Oregon Pinot Noirs tasted at Vintage Wine Merchants 7/28/05:

1)2003 Lemelson “Thea’s Selection” – 13.9% - $28.99
Dark red. Slightly alcoholic nose of Blackcherry syrup and herbs.
Firm black fruits with good acid and balanced tannins. [87+ pts]

2)2003 Belle Souers – 14.4% - $43.99
Medium/dark red. Piney, alcoholic nose with paint thinner undertones. Pleasant but light bodied fruit. [85+ pts]

3)2002 EIEIO “Cuvee I” – No alcohol given - $31.99
Medium red. Dusty, spicy floral red berry nose. Decent medium bodied fruit, pure but simple. [86+ pts]

4)2003 EIEIO “Cuvee E” – No alcohol given - $34.99
Medium/dark red. Spicy, somewhat alcoholic nose. Simple, somewhat flat fruit. [85 pts].

5)2003 EIEIO “Wind Hill Reserve” – 14.5% - $39.99
ALRIGHT! Dark red. Fine spicy, hammy nose. Excellent blackcherry fruit from start to finish. Just a touch jammy but still balanced. This tasted very much like CA style PN. My WOTN. I bought a couple. [90+ pts]

6)2003 Lachini “S” – 14.7% - $33.99
Dark red. Fine floral herbal rose nose. Nicely balanced black fruits with a long firm herbal finish. A touch of heat in the finish. Can age a bit. Another winner! [89+ pts]

7)2003 St. Innocent “Shea” – 14.4% - $33.99
Medium red. Nice cherry cinnamon nose with slight stemmy undertones. Powerful tannic black fruits. Very young and promising. For now, [88+ pts].

8)2003 Gypsy Dancer “Emily’s Reserve” – 14.0% - $28.99
Light/medium red. Fine sweet red berry nose with a touch of ham. Simple, light bodied fruit with a rather short finish. [85 pts]

9)2003 Gypsy Dancer “Gary & Christine” – 14.0% - $35.99
Light/medium red. Dried cherries with hint of prune. Decent spicy cherry medium bodied fruit. [85+ pts]

10)2003 Gypsy Dancer “A and G” – 15.5% - $57.99
Medium/dark red. Spicy maple syrup nose. Fairly deep medium bodied blackcherry fruit with a long finish. Nice but way overpriced. [87 pts]

11)2001 Dom. Drouhin “Laurene” – 14.1% - $52.99
Medium red. Deep spicy fruits nose. Firm, very tannic, lean & mean high acid wine.
Where’s the fruit? WAY OVERPRICED! [83 pts]

TTT

Well, they certainly didn't bring out the big guns (well, maybe the DDO is considered a big gun..). The Lemelson is their bottom end wine, as are the "E" and the "I" from EIEIO.

I buy/own a lot of Oregon Pinot, and I have a very low opinion of the 2003 vintage in Oregon. The only wine I've bought so far from the vintage was the St. Bartolomew bottling - it's OK but I wasn't buying it for the wine. A "California vintage" doesn't do you any good if you don't know how to handle it.

Dom Druhine Laurene is way overpriced there. Find a friend that works at a restaurant; Columbia Distributing was selling the 2000 Laurene for $38.49 at about this same time last year. I picked up a couple of cases for an event and home consumption :-) My tasting notes from the 2000 consistently showed the DDL was much more akin to a Burgundy than a fruity CA pinot.

Duke, I'm with you on the 03 vintage. Hot and out of wack.

The best 03 Pinot I've had so far is the ANA Vineyard "Reserve" out of about 45 that I've tasted so far.

What's your opinion on the drinking window for the 2003 OR PNs?

Board O,
I have not had many 2003s lately, but based on a lot of barrel samples earlier and recent conversations with winemakers, I would not hold these wines long. I bought 2003 Le Cadeau and Brickhouse, and I will buy the Cameron Abbey Ridge and Arley's Leap (both from a high elevation, 25+ year old, dry-farmed vineyard in the Dundee Hills - alcohol levels were in the mid 13% range). Besides than, I'm saving my money for the 2004s.

Thanks for the advice.