This a big wine, with integrated and elegant tannins, and aromas of coffee and plum. The wine has flavors of bright black cherry, boysenberry, and sweet oak, finishing with plum reduction sauce and a hint of nutmeg. This is an easily approachable wine with elegant tannins making it a foodies wine.
It will pair well with red meat, dark poultry meat, and will also compliment various grilled sausages/smoked meats.
Vintage Notes
The 2019 vintage in Washington State proved to be a cooler and wetter year than the last several vintages. Still, a rainy September and brief cold snap in mid-October didn’t keep this harvest from showing brighter and very balanced wines. Wines are presenting with phenolic ripeness without the higher sugars shown in the last few vintages. Washington was on a warming trend since 2012, until 2019 came along to serve as a reminder that Mother Nature is in full control and will keep the viticulture teams expecting the unexpected.
Tarragon and pink peppercorn aromatics combine with subtle notes of Dutch pipe tobacco and blood orange. The palate is rich with vanilla, black raspberry and fresh fig while a bright and driving acidity is complemented by long, velvety tannins. Pair with seared duck breast with savory leek and ricotta bread pudding.
Vineyards Notes
Battle Creek Vineyard 67%, Yamhela 23%, Roe 10%
This is 100% Willamette Valley fruit and is a blend of the 3 top vineyards I work with, emphasizing the Battle Creek Vineyard and its very distinctive aromatic and flavor profile.
The bloom of 2017 came in later than the previous two vintages. A warm early September accelerated fruit development but was slowed by a cool down mid-month, which allowed for a slow and steady harvest. The 2017 harvest boasted slightly higher than average sugar and acid levels with many touting beautiful flavors and well balanced, excellent quality fruit. The yield itself was bountiful with record night cluster weights, while the fruit that came into the cellar was especially juicy with rich, robust flavors.
Specs
Vintage: 2017
Varietal: 100% Pinot Noir
Aged: 326 days in 228L French Oak Barrels; 20% new
Harvested: Sept 28 - Oct 17, 2017
Alcohol: 12.8%
pH: 3.36
Total Acidity: 5.78 g/L
2019 Browne Family Vineyards Bitner Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Tasting Notes
Aromas of dark plum mixed with floral notes of violets lead to flavors of Vann cherry, black coffee and anise. This is a full-bodied Cabernet Saugivnon with big tannins that make your mouth water at every sip. Sweet alcohol and toasted oak finish this off with lingering flavors of bitter chocolate, mocha and cassis. Try this Cabernet with grilled pork ribs, rib roasts, duck confit, game backstraps and/or whatever your favorite red meat is. This is a fantastic bottle to enjoy after dinner on the deck or in the hot tub with friends.
Vintage Notes
The 2019 vintage in Washington State proved to be a cooler and wetter year than the last several vintages. Still, a rainy September and brief cold snap in mid-October didn’t keep this harvest from showing brighter and very balanced wines. Wines are presenting with phenolic ripeness without the higher sugars shown in the last few vintages. Washington was on a warming trend since 2012, until 2019 came along to serve as a reminder that Mother Nature is in full control and will keep the viticulture teams expecting the unexpected.
We ended up picking the entire vineyard in a week starting October 19 with our “A” blocks of Cabernet Sauvignon. These are specially farmed blocks that we spend extra time in during the growing season. Despite a freeze, the fruit came in clean and extraordinarily fruity with dark color and good extraction during ferment. These will be big structured Cabs with lots of true-to-variety flavors.
Specs
Vintage: 2019
Varietals: 97% Cabernet Sauvignon & 3% Petite Verdot
Browne Family Vineyards is a family-owned winery committed to world-class wine production in the heart of Walla Walla, Washington. Inspired by the greatness of one man, William Bitner Browne, late grandfather of proprietor Andrew Browne, the winery is a dream that has been many years in the making. Every decision made — from the vineyard to the bottle — reflects a commitment to premium Washington State wine of exceptional quality and assures cellar-worthy vintages that stand the test of time.
