Essex County Wine Society

                                                         WINE PRESS

                             ESSEX COUNTY WINE SOCIETY

February 15, 2007

Dear Society Members and Fellow Wine Lovers:

This letter is being written before our Port tasting and thus our review of that tasting will be in the next Wine Press. In addition, please be advised that WE HAVE CHANGED THE DATE OF THE OREGON PINOT NOIR TASTING FROM MARCH 1 TO MARCH 8.

Ron Schwartzman and Howard Menaker will lead us through a 2004 Oregon pinot noir tasting on March 8. The last time we conducted an Oregon pinot noir tasting was in 2001 when Henry Strauss (Ron’s father in law) led us through a tasting of the 1998 pinot noirs and it was very well received by the Society. In fact, since that time the sophistication in the vineyards as well as in the cellars has only improved. We recognize that there are many Burgundians in our Society and clearly these pinot noirs are not from Burgundy but that have their own personality and in many ways can compete with the pinot noirs from Burgundy.

Pinot Noir whether in Burgundy or Oregon needs a cool climate and is a highly fickle grape variety. Vintners have to treat the grape gently and many feel it is the most difficult grape in the world. The inherent delicacy and sensitivity present provides the vintners with many opportunities in the vineyard and cellar to improve quality and style (Wine Spectator, 12/15/06).

The Williamette Valley in Oregon, which is in the northwestern portion of the state, below Portland and above Eugene has the kind of damp, cool weather that is perfect for growing this grape. In addition the basalt based soils mixed with varying degrees of iron provide for terroir that gives these wines a mixture of fruit and acidity for drinking enjoyment. In fact, the wine producers are becoming more sophisticated as it relates to terroir and they are currently bottling their wines with vineyard designations so that the individual terroirs can be reflected in the wines. This is exactly what the better producers in Burgundy do and this was done on a very limited basis with the 1998 wines we tasted at our prior tasting of Oregon pinot noir. The goal of our tasting will be to see if the terroir will be obvious to us as we taste two different vineyards by each of four producers.

Before describing some of the wines we will taste, it is also important to mention that 2004 is considered to be a very good vintage in Oregon rated 95 by Wine Spectator. After the heat of 2003 which produced a “mixed bag” with grapes that were distinctly super ripe and even roasted, thus making it hard to find wines with finesse, the 2004 vintage produced a number of finely wrought wines appealing to fans of classic graceful pinot noir (Josh Reynolds, International Wine Cellar May/June 2006).

Harvey Steinman in Wine Spectator, if has a concern about these wines, it is that there are too many “newbies” who are trying to produce wines after successful careers as lawyers, doctors etc and they wind up with dilution, unpolished tannins and off flavors from mishandled fermentation (Wine Spectator 1/15/07). To insure that we do not face this problem, Ron and Howard have obtained wines by some of the oldest established wine makers in the region.

The first winemaker represented at our tasting will be Mark Vlossak of St. Innocent with his Seven Springs Vineyard Pinot Noir and Anden Vineyard Pinot Noir. Although the 2004 has not been reviewed by Parker, he did give the 2003 wines a 91 and 93 rating respectively.

The second winemaker will be from Shea and his wines, Shea Vineyard Estate and Shea Vineyard Wadenswil received a rating of 95 and 93 respectively from Wine Spectator.

The third winemaker from Cristom, one of the older operations in Oregon received high grades from Wine Spectator and from Allen Meadows a/k/a Burghound, probably the leading critic of pinot noir in the world.

We will also have a number of other suprises at the tasting that will assist us to understand the terroir of Oregon winemaking country. 

The cost will be $49 for members and $63 for guests.

The following tasting will be a vertical Pichon Baron tasting on April 5, 2007. In addition please note that our Spring dinner will be on May 6, 2007. Our Barbara Prosser memorial dinner will take place on Sunday June 10, 2007. More details will be following.

We have enclosed a copy of the 2006-2007 membership list for your file.

In vino veritas and a votre sante

Bob and Howard

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