Category: Oregon
Pinot Noir Discoveries, from Values to Burgundy Classics
With the continuing and rapidly rising cost of Burgundy wines, we continue to search for fine Pinot Noir from around the world. We’ve found some winners in Oregon and New Zealand, with their own sense of place and styles that...
Read MoreMemorable Chardonnay Wines from 2022
The top 20 include nine from California and eleven from Burgundy. On the former, I’ve been a fan of Stony Hill of Napa and Hanzell of Sonoma for some 40 years. I prefer more classic styles, which these small producers...
Read MoreValues in Oregon, California and New Zealand Pinot Noir
In going through tasting notes looking for fine values in Pinot Noir, wines from these regions tended to shine: Willamette Valley, Oregon; Russian River Valley, Sonoma; Santa Lucia Highlands, in Monterey County; and further...
Read MoreFun summer sipping with Rosés and white Rhone varietals
After tasting through an ever-broadening array of Rosé wines over the past two months, we were pleased to find several excellent values, including some with depth and style. Our favorites were mostly from Cotes de Provence and...
Read MoreFavorites from 2021 — Classics and Values
It’s always memorable to go through our tasting notes for the year. We recorded the notes during a wide range of tasting experiences, from trying new wines at home, to dinner parties with friends, to trade tastings, industry...
Read MoreExploring New World Pinot Noir, $12 to $88
The following notes are from Pinot Noir wines tasted from the New World over the past six months and rated as good, very good and excellent. For background on Pinot Noir in the New World, versus its home in Burgundy, France,...
Read MoreSummer Whites: Easy Sipping Party Wines, Plus a Few Complex Classics
The following white wines rose to the top of our tasting leaderboard the past three months, scoring for overall quality of the wines and values delivered. Most are widely available, except for classics from the cellar and...
Read MoreValues in New World Pinot Noir
In seeking gastronomic relief from the high-alcohol fruit bombs attacking our palates from all over the world, we often turn to something more friendly with food – Pinot Noir. Wines from this fine red wine grape can be enjoyed...
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Willamette Valley and Seven AVAs — Exploring Oregon Pinot Noir
The seminar was titled “It’s Willamette, Damnit,” to break the pronunciation barriers, and offered...
Read MoreExploring New Worlds of Pinot Noir: California, Oregon, Chile, New Zealand
A global array of winemakers, owners, merchants, distributors and educators convene each March for the annual World of Pinot Noir (WOPN) event at the Ritz Carlton Bacara in Santa Barbara, to be joined by gaggles of wine geeks...
Read More32 Wines Under $23 for Spring Sipping, Picnic and Party Fun
The following wines rise to the top in price and value from among several hundred wines tasted over the past few months, from individual bottles with food at home to sampling through scores at trade tastings and industry...
Read MoreFrom Barbera to Zinfandel, Finding Values in Old and New World Red Wines
Recent tastings – foreign and domestic, remotely or in person — led us to wine discoveries from the Sonoma Coast, to the mountains of Argentina, sunny slopes of Rioja and emerging vineyards in Central Otago, New Zealand....
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