True to the very essence of Oregon’s pioneering spirit, Battle Creek Cellars is built on a foundation of rugged elegance and unconventional sensibility. Our wines are crafted to showcase the simple approachability, dedicated farming and winemaking and a transparency of terroir we work into every bottle. With a sincere adoration of our region, Battle Creek earns a place on your table with unconditional gratitude. Our focus is on thoughtfully made artisan wine without any pomp and circumstance. Whether sourced from our namesake vineyard, Battle Creek, or our other beloved vineyards throughout the state, our wines are distinctively Oregon.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NM, NY, NC, ND, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Whilst visiting the source of our cornucopia of wines, @Winedavid49, a flying monkey dropped off this wine as well as the Browne Family Cab (2nd night report by @Tenuki), since @TimothyB, his SWMBO, @Tenuki and I were in town for the Corison 50th Birthday celebration for her Kronos Vineyard.
Tasting:
TimothyB
TimB’s SWMBO
Tenuki
MarkDaSpark
Forgot to ask the others, but I gave it an 89. They should pop in as well.
Notes:
PnP
Peppery finish - all
Melon (cantaloupe, not honeydew) highlights - TB SWMBO
Peppery spice on nose - T
TimB (channeling Peter Wellington): “There shouldn’t be a Vintage but a ‘Drink By’ date.”
We had it with bread and cheddar cheeses, which worked. We might have been a bit tough on it, since we’d been enjoying Cathy’s 1996 thru 2001 Kronos Cabs and a vertical of her 2018s.
2nd night still nice to drink. No changes from notes, but it held up nicely.
Good for a couple of years, but not a long term cellar wine.
Nice view of vineyards in Amador. Off-set by WiFi with no internet, and spotty mobile service. The WiFi was probably due to a misfire due to a recent power outage.
2019 Browne Family Vineyards Bitner Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
2nd bottle:
Whilst visiting the source of our cornucopia of wines, @Winedavid49, a flying monkey dropped off this wine as well as the Browne Family Cab (2nd night report by @Tenuki), since @TimothyB, his SWMBO, @Tenuki and I were in town for the Corison 50th Birthday celebration for her Kronos Vineyard.
Forgot to ask the others, but I gave it an 89. They should pop in as well. @Tenuki should pop in with 2nd night update.
Notes:
Should mention at this point we’d been drinking Corison Kronos Cabernet Sauvignon (1996/1997/2000/2001/ and her 2018s (Sunbasket CF, Napa Cab, Sunbasket Cab, & Kronos Cab) horizontal), from 2 to 5pm. So any other Cab would suffer. Put another way, this wine is about 1/5 the cost of a Kronos (@TimothyB).
PnP: Light nose at first.
Then, strong pepper (TBS), jamminess (TB)
Taste: Blackberry, tannins later (TBS), and cinnamon or nutmeg (T)
@MarkDaSpark Second day tasting notes: I enjoyed it more on the second day, it’d opened up some on the nose, and some of the heat had blown off. Dark fruits with some spiciness, still pretty smooth and long finish.
Sorry for the abbreviated labrats, but as usual for me (in wine areas), my internet access is horrible in vineyards, and trying to get them posted has been hard. WiFi with no internet is not fun. Currently sitting in a parking lot.
These were both enjoyable wines, and I would have been very tempted to buy … if I didn’t already buy way too much in Napa/Sonoma/Lodi/Amador this trip!
Tomorrow’s a travel day, but will try to check in periodically.
2019 Browne Family Vineyards Bitner Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
So living on the edge of a salt marsh has it’s benefits. The marsh rats, watching me partake of a particular noble beverage whilst on our deck on numerous occasions welcomed me into their family the other day, declaring me “Lab Rat”. All I can say is careful what you wish for…ha! So how did they welcome me into the pack? Well they apparently offed the monkey, stole the goods and dropped them off in back at low tide. Smart little critters aren’t they? They bestowed upon me a bottle of 2019 Browne Family Vineyards Bitner Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley.
So, enough of that drivel… Nice simple package similar to other Browne offerings here. Bitner Estate kind of hard to read on the label, doesn’t really stand out, no biggie. Bottle has a bit of heft, empty just a tad shy of two pounds, deep punt.
Ok, on to some wine details. Bottle had a few days to rest in a wine fridge, popped the cork with a waiter’s corkscrew with some difficulty. Cork seemed to be a bit dry and hard, wanted to split apart on me. But I got it out basically in one piece, no particles in wine. I believed it to be real cork but maybe not after splitting it open. But no seepage or anything and I’m sure it did not compromise the integrity of the wine.
