Bastardo


by Bastardo




e got an email not long ago, which read as follows:

Good Morning George and the Gang of Pour,

My name is Michael Stevenson and I am the winemaker at
Panther Creek Cellars out here in McMinnville, Oregon. Some friends recently sent me a link to your site and the tasting notes on four of our '98's and one '99. I really enjoyed reading what you had to say about the wines. I think your observations regarding the winery style in general, and the '98's more specifically, were very astute. But a lot has changed since the halcyon days of 1998 and I think the winery style reflects that. Do you guys have any interest in tasting a selection of the 2002's?

Obviously there are significant differences in our vintages up here and it's hard to compare one against the other. But we have made lots of progress regarding how the fruit is handled in the winery and I think the wines reflect that. Your observation of the sewer/matchstick character in the '98 Shea is a sulfide issue that we have dealt with for a while. Sulfide/reduction has been a pain in the ass for years here and is another area where I feel we have made some progress.

If you would like for me send out a few '02's I would be happy to.

Needless to say, we took Mr. Stevenson up on his offer, which included not only four bottles of the '02 Panther Creek Pinot Noirs, but also two from his side project, Stevenson - Barrie, along with a cool Panther Creek hat and a Stevenson - Barrie shirt. (We did our best to return the favor by sending him some Nunquam Spuemus schwag.) After letting the bottles settle down from their journey from Oregon, we pulled some corks and tried some wine, starting with the four from Panther Creek. The Psychopomp himself, Bill Schwab, and his companion Tami tasted these with us and offered opinions, as well as some killer grilled pork loin skewers and purple potato gratin. (We also grilled a slab of fine salmon, and Kim prepared a tasty cauliflower gratin, so there was no shortage of good things to eat.) The wines were decanted about an hour and a half before drinking.

2002 Panther Creek Willamette Pinot Noir Bednarik Vineyard, $41.99, 13% alc.: Dark garnet, fading to pink at the rim, this takes another fifteen minutes to open in the glass and really show what it has, even after decanting, offering very nice black cherry, blackberry, plum, smoke, cola and subtle underbrush characteristics; Bill added impressions of "peppered raspberry and a little bubble gum." This is very smooth on the palate, being medium full - bodied, with great balance and a nice density to it. There are fine, silky tannins and good acidity to take this some years down the road, and yet it drinks very well already.

2002 Panther Creek Willamette Pinot Noir Freedom Hill Vineyard, $41.99, 13% alc.: About this smoky tinged ruby dark garnet, the Psychopomp opined, "It's much sweeter to the nose (than the Bednarik), with sort of a jasmine thing." A bit less dense and heavy than the previous selection, this features very pretty black cherry and plum flavors and aromas, but like the first wine, it's silky smooth, with fine tannins and excellent balance; with extended air, a hint of maple syrup emerges. Bill remarked, "If I didn't know better, I'd say it saw whole berry fermentation, it has that carbonic maceration thing." Whether that's the case or not, this is one very fine Pinot Noir, and it will only get better over the next three to five years.

"Our wines have never been built to show their best in the short term." - Michael Stevenson

 2002 Panther Creek Willamette Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard, $41.99, 13% alc.: A deep dark garnet in color; Bill found it "much darker than the Bednarik or Freedom Hill, with more black and blue fruit," and I agreed, adding an impression of licorice. The wine almost comes off being more Syrah - like than Pinot, with black plum, blackberry and black cherry character, shaded with a note of lavender and a little roofing tar. Kim found it to be "not as elegant as the last two," and while she has a point, this is still a silky smooth and well - balanced wine on a medium full - bodied frame.

2002 Panther Creek Willamette Pinot Noir Nysa Vineyard, $41.99, 13% alc.: A slightly smoky tinged ruby garnet in color, this shows considerable oak, with a lot of toast on the nose and the palate, seemingly at the expense of fruit. Bill says it "smells like rotting flowers," and Kim added, "It tastes like nutmeg and apple pie spices." As it opens, it shows a little root beer - sarsaparilla and burnt rubber to go with all the toast. Like the others, this is silky smooth, with good aging potential, but "the lack of fruit is what drops this out of the sexy category," according to Mr. Schwab, who, as a longtime fan of Panther Creek Nysa Pinot, finds this one disappointing. However, he added that he has tasted this on another occasion recently, and that bottle showed much more fruit, and "even some blossom."

Despite some concern about the fruit in the Nysa, we are generally quite impressed with these four. I especially like the silky elegance they all show, much more so that the '98s and '99 we tried a few months ago. As stated in the notes, these are already quite approachable with air, but we all feel that they'd be best left to age in the cellar for at least a few years. As Bill put it, "These are all about promise, and I don't like to drink promise, I like to drink wine."

