Oregon's Story - The Cast of Characters Grows

reprinted courtesy of Santé Magazine

Don't blink because Oregon's identity is morphing. The state's seemingly single-minded pursuit of pinot noir has spread to sister varieties pinot gris and pinot blanc. Indeed it may be that America's best hopes for quality pinot gris lie here in vineyards nearly throughout the state.

Oregon and Burgundy

If Oregon pinot noir seems like old hat, remember that it's been only 15 years or so since the wine potential was discovered. Oregon's reputation since has been based upon occasional successes with pinot noir, but that reputation has always been suspect for some. After all, pinot noir has been inconsistent and nothing else of importance was made there.

That viewpoint is now being challenged. For one pinot noir has suddenly become trustworthy here. George Miliotes, general manager of Walt Disney World food-and-wine destination, California Grill, insists, “When people want to learn more about pinot noir, I don't take them to California, I take them to Oregon.” Ellen Landis, sommelier of the tawny Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay on the coast south of San Francisco, is an ardent supporter as well. "I'm a native Californian, and California makes beautiful pinot noir, but Oregon's are more Burgundian."

Oregon's entrance to the world stage of commercially significant wine occurs in 1985, when America's major wine magazines' laudatory reviews of the 1983 vintage proclaimed that Oregon was pinot noir's promised land. The "heartbreak grape" had ceased its unfaithful ways and finally had been domesticated. But the love affair has been rocky ever since.

This is hardly the due to shortcomings among Oregon grape growers and winemakers. Rather, the cool and frequently soggy (especially at harvest) grape-growing season offers conditions only a gambler could love. In some vintages, about half of those since 1983, good and even great wines have been made. But many wines from suspect vintages released in the last 18 years have been less impressive, and reviewers have acted as though they were the victims of bait and switch.

Oregon has never advertised itself as a place of uniform wine anymore than has Burgundy. The 1983 vintage showed wines of richness and elegance, but 1984 stands as a cautionary tale. In that year both Burgundy and Oregon produced wines of little character, fleshiness, or beauty; both crops were marred by lack of ripeness and wet harvests.

The Ritz Carlton's Landis is not certain if the two regions are necessarily similar: "Maybe the climate more closely resembles Burgundy. Maybe the producers match their winemaking styles to Burgundy." Miliotes regards Oregon as occupying a middle ground. He remarks, "When I think of California, I think of wine that is more fruit-based. But Oregon gets that mix of the Old World and the New World. The wines have more structure."

Part of the excitement among wine drinkers is that Oregon pinot noir can show distinct differences in flavor, based upon the soils in which the wines are grown. While soil types can vary within particular regions, producers in Oregon are preparing to designate areas, such as Eola Hills and Red Hills, as American Viticultural Areas (AVAs). Regardless of the marketing application of these future AVAs, the integrity of the producer and the character of the vintage will continue to be the most important elements in predicting the quality of an Oregon pinot noir.

Vintage Variation

While improved methods in the vineyards and wineries have offered better wines from Oregon in the 1990s, Oregon will always remain an uneven source of great pinot noir. Indeed the frustration felt by many pinot noir lovers and producers is due to the grape's need for a marginal climate. Only in regions where the grape is allowed to ripen slowly can pinot noir's elusive finesse and seductiveness come forth; the best places are bound to have problems with consistency.

Savvy buyers know this. Miliotes cautions that when it comes to Oregon pinot noir, "you must watch vintage." If, in the past, some pinot noir lovers, reviewers, and wine magazines have sounded a bit bitter with Oregon's uneven record, attitudes are changing. You don't need a weatherman to know that 1998, 1999, and 2000 enjoyed good ripening and harvest conditions. Each of these vintages has very good wines to offer.

The 2001 vintage also should be a success---easy-drinking charmers similar to the 2000s. "It was not too terribly unlike 2000," says Domaine Serene Winemaker Tony Rynders, "although it's a lower acid year." Steve Doerner of Cristom agrees, although he expresses some concern about the wines potentially having "not as much structure as 2000, but maybe that's just in my cellar." He believes that they will "probably be easier drinking and might be early to come around."

Emerging White Wines

Doerner's take on Oregon's recent history is that "people were saying that we could make good red wine only in even years, but that trend has been broken".

The strong wines available from the last four vintages may strengthen Oregon's potential position as America's pinot noir country.

But Doerner wonders why Oregon's white wines have been unheralded, noting, "The white wines have, in fact, shown better in the past few vintages." Pinot gris from nearly every winery has improved in the last four years. Bottlings of late have offered better ripeness, and winemakers have not necessarily responded by making “bigger” wines. Instead the interest here seems to be upon improving the wines' balance.

King Estate, the market leader in American pinot gris, has honed the style of its Reserve pinot gris. The 2000 version shows no oak barrel flavors but relies instead on complex and seductive fruit to provide interest and balance. For a large and successful winery's top white wine offering, the Reserve is a remarkably understated wine, filled with grace and charm.

Other versions of pinot gris and several bottlings of pinot blanc are as rich and sleek in 2000 and 2001. The three Pinots---noir, gris, and blanc---are happily ensconced in Oregon's Willamette and a few other valleys. Even the warm Rogue River and Umpqua Valleys have produced creditable wines from these grapes. Pinot gris and blanc will likely grow to offer many more such wines in the next five years.

But Doerner believes that chardonnay and pinot noir---Burgundy's prime grapes---can be profound here. According to Doerner, chardonnay's problem is that "there are so many uninteresting ones. But it's a great variety when it's done well. I can think of one or two bottles that have blown my mind, but I can't say that about pinot gris---even great Alsace pinot gris."

Along with many of his fellow Oregon winemakers, Doerner believes the Oregon “can lead the world, not just follow,” and that the styles that define and typify great pinot noir and chardonnay include Oregon's wines. Oregon can and should pursue great wines because, as Doerner describes, "There are some bottles that just thinking about them reminds you of where you were and who you were with when you drank them."