Cork out, poured a bit for me into Gabriel Glas Gold and bride a Riedel Vinum Bordeaux. Wine temp 62 °F. Color is a solid ruby, not inky nor can you read through it. Viscosity, for those that wonder about such things, this wine has some legs.
Aroma you ask? Pretty subtle, a little spice/heat, lovely bride said sharp, fruit tending to the darker side. Initial taste not giving up much, maybe a bit of plum. Low to medium acid. Bride said not bright and sassy. Dry. No overt oak. No discernible heat, handling the 14.8 according to the label well. Decent finish didn’t have the stopwatch out, fruit trying to peek out (not pique, not peak…double ha!) smooth easy tannins. Almost elegant, bit of a chew.
Next poured 1/4 of the bottle into a .375 and stuck in the house fridge for day two and slowly poured off the remaining into a decanter, after all it’s a 2019 so pretty fresh goods right? Next up is throwing a prime New York strip on the grill and finishing up some 5 year old cheddar smashed taters.
With dinner which the wine was quite happy to accompany my bride said it smoothed out, my guess is that’s the wine playing with the marbling in the meat and the “tiny” bit of cheese and butter on above mentioned taters. Fruit picking up some depth and some chocolate that I usually associate with some Merlots.
Day two, hasn’t fallen off at all, improved a bit. Fruit profile seems to have brightened up a bit and seemed a bit more of the red fruit spectrum, I’m thinking red cherry, my bride says raspberry. We traded glasses a few times, no real changes in opinions.
All in all a good solid wine that I wanted a bit more out of. It was certainly pleasant on it’s own and went well with our simple dinner. In reading the winery notes on the website after tasting my wife and I pretty much echoed their notes flavor-wise but we disagree that this is full-bodied with big tannins. With holidays coming this would be pretty versatile with and without food and the package would make for a nice gift. My thought on a casemates price was $10 way too low and at $20 I’d have to think about it so thought it should land somewhere in between leaning to $15+.
Thanks for the opportunity to be a marsh, I mean lab rat…cheers!
86 Points. Light strawberry and raspberry fruit thins out quickly, lending this reserve an impression of being underripe. There are green tea flavors and backing acidity that tastes like freshly squeezed lemons. Note the low alcohol. PG 9/1/20
88 Points. Delicate and nuanced, with cherry and green tea flavors that finish with a lively snap of acidity. Drink now through 2025. 2,000 cases made. — TF Web-only 2020
90 Points. Editors’ Choice. Vanilla, cocoa and cherry aromas are followed by smooth, deft fruit and barrel flavors. The appeal is as much about feel as flavor, with the palate showing polish on this well-balanced wine. SPS 9/1/21
OK, sorry about the delay, I worked overnight last night and had to get some ZZs.
I was excited to get a chance to Rat again! Always a fun surprise.
I recieved the bottle of Pendulum Red Wine 2019 in the mail nice and early. This was great as it gave me a chance to throw it in the wine fridge and test it on a good night for some wine.
The bottle has a clean, classic label that I liked. Doesn’t say much about what grapes are in the wine (I looked it up after the fact: 58% Merlot, 15% Syrah, 10% Petit Verdot, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc, 5% Malbec - https://www.preceptwine.com/wp-content/uploads/collateral/pendulumredblend19tn.pdf).
PnP: A bit of heat. Relatively medium/full bodied, so guessed the blend was probably Cabernet or Merlot mostly before I looked it up. Heat blew off a bit. Fruit forward, and I also got some pepper finish as well as noted in an earlier tasting note.
I drank most of the bottle night one with a cheeseburger. It was great with that. I would definitely drink this with something that has some fat - cheese, meat, whatever. I think that is a good pairing for this wine.
I drank some more on day 2 and it was not very different.
Overall, it’s pretty good! Not a knock you dead high-end wine. I figured this was going to be a 20 dollar price point, daily drinker type of wine, rather than a special occasion wine. I think it’s something you would buy to drink tonight, rather than lay it down. If you needed some wines for that purpose, I think this wine at least is a decent buy at this price point.
Opening up the delivery to discover Willamette Pinot was the best surprise, as Willamette Pinot is one of my first and true wine loves. After tasting this wine last night, I was disappointed to discover it wouldn’t be sold alone, but as part of a trio… As this is some solid juice.
