Is Oregon Going To Outprice Themselves?

[Bucko]

1998 Yamhill Valley, Pinot Noir, Reserve, Willamette Valley, $48. You sense a lush nose of bing cherries and toasty oak with this wine. Very rich on the palate, with layered black cherry, blackberry and plum fruit, sweet oak flavors, substantial but silky tannins, and a very long finish.

Bucko

[barnesy]

Yeah, its getting harder to find a good priced Oregon wine. They want to be a mini california....High prices...big oak. Oh well, Here I come Europe.

Barnesy

[Bucko]

I'm already there, Barnesy....... Loire, Rhone and Alsace are making up a large portion of my purchases.

Bucko

[ddf68]

I wouldn't write off Oregon just yet. It is true there are a number of producers extracting and oaking like mad and charging $40-$70 for the result (Beaux Freres, Panther Creek, Archery Summit . . .)

On the other hand, there are some producers who are making more elegant Burgundian styled pinots at reasonably prices. Willakenzie has a number of bottlings in the low twenties, Torii Mor's Willamette Valley bottling is about $20, St. Innocent makes a number of vineyard designated wines that sell in the high teens, low twenties, and Elk Cove has a good Willamette Valley I picked up in Denver for $10.99. I grant you that Oregon Pinot cannot compete in the $6 to $8 dollar range, but then what Pinot producer can?

ddf

[Bucko]

St. Innocent gets my dollars every year. While they need to age, they are structured well, and are fairly priced for sure.

Bucko