Apoligies for the formating or lack there of. Cheers, Jim 2010 Pinot Noir: The Chronicle recommends By Jon Bonnéublished 4:18 p.m., Friday, October 12, 2012 Oregon has enjoyed great Pinot Noir vintages before, for sure. The 2008 wines, for instance, inspired sheer glee amid members of our tasting panel a few years ago. But at what point does a great vintage, or a string of them, translate into a larger sense of greatness? I'm reminded of how Burt Williams of Williams Selyem described his hunt for great California Pinot Noir in the 1970s. He would find one for a vintage or two, and then it would revert to the ho-hum. "I surmised," he said, "that what they were doing, they were doing it right by accident one time." But with the 2010 vintage, there's solid evidence that Oregon has finally found a permanent footing. The wines aren't simply excellent; they show a concentration and depth that rise from being simply pleasurable to being profound. And they offer, as Patrick Comiskey asserted in last week's Food & Wine section (go to: sfg.ly/QSzbdA), a true sense of "Oregon-ness." This was a welcome discovery because for several years I've had more than a passing worry about Oregon's stature. For sure, bottles came my way that stood up after 10 or 20 years. Old wines from David Lett's Eyrie Vineyard, thought anemic in comparison to their flashier neighbors, radiated beauty a decade later, long after their counterparts had gone flat. The dense wines of Cristom, austere to some, routinely improved with time. Quieter wines from Domaine Drouhin Oregon, constructed by the Burgundian mind of Veronique Drouhin, blossomed with some bottle age. Gloriously pretty But for the most part, I encountered wines that faded quickly, even from fine vintages like 2002. While I used to uncork Oregon when I sought to poke a needle in California hubris - blame my lingering sense of Northwest pride - it became harder to do. Indeed, I drank up most of the old Oregon supply from my cellar, worried that I should pull corks before it was too late. Encountering the 2010s, then, was a restoration of faith that came just in time. I was joined by Trac Le of Bi-Rite Market and Joshua Haberman of Harris' Restaurant to taste about 50 wines. We found them gloriously pretty. These wines brim with delicate berry flavors and strong mineral components, wines that show the spice of volcanic Jory soils and the underbrush aromas that permeate Willamette Valley wines. More importantly, there is great structure: acidity that's in perfect balance, tannins that are firm but not stern. All this with alcohol levels that rarely creep above mid-13 percent. Vintage to cherish It is a surprise, frankly, that 2010 would be a vintage to cherish. Long, cold and with a late fruit set, it promised low yields and a struggle to reach ripeness. But that toil also yielded concentrated, subtle wines with layered flavors, helped by a cool summer and a clear October that provided extra ripening time. A nail-biter, sure, but greatness never came easy. To be fair, we did encounter a lot of dark-fruited, Dijon-clone muscle out there; it's nearly as endemic up north as down here. But that's not the only expression from all those vine selections of 115 and 777 (which, let's remember, migrated here from the north) and it is, I think, less a sign of innate quality than of style creep extending to the Northwest. Wineries in Dayton and Dundee that want to provide a lavish California mouthful with an Oregon address can, frankly, be easily discerned by their price tags. There is, yes, some price creep - although it was a relief to see how much quality exists in Oregon under $40, especially with cuvees that mix a variety of parcels. While the top wine in our tasting, the 2010 Beaux Freres, was also our most expensive at $80, we also found so much to like around $30 that I wondered at times if the prices were actually in euros. Those cuvees, by the way: Similar to what I've found in our Sonoma tastings, the willingness to blend multiple vineyards in Oregon is one of its strong points. Trading off geographic prestige for affordability - or, more likely, designating less-stellar barrels for a blend - is a winning proposition for winery and wine lover alike. If that's part of Oregon-ness, all the better. 2010 Beaux Freres the Beaux Freres Ribbon Ridge Pinot Noir ($80, 13% alcohol): Beaux Freres has been on the edge of ambition in Oregon, but Mike Etzel is also making good on those ambitions, with pristine biodynamic farming of his 88-acre Ribbon Ridge site. An immensely pleasing, profound wine. Full of heady sage and birch bark, with raspberry, wild strawberry and a classy oak note that comes across as a subtle toast element. 2010 Evesham Wood Le Puits Sec Eola-Amity Hills Pinot Noir ($36, 13%): For me, few wineries capture the transparency of Oregon flavors like this longtime producer, founded in 1986 and now owned by Erin Nuccio. The 2010 Puits Sec marks a transition year to Nuccio's hand. Gorgeous and deft - with a Volnay-like light touch. Bing cherry, dried sachet, watermelon rind and a distinct minerality. The 2010 Illahe Willamette Valley Pinot Noir ($30, 13%), from a warmer site, is still subtle but with darker earth aspects. 2010 Raptor Ridge Willamette Valley Pinot Noir ($25, 13%): Scott Shull's basic blend of 11 vineyard sites includes components from locales both famous (Shea) and lesser known. The result is a perfect snapshot of classic Oregon - floral, juicy and fresh, with wild strawberry and a fennel accent. And for that price? Stunning. 