’08 Pinot – a thing of beauty…
Yesterday Kelley Fox and I sat down for our first comprehensive tasting through all of the lots of our 2008s. In a word, divine.
As you will undoubtedly hear from any Oregon producer you run across, we were blessed with a miracle Indian-summer/fall here in the Willamette Valley, and it created what just may turn out to be the benchmark Oregon Pinot vintage. Had you asked any of us on September first, we all would have said we were headed for a potential disaster. The sun and warmth then miraculously arrived to save our bacon. It’s one of our latest harvests on records, and also one of the lowest in yields, but the quality is simply superior across the board. At this point, I would say that ’08 in Oregon has many similarities with ’05 in Burgundy, in that it was of very high quality, and virtually everybody across the board made excellent wine.
On to the tasting. I’ll run through my quick thoughts and impressions on each of the major lots -
Maresh Block 10 – Lively, lovely aromatics, some earth notes too, red and black fruits, great texture, good length, some spice notes, very classy juice…
Maresh Block 12 - More floral on the nose, more linear and less complex today, but maybe prettier…
Ribbon Ridge – Very appealing nose, great concentration, very pretty on the entry, long, good grip on the back end. The best RR since ’03, I think…
Momtazi A - smells like young Pommard – heady, earthy aromas. Fruit and a distinct minerality on the palate. Long, tasty, the most masculine wine in the cellar this year…
Montazi D – Brighter, more high-toned nose, richer fruit, balanced and very persistent. Very very nice indeed.
Momtazi J – A seductive, swirling nose, then nice fruit on a rather raw, open-knit texture. Young & very agressive right now…
We’ll make our final blending decisions in June, but it’s already pretty clear that the best of the Maresh will be the ’08 Audrey, and the La Paulée will be a blend of Ribbon Ridge, Maresh & Momtazi. A couple of micro-production single-block or single-lot bottlings are likely too – details later this summer…
In the meantime – we look forward to seeing you here in Carlton tomorrow for the first shot to taste the ’07 Burgs from Benjamin Leroux and our Hospices de Beaune barrel – yummy stuff. We’re open from 1-5 (Attention fellow Champagne Junkies – the Marc Chauvet 2002 and 1999 Special Club are back in stock – grab ‘em quick!) Here we are in the cellar with Clo Chauvet last summer…
Clo Chauvet, Scott & Pirrie
