Current Oregon Releases

[Randy Caparoso]

Great! Speaking of Pinots from the Seven Springs Vineyard, I didn't rate a '95 that I tasted recently that was made by Adelsheim. It was good, fragrant, and smoky, but only moderately intense on the palate.

Going over my posted notes, however, I realize that I made a big boo-boo -- rating the '97 Ken Wright "Canary Hill" #5 AND #11. It's not that I can't make up my mind, but because I had meant to put in the '97 Ken Wright "WHISTLING RIDGE" as my #5, and the "Canary Hill" as #11 (with the corresponding notes being correct). This guy just comes out with way too many tasty single vineyard cuvees these days, and so I get easily tripped up when writing about them (like mixing up the names of my three daughters when overly excited). While the '97 "Whistling Ridge" has great top-and-bottom flavors, I do distinctly remember the '97 "Canary Hill" as being quite sexy in a silky lingerie type of way, and a little more drinkable at the moment than his others. I've also been reserving judgement on some of his other cuvees, like the "Shea" and "Carter" vineyards -- those tend to be quite big, dense and slower to open up. Perhaps in a few weeks.

Meanwhile -- as noted on the Beaux Freres thread -- my '97 Beaux Freres has hit the dock, and so I'll be jumping the gun on that this week, no doubt.