Barrel Tasting Through The Willamette Valley During Thanksgiving Open House

[Bucko]

Tasting through the valley, I was pretty much unimpressed with the 97s, being over extracted, tannic, with muted fruit. The only 97s that I purchased were wines from Belle Pente and Ken Wright. AFA the 98s, many wineries were not sampling these wines. Panther Creek impressed me the most, but St. Innocent Brickhouse & Seven Springs and Belle Pente were also winners. I purchased futures from these wineries, no others to date. I'll have to try again during Memorial Day when more wineries are pouring the 98s, generally considered an excellent vintage for OR. For Pinot Gris fans, Westry turned out a nice 98.

Bucko