Epic Pinot Tasting- California vs. Oregon

Last night, I tasted went to an epic Pinot Noir tasting held by Greg Piatigorski. The theme was California vs. Oregon Pinot Noirs. In the grand tasting room at the Wine Chest to taste through 36 wines in about 3 hours.

The bottles were covered in brown paper pages and then numbered. We tasted each and then took notes. At the end, Brian Loring made a score sheet. Each person voted for their Top 5. After tallying the scores, we unveiled each one. In many cases, there were some big surprises.

Here is the list of wines in tasting order , with links to the wineries' website, and the price. (Note: The prices were found on the web and in some cases were estimated.)
1. '00 Loring Clos Pepe, $40
2. '99 Merry Edwards Klopp Ranch, ~$48
3. '01 Tandem Keefer Ranch, Green Valley, $48
4. '99 Testarossa Cuvee Niclaire
5. '01 Tandem Sangiacomo, $48
6. '99 Pelican Ranch Sleepy Hollow, $24
7. '98 Hamacher Oregon, $38
8. '01 Tandem Van der Kamp, $48
9. '99 Raptor Ridge Shea Vineyard, Willamette Valley, $35
10. '98 Witness Tree Willamette Valley, $?
11. '99 Siduri Hirsch, $?
12. '00 Domaine Alfred Califa, Edna Valley, $?
13. '98 Dehlinger Goldridge, $?
14. '99 Belle Pente Murto, Willamette Valley, ~$30
15. '99 Brick House Les Dijonnais, Willamette Valley, $?
16. '00 Chehalem Three Vineyard, Willamette Valley, $25
17. '98 Ponzi Willamette Valley, ~$30
18. '99 Lemelson Jerome Reserve, Willamette Valley, $?
19. '99 Belles Soeurs Shea Vineyard, Willamette Valley, $?
20. '98 Testarossa Sleepy Hollow
21. '00 Loring Garys' $40
22. '00 Chehalem Three Vineyard, Willamette Valley, $25
23. '97 Dehlinger Reserve, $?
24. '01 Tandem Pisoni, $54
25. '98 Belle Pente Murto, Willamette Valley, ~$30
26. '01 Scott Paul Pisoni, $25 futures/ $40
27. '95 St. Innocent Seven Springs, Willamette Valley, $?
28. '98 Raptor Ridge Murto, Willamette Valley, $35
29. '99 Shea Wine Cellars Shea Vineyard, Willamette Valley, $?
30. '00 Grapeleaf Nicholson Ranch, Sonoma Valley, $25
31. '00 Grapeleaf Iund Vineyard, Carneros, $25
32. '00 Grapeleaf Russian River Valley, $25
33. '00 Eno Dutton Ranch, Russian River Valley, Not for sale
34. '99 Williams Selyem Central Coast, $34
35. '99 Broadley Reserve, Willamette Valley, ~$30
36. '00 Elk Cove Mt. Richmond Vineyard, Willamette Valley, ~$32

Here are the group's top 5 wines:
1. '00 Loring Clos Pepe, $40
2. '01 Tandem Pisoni, $54
3. '99 Testarossa Cuvee Niclaire, $?
4. '00 Domaine Alfred Califa, Edna Valley, $?
5. '99 Merry Edwards Klopp Ranch, ~$48

Some of my key takeaways:

• Stylistically, some wines were picked way too ripe, then blasted with oak. On at least 2 wines, the nose reeked of new, heavy toast barrels. I marked down the score of those wines. Many people described the smell of burnt rubber.


• Clos Pepe and Pisoni are excellent vineyards. With several wineries making Pisoni Pinot, it was interesting to compare the different styles. In my mind, Tandem aced it.
• Most of the California wines averaged around $40+. The Oregon wines were more around $30+.
• No Oregon wine made the Top 5. There was a great deal of quality variation with Oregon Pinots.
• All the wines were good to excellent.
• My wine wasn't showing well. Considering it was the first pinot I made as an amateur, and came from second crop, it held its own. Interesting how it won Gold at the Sonoma Harvest Festival, but didn't show that well tonight.