Tag Archives: Oregon wine

Expensive wine 49: Cornerstone Cellars Chardonnay Willamette Valley 2010

cornerstone cellars chardonnayThe Willamette Valley in this wine ?s name is important, because Cornerstone is more than just an Oregon producer. It ?s actually better known for its Napa Valley wines, including a high-scoring cabernet sauvignon that makes the wine geeks giddy.

In some hands, this kind of secondary project might be an afterthought. But Cornerstone does its Oregon wines proud, and they seem to receive the same sort of attention and care that the Napa wines get.

The chardonnay ($35, sample, 13.5%) is, not surprisingly, more California in style than Oregon ? richer and oakier. But the fruit (somewhere between citrus and green apple) still shows through, along with the minerality that should be there in well-made chardonnay. All of this is complemented by a long, juicy finish.

I ?m not quite sure elegant is the best adjective for the wine, in the way a white Burgundy can be elegant. If the latter is Catherine Deneuve, then this is Katharine Ross in ?Butch Cassidy. ?

Wine of the week: A to Z Chardonnay 2011

From the scores are stupid department: Someone on CellarTracker, the blog ?s unofficial wine inventory web app, gave the A to Z chardonnay an 85. If this wine is only an 85, I ?m going to start writing rave reviews of over-oaked, too alcoholic California chardonnay.

To be fair, I can can understand why someone would not treat Oregon's A to Z ($10, purchased, 13.5%) with the respect it deserves. It doesn ?t have any oak, and if you expect chardonnay to taste like a vanilla milkshake, then this wine will confuse you and you ?ll score it lower. Which is just one of the many reasons why scores are stupid, since they don ?t account for individual likes and dislikes. In wine, one size does not fit all.

What the A to Z does have: Crisp, juicy green apple fruit, classic for this style of chardonnay; a little richness at the back, which makes up for the lack of oak; and an intensity that is quite refreshing. Serve this chilled on its own, or with any white wine dish that isn ?t too rich, and especially grilled seafood. Highly recommended, and a candidate for the 2014 $10 Hall of Fame ? unless, of course, you like a lot of oak with your chardonnay.

Expensive wine 44: Patricia Green Yamhill County Pinot Noir 2010

In a couple of weeks, many of us will drink pinot noir with Thanksgiving dinner, since pinot is traditionally the red wine recommended for Thanksgiving. The catch, of course, is that much of the pinot noir we ?ll be drinking won ?t be especially pinot-like, thanks to one of the biggest changes in the wine business over the past five years.

Those of us who do want to drink pinot that is varietally correct and want to spend a little extra would do well to look for the Patricia Green ($36, sample), long one of my favorite Oregon pinot noirs and not a bad value given pinot noir prices.

In the old days, when winemakers paid more attention to these things, there were three kinds of pinot ? red Burgundy from France, which could be earthy and almost mushroomy; California pinot, which was focused on fruit but remained true to the Burgundian concept of elegance; and Oregon pinot, which fit somewhere between the two.

The Patricia Green has remained true to that ideal, and is made as it should be, without any foolishness like over extraction, extra oak, and 15 percent alcohol. There is berry fruit, but also herbs and earthiness; in this, it is what one critic has called a benchmark for Oregon pinot noir — clean and well-crafted, where the grapes and not the winemaker determine what the wine tastes like. Highly recommended.

Wine review: Anne Amie Cuvee A Amrita 2011

This post was going to be a wine of the week for a different wine from Oregon ?s Anne Amie ? the muller-thurgau, one of my all-time favorites. But bizarre fog last year did something to the grapes, and rather than make a crappy wine, Anne Amie winemaker Thomas Houseman decided not to make it at all. How often do I get to write that?

So we ?ll have to settle for the Amrita ($15, sample), a white blend that is a fine wine in its own right. It’s mostly chardonnay and riesling (plus eight other grapes for good measure), and is fresh and lively and without the stilted, heavy fake oak that so many wines at this price use to compensate for poor quality fruit, to cover up a winemaking flaw, or to add oak flavor because they think it makes a more popular wine.

The Amrita, like the muller-thurgau, is a food wine with enough sweetness to pair with spicy food (look for a little citrus and apricot fruit), but not enough to offend people who think sweet wine means white zinfandel. In this, it would be a huge hit at Thanksgiving, what with turkey and cornbread dressing.

Mini-reviews 35: Anne Amie, Chianti, Raimat, Cline

Reviews of wines that don ?t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. Look for it on the final Friday of each month:

? Anne Amie Estate Riesling 2009 ($19, purchased): Lots of petrol on the nose, acid and lime fruit to balance what sweetness there is, and a nice slate-y finish. It’s not what I expected — a little more sweet and not as honeyed, but that’s more my problem than the wine.

? Fattoria Montellori Chianti 2009 ($13, sample): Thin but adequate, with black pepper and some red fruit. But there are better examples of Chianti that cost less.

? Raimat Castell de Raimat Albarino 2011 ($8, purchased): Simple, basic wine with lemon and some varietal character, but won’t be confused with better examples of albarino. A decent value and something to keep on hand if you want a glass for dinner.

? Cline Pinot Noir Cool Climate 2010 ($18, sample): Lots of red fruit (cherry and strawberry?), but not overly sweet, with some pinot earthiness and character. Just not sure if it’s $18 worth of wine.

Expensive wine 25: King Estate Pinot Noir Signature 2008

What's better than an expensive wine that deserves a review? An expensive wine that is marked down from its suggested list price.

The Wine Curmudgeon is a fan of Oregon's King Estate, which makes more expensive wines but almost always does so with value in mind. Its pinot noirs are an excellent example of this. They're not quite as pricey as their California and Oregon counterparts, but always seem to deliver just as much quality. And their Acrobat line is about as close as you'll get to top-notch discounted pinot noir and pinot gris.

The Signature ($29, sample) is no exception. It's classic Oregon pinot noir — some cherry fruit, minimal tannins, enough acid to offset the fruit, and only 13 percent alcohol. In this, it's the way pinot noir should be — lighter and more delicate than cabernet sauvignon and merlot, which is something that too many pinot producers have lost sight of.

And the price? This is a previous vintage, and when it arrived at the end of last year, the wine cost $34. Today, it's listed on the King web site for $29, and a quick Wine-Searcher check found it for as little as $20. Considering the awful, tannic and harsh pinots that cost $20, this is a steal.