2011 Evening Land pinot noir Willamette Valley (Blue Label)

Quite a while back I had tried a previous vintage of this wine (the 2009, I think) at a restaurant and was unimpressed. To be fair, my view was likely altered by having paid the 3x mark-up. In the time since this I have basically steered clear of Evening Land’s entry level blue label pinot noir in favor of the many other excellent Oregon pinots in this similar price range. But recently I received a bottle of the 2011 in my wine club shipment and so I had the opportunity to give it another go. This time, drinking it in the comfort of my own home, I had a very different experience. I found this 2011 version to be a very solid effort and a quite enjoyable wine. Not earth-shattering or breaking any new pinot noir ground, but still a very well-made pinot with flavor and aroma profiles consist with the Oregon style. Lots of blueberry and red cherry on the nose with cherry-berry pie flavors and some noticeable spicy notes at the end. It has a nice weight – a bit heavier than anticipated – with good overall balance. I paid $27 for this wine and, at this price, I would give this a “thumbs-up” for overall value. Try a sip right after opening, but give it a half-hour in the decanter for greater depth.

2011 Hedgeline Pinot Gris

Hedgeline is a Kroger house brand. It is their house brand focused on wines from OR and WA. As I drink my fair share of Oregon wines, both red and white, I was anxious to try this one. The price point (about $11) is compelling for this varietal and origination. I found this wine to be entirely pleasant and very consistent with my expectations for an Oregon pinot gris. Light bodied with a nice balance of acidity and fruit. Aromas of tart apple and tropical fruit, with flavors of pear and a pleasant minerality at the end. For a nice, light sipping wine or pairing with a salad and roast chicken, this wine is good buy.

2009 Sea Smoke pinot noir Southing

For Christmas a close friend, and fellow wine lover, gave me a bottle of 2009 Sea Smoke Southing pinot noir. Aside from being a very nice gift to receive, this was also a delicious wine to drink. As soon as we popped the cork and poured the first glass, the wonderful aromas emerged and just kept coming in layers as it spent more time in the glass. It has a nice wet soil aroma blending with tart cherries. It is medium-bodied, somewhat heavy for a pinot but a nice, potent mouth feel with more of a dried cherry flavor rather than tart fresh cherries. Also has a nice peppery bite at the end. Overall, we had mixed reviews of this wine around the table but I found it to be delicious and totally enjoyable, although it needed a bit of time in the glass to fully emerge.

2006 Hall cabernet Napa Valley

Back in 2010 I picked up three bottles of the highly-rated 2006 Hall Cabernet Napa Valley (WS 94 points). At the time I was not familiar with Hall, nor had I tried this wine, but I had read about in Wine Spectator and my friendly neighborhood wine merchant was very high on this wine. So I bowed to the sales pressure, paying $35/btl at the time. Last week I finally pulled a bottle from the cellar to have with our grilled steak dinner. Wow! What a terrific wine. It has prominent cocoa/mocha aromas and just smells absolutely succulent. It has layers of flavors with dried cherry and dusty earth most prominent, giving way to a lingering licorice essence at the end. One of the best cabs I’ve had in a long time. Though not quite as good as Plumpjack (my personal favorite cabernet), this is nonetheless a pretty darn good cab. And, considering I only paid $35, it is all the more enjoyable. Unfortunately, I now have only two bottles of this left in the cellar. I will try to save them but it will be difficult to restrain myself now that I know how good this wine is.

2012 North by Northwest chardonnay H3

Though I don’t generally drink a lot of chardonnay, here is another surprisingly good one that I tried recently. I say “surprisingly” good only because, for the price, I did not expect too much from this wine. On the other hand, I must say that I have had consistently good luck with chardonnays (and most white wines in general) I’ve tried in recent months from the Pacific northwest. This particular wine was an impulse buy on a recent trip to one of my favorite local wine shops, Chris Hinton’s The Wine Store (http://www.thewinestoreinc.com/new_site/). This chardonnay, from Washington’s Horse Heaven Hills AVA, runs about $13/bottle and is a delightfully fresh young white with good overall balance and a nice, crisp acidity to counter the prominent chardonnay character. Aromas of lemon curd and vanilla wafers waft from the glass, with the vanilla staying nicely prominent throughout. I’d be pleased to serve this wine to any of my chard-loving friends. Definitely worth the modest price.

2012 Trader Joe's Yountville chardonnay

On a whim last week I picked up a few bargain-priced wines at my local Trader Joes. Mostly these turn out to be worth about what they are priced at, nothing more. But occasionally there is that diamond in the rough that delivers quality well above the price point, and one such wine emerged from this most recent TJ’s venture. It is the 2012 Trader Joes Yountville chardonnay (Lot 82), priced at $9.99. I opened this bottle last night to “test drive” with a dinner of roast chicken and was very pleasantly surprised with the overall quality at this price point. Fresh apple and floral aromas are prominent on first sniff, with pear and vanilla coming through on the palate. It has a crisp, light body and pale yellow color; a definite CA chard, but restrained with good acidic balance. It's not the typical big “butter bomb” that you often get with lower-end CA chardonnays that are heavy with artificial personality. This chardonnay is entirely pleasant, well balanced and deliciously restrained in its flavors. This wine is a real bargain at this price. I shall head back to TJ’s for a few more bottles of this one while the supplies last!

Cameron Winery 2011 Pinot Noir Dundee Hills Reserve

Just tried this wine for the first time. Received it via routine shipment from the wine club (http://www.northwest-wine.com/Insiders-Oregon-Pinot-noir-Club.html). I had run across Cameron wines a couple of times during trips to Oregon, but had never tried their pinot before now. I must say, this is a terrific wine…particularly for the price point ($30). It’s a medium-bodied pinot with very intense aromas moist earth and dried berries right out of the bottle. With a little time and air, the aromas grow more varied and layered, with hints of sage and perhaps some cedar showing up. The flavors are a mouthful of luscious tart berries and soil (in the best possible way!). As a fan of Oregon pinot, this has instantly become one of my new favorites. Unfortunately, this 2011 Reserve is a very limited production and every online outlet I’ve checked is already sold out. Oh well, guess I’ll have to wait and pounce on the next vintage of Cameron.