More Pinot, please

I just returned from the Wine Bloggers conference in Portland. Oregon is full of beautiful vineyards.  They look vastly different than the vineyards here in Washington, with their rolling hills fringed with evergreens.  This is a vineyard at Willakenzie Estates, in the Yamhill Carlton district of the Willamette Valley.  Gorgeous.

Over the weekend, we tasted a lot of Oregon Pinot Noir – and a few sips of wine from the rest of the world, too.  Seems like every corner of the globe was represented. Not really. It just seemed like it.  We never tasted any wines from China, for example. 

But we did stroll through a festive tasting hosted by the Oregon Wine board. We sipped the wines of Argentina while watching dancers tango across the ballroom.  

We hopped from Italy to France to Greece at the international wine night.  We even tasted some delicious Washington wines.  Home, sweet home.

 Some of the more fun events of the conference are the Live Speed Blogging sessions. Tables of eight to ten writers wait expectantly in a large ballroom, fingers hovering over keyboards and smart phones, waiting, waiting, waiting….

when suddenly a host of winemakers fly across the room toting bottles and handouts describing everything you could possible want to know about their wines.  The winemakers are allowed 5 minutes at each table, pouring, talking about vineyards and elevations and growing conditions and oak, until Bong! -- the bell sounds signaling time to move on to the next table.  Frantic for the winemakers and the wine tasters alike, but lots of fun. 

A few wines stood out:

Alexana Winery  2009 Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard, $75                                  

Winemaker Lynn Penner-Ash blends the best nine barrels from Alexana’s annual production for this signature Pinot. Born in Oregon's Willamette Valley, this wine is bright, full-bodied – a perfect balance of oak and acidity, and a notably different style than the Pinots  Penner-Ash makes for her own label.  Only 265 cases produced.

Johan Vineyards 2009 Nils Reserve Pinot Noir, $45

2009 was a hot year, but Johan Vineyards’ proximity to Oregon’s Van Duzer corridor, with its consistent coastal breezes, gave it a welcome temperature drop every evening. That led to longer hang times and ripening days without elevated sugars.  This wine opens up with lots of woody, cedar aromas and earthy, mineral flavors, all delivered in a lovely low-alcohol (12.7%) wine. Tastes like more.

Seufert Winery 2009 Vine Idyl Pinot Noir, $30
This wine piques interest in every direction.  Spices and lilac, along with lots of bacon, coffee and smoky leather make an intriguing Pinot. Vine Idyl is a teensy little two-acre vineyard producing some classic Oregon Pinot Noirs.

Coppola 2010 Diamond Collection Claret, $18

Claret is a British term used to describe Bordeaux blends. This California offering of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Petit Verdot, 5% Malbec and 3% Cabernet Franc is classic.  Rich woody flavors of plum, leather and anise are….comforting.  That’s a good thing in wine, right?  And at $18, the ratio of cost/quality makes this my favorite wine of the redwinespeedbloggingsession.  Amen.