PnP: This delivers on what old-school Willamette pinot became famous for: a nose that I always want to describe as a tart “bramble” that is characteristic of minerally pinot, it delivers gravel (and maybe a bit wood) on the palate. light, bright red fruit and enough complexity to keep me intrigued, I was very pleased with this last night. Medium-bodied, overripe Pinot this is not! (Thank goodness.) Caveat: I would agree with Wine Enthusiast that it’s rather thin–here in the sense that the flavors are very ephemeral–nothing really lingers, but I don’t think that’s a terrible downside as the experience of old Willamette PN is worth it, no matter how fleeting, at a sub-$20 price point. There’s definitely better alternatives if you’re willing to spend in the 20-30 dollar range, though.
The other caveat: drinking this now, ~24 hours after opening, it’s really mellowed out–the minerality that may be akin to its rough edges have smoothed out and drinks rather plainly, like watered-down juice–again, not the worst thing imho.
@stoibskd Thanks for the review. Sounds like we have similar tastes in Willamette PNs. I like the idea of mineral/gravel/wood. I always said my ideal W Valley PN is one where you “taste the dirt it grew in.” Not literally, of course. Well maybe. Sounds like this is on the light end of that but still a nice offering.
2019 Pedulum Red Wine, Columbia Valley
Tasting Notes
Vintage Notes
Vineyard Sources
Specs
2017 Battle Creek Cellars Reserve Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon
91 Points - JamesSuckling.com
Gold - Wine Press Northwest
Tasting Notes
Vineyards Notes
Specs
2019 Browne Family Vineyards Bitner Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Tasting Notes
Vintage Notes
Specs
What’s Included
6-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
Not for sale online, $380/case MSRP
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NM, NY, NC, ND, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Nov 15 - Friday, Nov 19
Northwest Fall Reds
6 bottles for $99.99 $16.66/bottle + $1.33/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $169.99 $14.17/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2019 Pedulum Red Wine
2017 Battle Creek Cellars Reserve Pinot Noir
2019 Browne Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon
2019 Pedulum Red Wine, Columbia Valley
Whilst visiting the source of our cornucopia of wines, @Winedavid49, a flying monkey dropped off this wine as well as the Browne Family Cab (2nd night report by @Tenuki), since @TimothyB, his SWMBO, @Tenuki and I were in town for the Corison 50th Birthday celebration for her Kronos Vineyard.
Tasting:
TimothyB
TimB’s SWMBO
Tenuki
MarkDaSpark
Forgot to ask the others, but I gave it an 89. They should pop in as well.
Notes:
PnP
Peppery finish - all
Melon (cantaloupe, not honeydew) highlights - TB SWMBO
Peppery spice on nose - T
TimB (channeling Peter Wellington): “There shouldn’t be a Vintage but a ‘Drink By’ date.”
We had it with bread and cheddar cheeses, which worked. We might have been a bit tough on it, since we’d been enjoying Cathy’s 1996 thru 2001 Kronos Cabs and a vertical of her 2018s.
2nd night still nice to drink. No changes from notes, but it held up nicely.
Good for a couple of years, but not a long term cellar wine.
Front label:
Back label:
@MarkDaSpark
Pendulum
Looks like mediocrebot started a chain reaction…
@chipgreen @MarkDaSpark Well, that depeds how you view it…
Speaking of view, those are some nice pics, Sparky.
@MarkDaSpark Thanks for the review & the view. Nice to see you last week & catch up.
@chipgreen @InFrom
Nice view of vineyards in Amador. Off-set by WiFi with no internet, and spotty mobile service. The WiFi was probably due to a misfire due to a recent power outage.
2019 Browne Family Vineyards Bitner Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
2nd bottle:
Whilst visiting the source of our cornucopia of wines, @Winedavid49, a flying monkey dropped off this wine as well as the Browne Family Cab (2nd night report by @Tenuki), since @TimothyB, his SWMBO, @Tenuki and I were in town for the Corison 50th Birthday celebration for her Kronos Vineyard.
Tasting:
TimothyB
TimB’s SWMBO (TBS)
Tenuki
MarkDaSpark
Forgot to ask the others, but I gave it an 89. They should pop in as well. @Tenuki should pop in with 2nd night update.
Notes:
Should mention at this point we’d been drinking Corison Kronos Cabernet Sauvignon (1996/1997/2000/2001/ and her 2018s (Sunbasket CF, Napa Cab, Sunbasket Cab, & Kronos Cab) horizontal), from 2 to 5pm. So any other Cab would suffer. Put another way, this wine is about 1/5 the cost of a Kronos (@TimothyB).
