Well, it's been too long since I posted. But 2 posts...off by 3 decimals at least.

 Much has happened. But more on that later.

 

First, let's celebrate Johan Santana signing with the Mets.

 

Ok now calm down.

 

The last month I have tasted through much of Ken Wright's 2006 single vineyard selections.

In a word, they are excellent. Many of them taste more Calfornia PN like than Burgundian or even dare I say classic Oregonian, but on the whole they are balanced, true to varietal with dark cherry and /or raspberry, and blackberry, but perhaps for the first time, some sweeteness like plum as well. They have acid more than usual CA PN and tannin is present but unobtrusive/fine unlike several previous years. Clearly, these are more forwardly delicious than  at least 3/4 of prior vintages dating back to 1998. But they ar not weak. Further, I tried these with no decant, wine glass decant over hours, vacu vin and novacuvin  over 3 days, and most just got better and better. That was a surprise.

 

The best-

 

Shea- classic Shea with ripe dark fruit, cedar and spice, and  more than most tannin. Sadly, 1 only tried one from glass in a shared bottle; the others available in the store were gone, all sold when I went back the next day.

 

Meredith Mitchell- my favorite; darker near purple, dense cherry, blackberry and plum fruit, just so  well balanced with hints of coffee, and earth; medium to full bodied, this was a wine that got better every day. If this doesn't get at least 94-95 pts by the pros, then I'll eat my hat [ or at least take a bite out]. A must for me. I drank 2 bottles for a week, fell into a swoon, like she was a supple seductive tart, and bought the 6 others left.

 

Carter- Mrs T 's fave; 2nd on my list; darker violet, more raspberry than cherry, perhaps more forward appeal but just so similar to MM, perhaps slightly less complexity less earth coffee.  I like earth and coffee. Drank 2, bought 6. Mistress number 2 when MM disappeared into the cellar.[Required if MM is unavailable or sold out.]  

 

2nd tier

McCrone- darker fruit and less smooth and balanced than 1st tier group, but a winner. MM Jr. 92-93ish

 

Abbott Claim- frankly I found this difficult to separate from McCrone, but it just wasn't quite as balanced...call it a poor man's McCrone

 

Guaduloupe-the first of the lot down the hatch, lighter color, more maroon and giving a red fruit attack more medium bodied than the above but smooth tannin and some acidity in nice harmony

 

Canary Hill- this was more spice earth, and medium bodied, fruit less prominent

 

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Freedom Hill- I usually like wines from this vineyard though sometimes they are more black than red fruit; the 2 bottles I drank had prominent acidity, one nearly a secondary fermentation. The tannins were prominent and the fruit more subdued. Whethr these were singularly faulty or representative, I don't know, but I passed on the remainder.

 

NYSA, Savoya- medium bodied, PN, some spice but admittedly nothing special in comparison. 87-89 ish

 

I really enjoyed these on the whole and especially the first group of wines. They are easier to drink now than most other years of Oregon I've tried and seem well balanced with enough acid and tannin to  develop well, and sufficient fruit to not be overwhelmed by the latter. How uniform are they...a bug aboo from this area. I don't know. With 20 bottles swept through the stomach, only 2 seemed like someone snuck something into the drink.

 

Overall the top 4 are worth actively buying, especially at the $40-50.00 prices you will likely find. Guaduloupe may have less longevity but hass immediate appeal so sneak a few of those too.

If these are representative of the 2006 vintage as a whole, Oregon will have a big bump in my cellar.

At the least I hope to have peaked your interest.

 

Patricia Green has come in...Notorious. Next on the list.