Recent Vintages for Oregon Pinot Noir

A friend and I made a return visit to McCrady’s for dinner last night and it was another extraordinary, well paced feast for the eyes and palate.  Pictured is the fish course I chose, lupina, with fresh sorrel sauce, fingerling potatoes, and sun chokes.  I took a bottle of Ken Wright 2008 Savoya Vineyard Pinot Noir to drink with dinner. 

Like Ken’s Meredith Mitchell Vineyard Pinot that was enjoyed with family in December, it is a firmly structured Pinot that definitely benefitted from decanting. Wine Specator believes the 2008 Oregon Pinots will be even better with another 2-3 years of bottle aging, so I am going to try to discipline myself to hold my remaining 2008’s.

2008 was a classic vintage year in Oregon with near perfect growing conditions.  The resulting wines, although thoroughly enjoyable now, have strong tannic structures that are more prominent than the ripe fruit flavors that will emerge over the next couple of years.  In 2009, after an unusually hot summer, the crop was large and the wines produced are somewhat softer in structure and bursting with ripe fruit flavors.  2007 and 2010 share similarities as a result of cool, rainy conditions.  Although these vintages are lighter in style, the better wine makers produced nicely balanced, food-friendly wines. 

Follow this link to find an extensive list of Oregon wines, ratings, and prices – Wine Spectator.

Cheers!