PnP: Light nose at first.
Then, strong pepper (TBS), jamminess (TB)
Taste: Blackberry, tannins later (TBS), and cinnamon or nutmeg (T)
Good mouthfeel, but tannins linger (T)
Cherries - (TB, MdS)
Back label:
@MarkDaSpark Second day tasting notes: I enjoyed it more on the second day, it’d opened up some on the nose, and some of the heat had blown off. Dark fruits with some spiciness, still pretty smooth and long finish.
Sorry for the abbreviated labrats, but as usual for me (in wine areas), my internet access is horrible in vineyards, and trying to get them posted has been hard. WiFi with no internet is not fun. Currently sitting in a parking lot.
These were both enjoyable wines, and I would have been very tempted to buy … if I didn’t already buy way too much in Napa/Sonoma/Lodi/Amador this trip!
Tomorrow’s a travel day, but will try to check in periodically.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
Northwest Fall Reds - $30 = 15.0%
2019 Browne Family Vineyards Bitner Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
So living on the edge of a salt marsh has it’s benefits. The marsh rats, watching me partake of a particular noble beverage whilst on our deck on numerous occasions welcomed me into their family the other day, declaring me “Lab Rat”. All I can say is careful what you wish for…ha! So how did they welcome me into the pack? Well they apparently offed the monkey, stole the goods and dropped them off in back at low tide. Smart little critters aren’t they? They bestowed upon me a bottle of 2019 Browne Family Vineyards Bitner Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley.
So, enough of that drivel… Nice simple package similar to other Browne offerings here. Bitner Estate kind of hard to read on the label, doesn’t really stand out, no biggie. Bottle has a bit of heft, empty just a tad shy of two pounds, deep punt.
Ok, on to some wine details. Bottle had a few days to rest in a wine fridge, popped the cork with a waiter’s corkscrew with some difficulty. Cork seemed to be a bit dry and hard, wanted to split apart on me. But I got it out basically in one piece, no particles in wine. I believed it to be real cork but maybe not after splitting it open. But no seepage or anything and I’m sure it did not compromise the integrity of the wine.
Cork out, poured a bit for me into Gabriel Glas Gold and bride a Riedel Vinum Bordeaux. Wine temp 62 °F. Color is a solid ruby, not inky nor can you read through it. Viscosity, for those that wonder about such things, this wine has some legs.
Aroma you ask? Pretty subtle, a little spice/heat, lovely bride said sharp, fruit tending to the darker side. Initial taste not giving up much, maybe a bit of plum. Low to medium acid. Bride said not bright and sassy. Dry. No overt oak. No discernible heat, handling the 14.8 according to the label well. Decent finish didn’t have the stopwatch out, fruit trying to peek out (not pique, not peak…double ha!) smooth easy tannins. Almost elegant, bit of a chew.
Next poured 1/4 of the bottle into a .375 and stuck in the house fridge for day two and slowly poured off the remaining into a decanter, after all it’s a 2019 so pretty fresh goods right? Next up is throwing a prime New York strip on the grill and finishing up some 5 year old cheddar smashed taters.
With dinner which the wine was quite happy to accompany my bride said it smoothed out, my guess is that’s the wine playing with the marbling in the meat and the “tiny” bit of cheese and butter on above mentioned taters. Fruit picking up some depth and some chocolate that I usually associate with some Merlots.
Day two, hasn’t fallen off at all, improved a bit. Fruit profile seems to have brightened up a bit and seemed a bit more of the red fruit spectrum, I’m thinking red cherry, my bride says raspberry. We traded glasses a few times, no real changes in opinions.
All in all a good solid wine that I wanted a bit more out of. It was certainly pleasant on it’s own and went well with our simple dinner. In reading the winery notes on the website after tasting my wife and I pretty much echoed their notes flavor-wise but we disagree that this is full-bodied with big tannins. With holidays coming this would be pretty versatile with and without food and the package would make for a nice gift. My thought on a casemates price was $10 way too low and at $20 I’d have to think about it so thought it should land somewhere in between leaning to $15+.
Thanks for the opportunity to be a marsh, I mean lab rat…cheers!
