This wine was purchased at the SALUD! Charity Event held every November up here. The original wine delivered was very tight, and I just figured it needed time. About a month later Matt Kinne (owner/winemaker) called and offerd to replace what had been delivered with this wine, which had just gotten a 93 from the WS. I switched wines (got to keep one mag of the other stuff just to see) and this was my first opportunity to try it.

McKinlay's wines come primarily from Parrett Mountain, which is south and east of the Dundee Hills. The soils tend to be rocky and shallow, with a south to east exposure. BH Vineyard's vineyard is on Parrett Mountain about a mile from McKinlay (and couple of hundred feet higher). The Special Selection blend comes from McKinlay's home vineyard with some Quarry vinyard (just above Rex Hill) and Ladd Hill vineyard thrown in.

The wine was clear, garnet color, with a sweet cherry and mineral nose. On the palate, the minerals are overwhelmed by cherries, raspberries, and blackberries until the long finish when the minerals emerge again. A little oak was descernable on the midpalate. The wine was concentrated and tight, and probably would have benefitted from decanting.

While an excellent wine right now, it needs at least another couple of years for the acids to subside a little. For current drinking, I think the WS's score of 93 is a little high, but this wine has tremendous potential. I probably won't touch another for two years.

I had this again over the weekend with no real change in my thoughts.

I had this wine again tonight.

Slightly cloudy, medium garnet with no bricking

Over-ripe strawberries, cherries, blackberries and earth in the nose. On the palate, black cherries, blackberries, earth, and leather. Great mouthfeel. Very long cherry and earth finish. This wine is starting to pick up the secondary flavors that you can get in an aged Pinot Noir. This is not a huge wine, but very elegant, intense, and detailed. 93 points.

I'm sorry we missed out on Matt's wines. BHVineyard and I went to the winery, way out in the sticks, and Matt was leaving as we arrived and we never got back there. BHVineyard speaks very highly of McKinlay wines.

Matt is a great guy. If he had been available you probably would have had to barrel taste everything. Three hours later you would have been way behind schedule!

When his wines are on, they are fantastic - and a bargain too. I've seen his regular bottlings down here from time to time and they are usually very good for the price.

About 10 years ago while in the Oregon Tasting Room in Portland, I was talked into buying a bottle of '93 McKinlay Spec. Selection. When we drank the wine in 1998 it turned out to be a terrific Pinot, so of course I was sorry afterward that I hadn't bought a few.

I recall being told that the wine was made literally in McKinlay's garage, though I'm not sure whether that's true or just local lore.

It's true.

Matt makes his wine in the basement of their house. It's basically totally full of barrels pretty much all the time. He actually ferments his wines on the crush pad outside the house. I've been to Matt's house a number of times and I've never seen much in the way of bottled goods. I suspect that it goes to an off-site storage facility as soon as it's bottled.

Duke,

Matt used to keep a good bit of his case stock buried in the corner of his basement. But he was smaller then; as he's grown, I suspect he has some offsite storage... or, possibly with Matt,... he just drinks most of it.

Seriously, great wines from a really nice guy that truly enjoys "the art of wine". You cannot get any more "hands on" than Matt's approach-- he does it all, from sticking plants in the ground, to pasting labels on the bottles.