Adelsheim Pinot Noir 2005, Oregon
15th October 2007
The story of Oregon Pinot Noir would make an amusing though implausible novel.
Wine has been grown in the northwestern state of Oregon since the nineteenth century. Until the 1960s most of it was rubbish. Then, against the advice of experts, a young winemaker named David Lett planted Pinot Noir in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. He guessed that the cooler, damper conditions would suit the great Burgundian grape better than those of California. He guessed correctly.
Just a few years later, in 1976, a British wine merchant called Steven Spurrier held blind wine tastings in Paris. The judges – all French experts – passed judgment on eight Cabernets and eight Chardonnays. To their horror, the most highly–praised wines turned out to be Californian.
In the small, French-dominated world of fine wine, such a turn of events seemed cataclysmic. In an effort to restore French honour, the gastronomic magazine Gault-Millau held a similar event in 1979, this time involving over three hundred wines from around the world. Pinot Noir from David Lett’s Eyrie Vineyards finished in the top ten.
Piqued, the Burgundy négociant Robert Drouhin arranged a further competition in Beaune in 1980. This time Lett’s Pinot Noir came second.
Drouhin learned his lesson and bought himself a property in Oregon. Domaine Drouhin, run by his daughter, now makes one of the better Pinot Noirs from that state.
So does David Adelsheim, one of David Lett’s earliest followers. His Pinot Noir is a blend from several vineyards, with about 80% of its grapes estate-grown. (Adelsheim also produces single-vineyard Pinots, which I am eager to get my hands on.) An inattentive drinker might mistake this wine for a Côte de Beaune Villages, but like most Oregon Pinots this has stronger fruit flavours, predominantly of blackberries. The Pinot Noir gameyness is not as pronounced as one might wish, but it is nonetheless there, and the overall effect is very satisfying. A bottle costs around $28 in the US. Tragically, it seems to be unavailable in the UK.
Incidentally, the lady on the label is Diana Lett, wife of David Lett. It would be hard to imagine a Burgundian house gracing its label with a portrait of one of its rivals. US winemakers do strike me as a civilised crowd.
