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November 10, 2007 Oregon Pinot Noir Tasting and Dinner The Kimmer House New WWT member, Bill Kimmer, and his wife, Pat, President-elect of the WFSO, held a tasting and dinner at their Bull Mountain home to showcase some of Oregon's best Pinot Noir. The event was born out of a desire to compare Pinot Noir clones from year to year and from veteran wine makers in the new Riedel Oregon Pinot Noir glasses. The group of thirteen were greeted with a nice Sparkling wine from Argyle to start off the evening. Those attending included the hosts, neighbor and WFSO and WWT member Greg Bunnell and his wife, Cami, and WFSO members Don and Martha Young, Mara Kershaw, Jim Galbraith, Janie Kershaw, Linda LeBlond, Jorge Sarduy, and Dick and Diana Gough .  The tasting was broken down into three flights. The first flight came from WillaKenzie Estates - all of the Pinot Noir's were from the 2001 vintage and included single clone bottlings of Clones #113, #114, #115 and #777. WillaKenzie Estate is located in Oregon's Willamette Valley on rolling hillsides in the Chehalem Mountains. The winery was named after the Willakenzie soil on which the vineyards are planted to convey the influence that the soil imparts on the wine's flavors and aromas. The vineyards are planted with grapes of the Pinot family, mostly new Dijon clones of Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris from Alsace. These non-blended Pinot's went well with the Spicy Tuna Tartare on Wonton Squares, Carmelized Pear and Sage with Gorgonzola Crostini, Tri-Colored Sweet Roasted Pepper and Caper Crostini and Crab, Artichoke and Jalapeno Parmesan Crostini.  We then moved to the second flight from Ken Wright Cellars. This flight was broken down into two mini flights with the first two bottlings from two of the vineyards from Eola Hills - the Canary Hill and Carter Vineyards, and the second two from the Yamhill-Carlton District - the McCrone and Shea Vineyards. All wines were from the 2001 vintage. The Canary Hill was a single blend of the Burgundian Pommard Clone while the Carter offering was a blend of five clones. The Canary Hill Vineyard is located on the southeast side of the Eola Hills with the Carter Vineyard located just below it. Mark Gould manages both vineyards. Both the McCrone and the Shea are blends of several clones. The Ken Wright offerings were paired with a Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Walnut Brown Butter and Mixed Greens with Grilled Peaches, Gorgonzola and Candied Pecans in a Spicy Pecan Vinaigrette Dressing. The third and final flight included four bottlings from Archery Summit's 2000 vintage. They included the Red Hills Estate, the Arcus Estate, the Renegade Ridge Estate and the Premier Cuvee - all of the Archery Summit Pinot's are blends from at least five clones and come from the Red Hills of Dundee. The lovely Pinot's were served with Hickory Smoked Roasted Pork Loin with a Poached Plum and Pinot Reduction Sauce (some guests enjoyed an Alder Smoked Pacific Salmon with Orange Butter Sauce) with Crimini Mushroom Risotto with Truffle Oil and Lemon Buttered Haricot Vert Green Beans.  It should not go without mention that Pat Kimmer, with the able assistance of Bill, prepared all of the food pairings. Pat treated the group to a Chocolate Creme Brulee with Vanilla Bean Cookies and a Dessert Wine Soaked Grape Cake to go along with a 2000 WillaKenzie late Harvest Pinot Gris. Most agreed that the specialized Oregon Pinot Noir glasses were better suited for the local wine as compared with Riedel's Burgundian glasses. The top "scoring" wines from the evening was nearly an even split between the Ken Wright's Canary Hill and the WillaKenzie Clone #777, both from the 2001 vintage. And because there is never enough wine, bottles of a 1982 Ch. Gloria (courtesy of the Bunnell's), a 1999 Carlos & Julien Croft Pinot Noir and a 2003 Woodward Canyon Artist Series Cabernet Suavignon were shared to end the evening. A special thanks to Bill and Pat for putting this tasting and dinner together to not only showcase the local wine, but to introduce many to the new stemware from Riedel dedicated to Oregon Pinot Noir. |
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