2010 Soter Mineral Springs Ranch Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir ($50, 13.4%): Tony Soter's Oregon effort found a great stride with the vintage and this 30-acre planting shows pristine, bright flavors from the old marine sandstone soils. Full of bayberry and a watermelon-skin grip, with celery seed and mineral accents that signal its Oregon soul. 2010 Chehalem Stoller Vineyards Dundee Hills Pinot Noir ($48, 13.1%): Dundee's Stoller vineyard interpreted by Chehalem's Harry Peterson-Nedry is about as classic Oregon as you get, even with a new label. A high tannic load here portends some cellar time, but it's full of forest accents, carob and a truffle-like funk to match the great polished black cherry fruit. A suave effort that'll keep improving. 2010 JK Carriere Vespidae Willamette Valley Pinot Noir ($42, 13%): Jim Prosser's blend of several sites (Shea, Temperance Hill, etc.), fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged in about 30 percent new oak, is sleek and juicy - full of dark cherry fruit. As it unwinds, there's cardamom and brown spice. A pristine effort worth cellaring. 2010 Luminous Hills Estate Grown Yamhill-Carlton District Pinot Noir ($28, 13.5%): Byron and Dana Dooley typically dry-farm their estate in McMinnville, and their mix of Dijon and Pommard clones show the lean muscularity of the vintage. There's ethereal fruit, but also wood spice and roasted cherry. It deftly manages to walk a tightrope between two competing styles of Oregon Pinot. 2010 Owen Roe The Kilmore Willamette Valley Pinot Noir ($42, 13%): David O'Reilly's knack for crafting easy-to-please wines continues. This time the Kilmore taps two vineyards (Lenne and Merriman) aged in a mix of mostly older oak, for a lyrical, lush effort. Foresty underbrush, violets and a strong mineral component mix with dusky, heady fruit. A great example of the darker-hued flavors essential to the Oregon palette. 2010 Kramer Vineyards Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir ($20, 13%): This longtime property in Gaston, established in 1984, is on a surge - and for the price, this brings a welcome level of complexity. Welcome notes of curry leaf and mushroom, with a slightly austere side but one that will reward you on the table. 2010 Stoller JV Estate Dundee Hills Pinot Noir ($25, 13.2%): Winemaker Melissa Burr nailed Stoller's younger-vine effort in this fine vintage. The style here is a bit more fashionable from 30 percent new oak, full of brown spice and carob, but quintessential pine-cone aromas balance out robust, warm cherry fruit that's rich but not heavy. 2010 Anam Cara Nicholas Estate Chehalem Mountains Pinot Noir ($32, 13.2%): A blend of five estate blocks, hinged on a range of Dijon clones and 20 percent Pommard. Aromatic, with the mulled-spice aspect often found in the Chehalem Mountains appellation is on display, plus a light-soy sauce note and sinewy red fruit. 2010 Adelsheim Willamette Valley Pinot Noir ($32, 13.4%): With 12 estate parcels throughout Willamette Valley, David Adelsheim continues to earn his role as a kingmaker. There's a juiciness to this blend that shows the mark of a cold vintage, but also dried marjoram, pomegranate and a marked tannic structure. A stylistic wink at old-fashioned Oregon; time in the cellar will make it even better. 2010 Iota Cellars Pelos Sandberg Vineyard Eola-Amity Hills Pinot Noir ($36, 12.9%): Iota's estate effort leans a bit on oak spice, but there's also a woodruff aspect and a robust, almost leathery, side to the fruit. Dense and stylish, with a steady hand of restraint. 2010 Brooks Janus Willamette Valley Pinot Noir ($35, 12.2%): Brooks wines can sometimes be hard to assess early on, and this latest Janus still needs time. But Jamie Brooks Heuck and winemaker Chris Williams found a subtle, polished expression: bayberry, juniper and a bay laurel savoriness, with just enough structure. Give it another year. 2010 Ponzi Willamette Valley Pinot Noir ($35, 13.6%): This larger-production bottle (just shy of 8,300 cases) from the skilled hand of Luisa Ponzi, sourced from a range of sites, is a splendid, if tannic, snapshot of the vintage. Curry leaves, dry forest floor, with dusky bayberry and cherry skin. Dark fruit adds a sultry side. Cellar it. 2010 Broadley Estate Willamette Valley Pinot Noir ($30, 13.6%): This mix of the Broadleys' parcels near Monroe needs some air, but once it opens there's a complex and curious mix of chewy raspberry fruit, a mineral kick, dry moss and sweet lime. 2010 Le Cadeau Diversitéhehalem Mountains Pinot Noir ($48, 13.1%): This property near Newberg's Parrett Mountain continues its practice of assigning cuvees to several winemakers. Diversitéelongs to Raptor Ridge's Scott Shull (see above). Still shaking off its cellar time, but there's loamy depth to the bright cherry and raspberry fruit. It's of that oak-tinged (30 percent new), spic-and-span style, with wonderful tension to the palate. 2010Winderlea Winderlea Vineyard Dundee Hills Pinot Noir ($54, 13.2%): This rising label taps a range of sites, but its own vineyard, on Dundee's Jory soils, shows dense layers of flavor, thanks in part to consultant winemaker Robert Brittan (ex-Stags' Leap Winery). A dusky oak aspect is matched by clear red fruit and dry-underbrush complexity. Muscular for Oregon, but done with great finesse. 2010 Penner-Ash Willamette Valley Pinot Noir ($45, 13.5%): Lynn Penner-Ash's appellation blend from more than a dozen vineyards is expertly stitched together in her slightly flashier style. Beyond an oak imprint, there's warm sandalwood and fenugreek, and a cocoa tinge to subtle raspberry fruit. Seamless and classy. Panelists: Jon BonnéChronicle wine editor; Joshua Haberman, wine director, Harris' Restaurant; Trac Le, wine buyer, Bi-Rite Market. Jon Bonnés The San Francisco Chronicle's wine editor. Find more of his coverage at sfgate.com/wine. E-mail: jbonne(a)sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jbonne Ads by Yahoo! © 2012 Hearst Communications Inc -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 * * james(a)brewingnews.com James.Ellingson(a)StThomas.edu *