Download the April 2011
Wine Club Newsletter
Feature Story – Earthquake in Oregon Wine Country?
PLUS – Buty, Johan, Volkman, Cameron, Gilbert Cellars
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April 2011 Wine Club Selections
April 2011
Oregon Reserve Pinot noir Club Selections
Johan Three Barrel 08 $60
Cellar 2011-2018
Unique is an overused word, but I’m using it anyway – there are flavor components of this wine that I haven’t tasted in any other 2008 Oregon Pinot. Fascinatingly complex, it’s almost as if the wine was “aromatized” – the botanicals that are interwoven from nose to finish flipped my lid.
Juicy black cherry and raspberry provide the fruit center, with a sweet-bitter interplay that adds a perfect tension. Expect this to
age extraordinarily well, with spot-on balance and alcohol at 12.8%. One of the last 2008 new releases was entirely worth the wait – Johan Three Barrel 08 is one of our top 10 2008 Oregon Pinots.
As you’ve likely guessed, the “Three Barrel” aspect of the name refers to the production level – only 72 cases were made. If you collect Oregon Pinot, you need this wine. Give it the right amount of time and I bet you’ll say the same thing I did…
Laura Volkman Vineyards
St. James 09 $25
Club Price $21.21
Cellar 2011-2014
This is the richest and plushest of Laura’s last three vintages of St. James. She took advantage of the riper 2009 vintage to make a balanced wine with big, upfront juiciness and smooth tannins. The St. James has her trademark aroma of incense, roses, and spice. It’s a bigger style than her usual Pinot — almost California big — and with plenty of acid to lift and round out the succulent blackberry, raspberry and cherry fruit flavors.
April 2011
Northwest Big Reds Club Selections
Buty
Rediviva of the Stones 08 $50
Club Price $42.46
Cellar 2011-2020
Violets, blackberry and black raspberry engage with earth and stones in this dynamite red from the ancient Walla Walla riverbed cobblestones. The Cabernet brings a cassis thread that carries the finish. Tons of volume and intensity without any undue heaviness.
A blend of 79% Syrah and 21% Cabernet Sauvignon, Rediviva of the Stones is made from grapes grown outside the town of Milton-Freewater, on the Oregon side of the Walla Walla AVA. The area’s vineyards are world famous as the source for Cayuse Winery’s highly rated Syrahs.
Phillip Leigh
Cabernet Sauvignon 07 $30
Club Price $25.46
Cellar 2011-2018
This wine offers wonderful fruit aromas of cherry, current and blackberry integrated with alluring vanilla, tobacco, and exotic spice aromas. The bouquet entices the palate with rich red fruit, highlighted with spice, fine-grained tannin, and a lengthy finish. It shows great balance, offering generous fruit, texture and complementary oak flavors of vanilla and chocolate.
The 2007 Cabernet is – 100% Cabernet Sauvignon – 50% from Klipsun Vineyard and 50% from Stillwater Creek Vineyard. Production: 50 cases
April 2011
Northwest New Discoveries
Club Selections
Cameron Willamette Valley Pinot noir 09 $19
Club Price $15.94
Cellar 2011-2014
What doesn’t make it into Cameron’s other Pinots becomes the Willamette Valley. All Dundee Hills, from the best neighborhood in Oregon (Worden Hill Road outside of Dundee), these misfit barrels band together. Drinks like a Bourgogne rouge, with high-toned red fruits, clove, and pepper that moves throughout the nose and palate. Simply put – a screaming deal.
Gilbert Cellars Left Bank Red 08 $21
Club Price $17.81
Cellar 2011-2018
Michael Lundeen manages Walnut City Wineworks, a cooperative of winemakers in downtown McMinnville. His own winery makes two labels – his value label, Lundeen, and his estate vineyard Genius Loci label. Michael was formerly winemaker at Ilahe.
To describe the Lundeen Pinot noir 09 – in a word, balance. Just when you think the fruit might be too intense, the needle comes back up to center. The spice, the minerality, the smooth tannins, the uplifting finish – Michael manages intensity and balance to make a terrific Pinot at a killer price.