@kaolis Thank you for the review and the great pics
Thanks for review and photos. That cork color, maybe a bit weird. That meat color — looks good to me.
I like the idea where you can pour 1/4 of a bottle into a 375 and next day will have a full 375 again.
Others say:
Wine Enthusiast on the Pinot:
86 Points. Light strawberry and raspberry fruit thins out quickly, lending this reserve an impression of being underripe. There are green tea flavors and backing acidity that tastes like freshly squeezed lemons. Note the low alcohol. PG 9/1/20
https://www.winemag.com/buying-guide/battle-creek-2017-reserve-pinot-noir-willamette-valley/
Also the Spectator on the Pinot:
88 Points. Delicate and nuanced, with cherry and green tea flavors that finish with a lively snap of acidity. Drink now through 2025. 2,000 cases made. — TF Web-only 2020
A little blurb here about the Pinot:
https://www.winepressnw.com/magazine/2020/summer-2020/article243917442.html
The Pendulum from WE:
90 Points. Editors’ Choice. Vanilla, cocoa and cherry aromas are followed by smooth, deft fruit and barrel flavors. The appeal is as much about feel as flavor, with the palate showing polish on this well-balanced wine. SPS 9/1/21
https://www.winemag.com/buying-guide/pendulum-2019-red-columbia-valley-wa/
fwiw
OK, sorry about the delay, I worked overnight last night and had to get some ZZs.
I was excited to get a chance to Rat again! Always a fun surprise.
I recieved the bottle of Pendulum Red Wine 2019 in the mail nice and early. This was great as it gave me a chance to throw it in the wine fridge and test it on a good night for some wine.
The bottle has a clean, classic label that I liked. Doesn’t say much about what grapes are in the wine (I looked it up after the fact: 58% Merlot, 15% Syrah, 10% Petit Verdot, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc, 5% Malbec - https://www.preceptwine.com/wp-content/uploads/collateral/pendulumredblend19tn.pdf).
PnP: A bit of heat. Relatively medium/full bodied, so guessed the blend was probably Cabernet or Merlot mostly before I looked it up. Heat blew off a bit. Fruit forward, and I also got some pepper finish as well as noted in an earlier tasting note.
I drank most of the bottle night one with a cheeseburger. It was great with that. I would definitely drink this with something that has some fat - cheese, meat, whatever. I think that is a good pairing for this wine.
I drank some more on day 2 and it was not very different.
Overall, it’s pretty good! Not a knock you dead high-end wine. I figured this was going to be a 20 dollar price point, daily drinker type of wine, rather than a special occasion wine. I think it’s something you would buy to drink tonight, rather than lay it down. If you needed some wines for that purpose, I think this wine at least is a decent buy at this price point.
@icarus8 Thank you for the rattage
Opening up the delivery to discover Willamette Pinot was the best surprise, as Willamette Pinot is one of my first and true wine loves. After tasting this wine last night, I was disappointed to discover it wouldn’t be sold alone, but as part of a trio… As this is some solid juice.
PnP: This delivers on what old-school Willamette pinot became famous for: a nose that I always want to describe as a tart “bramble” that is characteristic of minerally pinot, it delivers gravel (and maybe a bit wood) on the palate. light, bright red fruit and enough complexity to keep me intrigued, I was very pleased with this last night. Medium-bodied, overripe Pinot this is not! (Thank goodness.) Caveat: I would agree with Wine Enthusiast that it’s rather thin–here in the sense that the flavors are very ephemeral–nothing really lingers, but I don’t think that’s a terrible downside as the experience of old Willamette PN is worth it, no matter how fleeting, at a sub-$20 price point. There’s definitely better alternatives if you’re willing to spend in the 20-30 dollar range, though.
The other caveat: drinking this now, ~24 hours after opening, it’s really mellowed out–the minerality that may be akin to its rough edges have smoothed out and drinks rather plainly, like watered-down juice–again, not the worst thing imho.
@stoibskd Thanks for the review. Sounds like we have similar tastes in Willamette PNs. I like the idea of mineral/gravel/wood. I always said my ideal W Valley PN is one where you “taste the dirt it grew in.” Not literally, of course. Well maybe. Sounds like this is on the light end of that but still a nice offering.
@stoibskd I likewise would have been more interested in a Pinot offering with these specs but it’s hard to go in on this set.
Grateful to the rats on this one.
@stoibskd Thank you for the review