I have sold the EYRIE Vineyard's McMnneville, Oregon wines now from the mid eighties till now. I have not always had them in the store as I often rotate to offer more variety. It sue was fun to taste these wines with Mike Eldred. He's the assistant wine-maker at EYRIE and it was the first time that we have met. We got along quite fine and besides Chris Barker that works with me selling our selection of wines at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel:202-3634265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ) we tasted with Lauren that is also in the wine business. She is in some of the pictures included here.
Mike had an assortment of current vintages which included Pinot Noir 2007 and Pinot Gris 2007 wines that are famous in Oregon and everyone expects them to be pretty good. These certainly were and they had their individual character and personalities. I thought that the Pinot Noir 2007 would be much better with a meal than by itself.
What caught me off-guard was the EYRIE Vineyards Chardonnay which I found to be amazingly rich and complex, multi-dimensional and very much " old-world " style. With really good medium body this was a dry Chardonnay loaded with minerals and again this wine would be best with a meal to fill it in and give it something to hand itself on and around. Serious wine for those that have enjoyed traditional, classic-style wines that are best when enjoyed in the context of a meal.
This EYRIE Vineyards Chardonnay ( it was an older vintage, perhaps 2006 ? I will include the year as soon as I check my notes at the store ) is not a starter-wine for those that have not already had their fair share of a range of the wines available today to them. They make so very little of it and so the price is quite high. I think that it is worth the price but I d not know if we will order any immediately because of it. However, tasting and knowing it's style I may now with confidence recommend it to anyone in search of a excellent northwester U.S. Chardonnay and willing to pay this higher price. This is all good. Thanks Mike for letting me try it.
We also tried the 2008 Pinot Blanc which I enjoyed. It got overshadowed by the Reserve Chardonnay, however and so is a bit blurred now in my memory. Sorry Mike, I will have to refer to my notes back in the store as I am home here in northern Virginia trying to get some of these blogs that are piling up quickly posted.
What I remember most vividly is that these EYRIE Vineyard wines remind me a lot of the wines that are made in Europe. They have focus, balance and never forget keeping the grapes tat they started with center stage. It's nice to see that EYRIE Vineyards ( one of the original wines of Oregon ) has survived and still shines brightly. They are not blockbuster wines, not flashy, not heavy in alcohol and " steroidal " like I like to refer to some wines being made today. Rather they concentrate on the fundamentals and bring the truest expression of their soil and weather and grape varieties to their purest expressions.
Both Mike and Lauren had similar accidents recently and when I pointed this out to the both of them they seem to have bonded immediately as they were both able to share in the others pain in the slow recovery process of healing ligaments and muscles in their lower leg where they meet their feet. Mike's accident was longer ago than Lauren's and yet there is a shared bond and I was glad to be able to introduce them here to one another as many injuries heal slowly and painfully and it's always good to have someone that truly understands your pain.
Of course there is also the healing power of a good sip/taste of wine and there were plenty here thanks to you Mike.
We are ding an in-store Oregon wine-tasting tomorrow, Wednesday 12th, 2010 at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 5:30-8:30 PM, www.clevelandparkwine.com, sales@clevelandparkwine.com ) and we invite everyone to come and be a part of this wonderful experience. We were unable to arrange to have EYRIE Vineyards at this tasting but we will speak to our local rep and see whether they are available to d a weekend wine-tasting which includes at least one if not w of these excellent EYRIE Vineyards wines : maybe the Pinot Blanc 2008 and the Pinot Noir 2007?
Being an artist I like to take lots of artsy photos like these to give more of an interesting perspective of the wines, their color, the people involved, the bottles, the wine glasses, the labels : whatever was gathered around together here to make the moment it's own and special and like no other moment exactly.
And I always like to capture people and the wines they make or promote shown together : usually with the wine in the glass and the people seen through the wines and the wine glasses that they are in at the time.
There are many more pictures that I took but here are some of them for you t all enjoy. I will perhaps include some of the others later as well as some more notes and observations, too. In the meantime enjoy this as it is. I'm posting it now t 3:25 PM on Tuesday, May 11th, 2010 from here at home now.
Don't forget to come join us tomorrow at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits at 3423Connecticut Avenue N.W. ( 202-363-4265 ) tomorrow, Wednesday evening, May 12th from 5:30-8:30 Pm for our Oregon wine-tasting of 24 wines. There's never any charge so come with family and friends and neighbors or business associates. Cheers, see you then, TONY
No comments:
Post a Comment