I shared my notes with Michael, and he had this to say:

I enjoyed reading the comments and feel like you guys definitely honed in on the changes in type and amount of tannin and how that is reflected on the palate. I feel we are getting silkier textures and more graceful palate presence due to gentler handling and shorter fermentations. While they do show better than the '98's and '99's did this young, they will still benefit greatly from a few more years in the bottle and that is certainly by design. Our wines have never been built to show their best in the short term. Your descriptions of flavors and aromas were very familiar to me and I recognized many of the same fruits and flowers from my own tasting notes. As you observed, the wines enjoy decanting and respond well to the influence of air over several hours. I am sorry that the Nysa did not show better, as this wine has been drinking very well and hasn't shown a lack of fruit. Several of the other descriptors rang true though and maybe it was a Pinot going through a difficult phase. I haven't seen much bottle variation with our wines but I think these wines and Pinot in general go through many ups and downs in the bottle.
The two Stevenson - Barrie wines are from Michael Stevenson's side project, and both are made with fruit from very familiar names among Willamette vineyards. The wines are made in a rather different style than the Panther Creeks, and see no new oak.

2002 Stevenson - Barrie Willamette Pinot Noir Freedom Hill Vineyard, 14% alc.: This ruby garnet is rather stingy on the nose at first, giving only a little cherry, but in the mouth, it's big, bold and very primary; it's something like drinking big black cherry cough drops, with earthy undertones and bones, and as it opens, notes of underbrush and forest floor. And open it does, smoothing out considerably despite significant tannins and ample acidity that need three to five years, but still, the wine is just so primary right now. Give it two or three hours in a decanter if you must drink it now, but this is one that will certainly reward patient cellaring.

"...whatever the style, a well made vineyard specific wine ought to teach us something about that place, that time and those people."

2002 Stevenson - Barrie Willamette Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard, 14% alc.: We enjoyed this smoky tinged ruby dark garnet with Dan and Carol Myers and Scott "The Geek" Tobias, and everyone agreed that while it was initially tight, even after an hour and a half in a decanter, it really opens nicely with another hour in the glass. It shows smoky black cherry and pomegranate aromatics that follow through in the medium full - bodied flavors with just a hint of chocolate on the back end. With a nice intensity, fine tannins and balanced acidity, the perfume here needs a little air to catch up with the flavors, with some sweet cherry emerging. Like the other '02s featured in this report, while approachable, the best days are still ahead of this one, so try to hold off for another three to five years, and you'll have a most excellent bottle of Pinot Noir.

About these, Michael had this to say:

The Stevenson-Barrie wines often seem a little tighter than the PCC's because of the lack of new wood. I like the earthy traits these wines exhibit and think they are fine additions to single-vineyard tastings, as I am not aware of other producers from these sites who have abandoned a new oak aging treatment. So it's not an issue of which approach is right because whatever the style, a well made vineyard specific wine ought to teach us something about that place, that time and those people.
I would be remiss in failing to report on another beautiful Pinot Noir from Panther Creek, one that we enjoyed with Alan Kerr aka Canadian Zinfan, on Kim's birthday, courtesy of the Psychopomp himself.

1999 Panther Creek Willamette Pinot Noir King's Gambit Vineyard, 13% alc.: This dark garnet is very aromatic, with a lovely perfume of smoky black cherry and plum, underscored with hints of earth, tar and what Mr. Kerr describes as a subtle note of balsawood; these follow through in the flavors with density and concentration, and yet it's very smooth, seeming to be sleeker and more streamlined than the '99 Nysa Pinot. It really opens with air, and is drinking very well right now, with a lovely personality that carries on through the long finish. Undoubtedly the finest wine we've had yet from this terrific producer, and approaching its prime window of drinking opportunity.

Knowing little about this particular vineyard, I asked Michael what he could tell us about it:
The 1999 Knight's Gambit has been a wonderful wine almost since its release in May of 2001. We got only one chance to work with these grapes and would have loved to have gotten them again. Gary Andrus, of Pine Ridge and Archery Summit fame, sold them to us and then Erath took over the management and purchase of the fruit. For the first six months in the barrel, I couldn't stand this stuff. The wine smelled like cotton candy in a very cloying and artificial way. But as it matured, the fruit became rounder and juicier without losing its sweetness. Other tertiary characteristics began to form and after a year in barrel it had become one of my favorite wines of the vintage. It has the hallmark balance and softness of Red Hills fruit but has remarkable complexity. In retrospect, I'd have to say that it is the most balanced of the 1999's. I liked all the wines that year and there were certainly mightier bottlings, but none were as elegant. I'm glad you guys enjoyed it.
Needless to say, we've become fans of Panther Creek, and we're looking forward to visiting the winery the next time we're out in Oregon. Many thanks to Michael Stevenson for his generosity in letting us taste these terrific wines. We sincerely hope that the Nunquam Spuemus accoutrements sent his way found warm, happy bodies to cover. I never did have the stones to ask who the thong was for.

Reporting from Day-twah,

Bastardo
 

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Pinot-centric

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© George Heritier January 2005