-Oregon 2009 Vintage Six Pinot Pinot noir Sampler

2009 Vintage Six Pinot Sampler
10% off regular price

If 2008 was the vintage for laying down great wines and cellaring them for six to twelve years, 2009 is the vintage for the here and now!

The 2009 Pinots will put a smile on your face and a spring in your step.

If you're one of those people who can't resist opening the bottle as soon as you have it out of the shipping box, this vintage is for you.

Our favorite Oregon winemakers have the art of making great Pinots in warmer vintages totally dialed in.

They took advantage of a warm summer with lots of ripe fruit and made big, succulent, balanced wines that are ready to drink.

You've loved the wines of Tony Soter (Soter, Planet Oregon), Jason Lett (Eyrie), Laura Volkman, Amy and David (Westrey), Jimmy Maresh, and up-and-comer Matt Shown in the past.

With today's Sampler, they show us how it's done.

One bottle each of:

Laura Volkman Vineyard St. James Pinot noir 09 $24.95

This is the richest and plushest of Laura's last three vintages of St. James. She took advantage of the riper 2009 vintage to make a balanced wine with big, upfront juiciness and smooth tannins. The St. James has her trademark aroma of incense, roses, and spice. It's a bigger style than her usual Pinot -- almost California big -- and with plenty of acid to lift and round out the succulent blackberry, raspberry and cherry fruit flavors. - Jean

Planet Oregon from Soter Pinot noir 09 $19.95

Planet Oregon Pinot noir 09 is a lovely, garnet colored wine. A delectable aroma of fresh raspberries, just picked on a hot summer day, almost takes your breath away. An upfront juiciness follows through with mouthwatering flavors of raspberries, blackberries, and cherries, tinged with a suggestion of sweet baking spices and dried herbs. A pretty, easy to love wine, it is ready to drink. It will take you in your mind to an Oregon vineyard on a perfect summer day, wherever you are. - Jean

Westrey Abbey Ridge Pinot noir 09 $35.95

This Pinot smells and tastes so good it's almost risque! The red fruit perfume has a middle-of-the-summer quality, and an unstoppable allure. Sweet earth, lavender, and a white pepper-spiciness embraces rich raspberry-strawberry-cherry. So suave, so highly recommended. - Marcus

Arterberry Maresh Dundee Hills Pinot noir 09 $24.95

Amazing value. Let me explain: you take some 1970-planted Maresh Vineyard Pommard and add in more Maresh Pinot, plus fruit from the esteemed Juliard and Winderlea Vineyards and put it in a bottle for under $25. Yep, Jim declassified some of his best fruit because it was a little "bigger" than he likes for the Maresh. Lucky us, since that makes his Dundee Hills packed with flavor, slightly spicy red fruit brimming out of the glass. At 13.8%, I wouldn't exactly call this "big," but I would call it smoking good. - Marcus

Brigadoon Lylee Pinot noir 09 $18.95

The Oregon 09 Pinots are drinking beautifully right out of the gate and the Brigadoon Lylee is no exception. The bright fruit up front immediately speaks Pinot noir in this delicious third vintage from winemaker Matt Shown. A slight Christmas spice with smooth caramel on the mid palate ramps into a pleasantly sharp cherry finish. If this is Brigadoon's everyday Pinot, I can't wait to taste the 09 Reserve. - Andy

Lundeen Willamette Valley Pinot noir 09 $18.95

Michael Lundeen manages Walnut City Wineworks, a collective of small wineries in McMinnville. His own winery makes two labels - his "value" label, Lundeen, and his estate vineyard Genius Loci label. You may remember him from his time as winemaker at Ilahe.

How to describe Michael's Lundeen Pinot? In a word, balance. Just when you think the fruit might be too intense, the needle comes back up to center. The spice, the minerality, the smooth tannins, the uplifting finish - Michael manages intensity and balance to make a terrific Pinot at a killer price. - Jean