The light to medium purple wine had an intense nose of cherries. My wife said it smelled like a "crackling fireplace." On the palate, plums and baked fruit prevail in a well-balanced medium-bodied wine. It tasted ready to drink, even after two hours in the decanter. 90 points.

Board-o rates an Oregon Pinot at 90???

I think Parker gave this one a 93. I'm well-stocked on OR PNs that he scored highly, but I find I differ with him here. I like the CA PNs better.

I think Parker has a soft spot for Oregon PN. (read: beaux Freres)

Rovani does the Oregon reviews and he is uniformly high. At least he is consistent.

Actually Board-o I agree with you re CA PNs, generally speaking. But, there are exceptions...

I had some Italian fizzy plonk that was screw-capped. Laid it on its side and it went flat - all of it. Big objection to screw-caps though is that if they get bent they are a nightmare to remove.

We had this wine tonight with roasted injected free range organic chicken. This medium purple wine had beautiful nose reminiscent of a florist's shop and cherries. It's [I]far[/I] better now than it's been in two previous tastings, and it was good then. It's expansive, elegant, and balanced, with layers of bright fruit flavors. This may be the most Burgundian American Pinot Noir I've ever tasted. I wish I had more and regret drinking the previous two as young as I did. 93

Nice note Board-O

I think 1996 is an under rated vintage for Oregon. I've had some beautiful 96's that have held on quite nicely.

cheers,
Paul

Ken is one of the most consistent producers in the state. Reading your review reminds me why I'm still sitting on so many 1998 to 2000 Oregon Pinots.

I knew I could count on you to make an appearance here, Duke. The 1996 Ken Wright wines tasted ready to drink in their youth, but this one has blossomed beautifully. This yet another example of the difficulty of evaluating young wines. Tonight we're having a 1994 Beaucastel that Parker initially score 94-96. Now I'm hearing of 87 and 90 point scores. If he has trouble with this, what credence am I supposed to give those with no track record?

By the way, Parker initially scored this wine an 89 (the '96 Canary Hill) and said to drink by next year. This is clearly better than an 89 and has lots of life ahead of it. It may still be improving.

I buy a free range organic chicken, then before roasting, inject it all over with a mixture (actually, a suspension) of evoo, spices, and chicken broth, putting some chicken broth in the pan also. I find it easier than bringing. Then I rub the chicken with evoo, sprinkle it with spices, place a single layers of bacon over it, and cover the pan with aluminum foil and roast at 275. About 2/3 of the way through the roasting, I remove the aluminum foil, turn the oven to 325, and set it on convection. It never comes out dry and it's always pretty tasty.

OK, I'll have to plead ignorance. Evoo???

extra virgin olive oil