Date: 01-Jul-2005 17:38
Author: Jenise Email
Subject: What you have there...
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...is one of my favorite Oregon Pinots. Has been since I was fortunate enough to get "stuck" having dinner with this unknown winery because all the famous winery tables were full at Oregon's Pinot Noir Celebration years ago. They poured several back vintages and the wines were stupefyingly good. The best bottle of Serene I have had and the best bottle of domestic pinot noir I've EVER had are the same wine: a '92 Evanstadt Reserve about a year ago. A second bottle would have been as good (youthful color and fruit) had it not been corked. The wines age like good French burgundy.

'01 is my favorite recent Oregon vintage--ripe but with lots of acid and structure. These wines will age like that 92 did. At four years in, that wine will probably be going to sleep soon so you are left with this choice: open it soon and decant for many hours before you drink it, or put it away to rest and don't open it until 2009. OR, best idea yet: splurge on another bottle. Open one now, save one. That's the way to learn.

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