Focus on Oregon Pinot Noir

As a consequence of a long, dry growing season and very hot weather up to and through the 2003 harvest, many wines display ripe, even pruney character. Such wines seldom improve with cellaring and I suspect that the majority of Oregon pinot fans will be drinking up their ‘03s over the next few years. I know I will. Ken Wright pointed out that 2003 in the Willamette Valley set records for the hottest June, July, August and September since 1967, which is another way of saying the hottest ever recorded in the history of Oregon’s wine industry. "It was 98 degrees on September 27," said John Thomas, "and a lot of people panicked and picked in the heat, thinking that their grapes were starting to dehydrate. But after most late-season hot spells here, it tends to cool off before rains arrive, allowing at least another week for the grapes to reach real maturity.” Thomas waited, and picked his grapes on October 5. At their best, the 2003s are ripe, fleshy and powerful, with darker fruit character than their 2002 and 2004 siblings. These are wines best suited to richer, more full-flavored cuisine than those bookend vintages, and I found that serving them at cellar temperature helped to mitigate some of the warmer, more roasted qualities I tasted in so many bottles.