International Pinot Noir Celebration Results

Yesterday I went to McMinnville, Oregon with Chuck Humble for the International Pinot Noir Celebration. We tasted nearly every wine there (totallying something like 75), had some great food (who knew buffalo could be so tender), and generally enjoyed ourselves in some wonderful weather.

At the end of the day, there were only a couple of surprises. One surprise for me was that the French Burgundies didn't seem to show very well next to the Oregon Pinot Noirs -- the style of winemaking (less fruit, more spice) just seemed less appealing on a hot day. A second was the $18/bottle Firesteed -- it was showing in a league with many $40 and $50 bottles and was a wonderfully drinkable wine. Finally was a surprise from Switzerland -- the Fromm below.

Here are my picks, most of which aren't available yet, but all of which promise to be wonderful:

Winery	Wine	Contact Info
Kingston Family Vineyards, Chile	2003 Casablanca	www.kingstonvineyards.com
Domaine Marc Roy, France	2001 Gevrey-Chambertin, Clos Prieur	+33 03 80 51 81 13
Dry River, New Zealand	2002 Dry River	Liza_lanier@rowines.com (importer)
Fromm Winery, Switzerland	2002 Malanser	www.frommwineries.com
Domaine Alfred, California	2001 Califa	www.domainealfred.com
Goldeneye Winery, California	2001 Anderson Valley	www.goldeneyewinery.com
Hitching Post Wines, California	2001 Highliner, Santa Barbara County	www.hitchingpostwines.com
Skewis Wines, California	2001 Demuth Vineyard, Anderson Valley	www.skewiswines.com
Chehalem, Oregon	2002 Reserve	www.chehalemwines.com
Elk Cove Vineyards, Oregon	2002 Roosevelt	www.elkcove.com
Firesteed Cellars, Oregon	2001 Willamette Valley	www.firesteed.com
Ponzi Vineyards, Oregon	2002 Reserve	www.ponziwines.com
Sokol Blosser Winery, Oregon	2001 Estate, Old Vineyard Block	www.sokolblosser.com
Yamhill Valley Vineyards, Oregon	2000 Estate Reserve	www.yamhill.com

On another note, the IPNC had a table where they were tasting three wines made from the same grapes, picked the same day from the same vineyard. There was an amazing difference among the three -- truly a sign of the winemaker's art.

Comments

• Anonymous
  July 26, 2004
  Can you get the Swiss wine in the US?
• Anonymous
  July 27, 2004
  Not yet, I don't think. You'll probably want to contact the winemaker to see who their importer is.
• Anonymous
  August 12, 2004
  Hi John,
  Glad you enjoyed our Demuth Vyd. pinot at the IPNC. Thank you for including us in your recent review.
  All the best,
  Maggie