after all these years.
It was fantastic and worked perfectly with the grilled Copper River sockeye I made.
Interest Factor: ***+
Yum Factor: **
Value: **
Beautiful wine. If you are ever in Newberg, Oregon, visit them at the Dark Horse tasting room.