Oregon
Pinot Noir: The 2013s &amp; 2012 Late Releases

The Challenging 2013 Growing Season 

Most of the 2013 growing
season in Oregon looked like a virtual carbon copy of the superb, already
legendary 2012 vintage. But Mother Nature changed her&nbsp;mind at the last
minute, in this case at the very end of September, dumping an epic amount of rain
that continued to fall into early October, dashing any hopes for a vintage even
close to the quality of 2012.&nbsp;

The turn in the weather was
a real heartbreaker for the industry because the growing season had gotten off
to a highly auspicious start, with a moderate, dry winter followed by a severe
heat spike (pushing temperatures up to almost 80 degrees) in the last week of
March that caused budbreak to occur at the beginning of April. That’s
unprecedented here (budbreak occurred in the third week of April in 2012 and during
the first week of May in 2011, for comparison) and growers were confident that
they might actually enjoy two consecutive superlative vintages, which, again,
is a rarity in cooler wine regions like Oregon. The spring remained warm and
dry and flowering began in the second week of June. The weather continued
to cooperate, and spirits and expectations were running high for an anticipated
early September harvest, which, we as now know, sadly wasn’t to be.

The steady rains through
September and into October, and the excessive water that accumulated in the
vineyards caused many berries, which at the time were almost or even fully ripe,
to swell up and split open, bringing on rot, which the humid weather also encouraged.
Many damaged grapes, in fact, actually began fermenting on the vine, with
resulting acetic acid build-up (read: vinegar) that, needless to say, is about
the last thing that winegrowers want to see. Given such conditions, growers had
few options by mid-September; start picking then, and do it quickly, followed
by a severe selection of the fruit on the sorting table, or try to make an
equally severe selection in the vineyards and hope that the weather would
stabilize and allow the remaining fruit to reach full maturity. Even then,
dramatic culling of grapes in the winery would be a requirement, so there was
no getting away from a lot of hard work and loss of crop.

Some Strong Wines, Just Not Much To Go Around&nbsp;

Whichever harvesting choice
growers made, production was off severely in 2013, with a number of producers
telling me that they made their most draconian selections ever. Many vineyards
that normally produce single-site wines saw their tiny quantities of fruit
blended away into regional and even generic Willamette Valley and even Oregon
bottlings, either because of questions about quality or simply because there
wasn’t enough juice to fill vats or to justify the effort to make microscopic
quantities. If there is ever a year to tread carefully and focus one’s wine dollars on the top
wineries, it’s 2013. And the best estates often did make strong ‘13s: wines with
noteworthy energy and focus and vibrant red fruit and spice character that will
typically allow for early drinkability. There are a fair number of ‘13s that
I’d happily own and drink over the next decade but the vast majority should be consumed
on the early side. Broadly speaking, wine lovers who prefer a richer, heftier,
dark-fruited style of Pinot will likely find many of the wines wanting.
Conversely, those who think that the wines from warmer vintages can be a bit
too much and prefer a racier style will likely find plenty to like from ’13,
much as they did from 2011, 2007 and 2005.

Unfair Comparisons and Unreasonable Expectations

Even considering the
number of solid and even excellent 2013s that I tasted during my annual trip to
Oregon as well as back home in New York, the 2013s will always remain in the
long shadow of the 2012s. The 2013s had a very tough act to follow from the get-go
and the widely publicized weather difficulties of that year quickly caused many
wine lovers and members of the trade to start back-filling with whatever ‘12s
were available in the marketplace and to try to push to the front of the line
for late-released '12s (many of which are reviewed in this article) while essentially
writing off the ‘13s. I’d be the last to claim that many, if any, 2013s are
equal or superior to their 2012 siblings but, again, what vintages in memory
can compare to 2012 in terms of the sheer number of outstanding wines produced?
None that I can think of.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1445482055568-Cristom%27s+Vineyards+at+the+eastern+end+of+the+Eola-Amity+Hills.jpg"> Cristom's Vineyards at the eastern end of the Eola-Amity Hills

It’s better to view the
‘13s in the context of similar vintages that, at their best, produced lively,
tangy, red-fruity wines; 2011 and 2007 come immediately to mind. It’s a
little early to say if the best ‘13s will match up to the top wines from ’11
and ’07, and even then it’s going to be a wine-by-wine situation. This is a
winemaker’s as well as grower’s vintage, to be&nbsp;sure, because to get something
good into the bottle required great work, attention and sacrifice by both
parties. In the best cases, things turned out pretty well, especially when the
wines are assessed without being compared to a monumental year like ’12.

How To Approach the 2013s

The key to a successful
foray into the ‘13s is first to understand that in most instances the wines
lean to the red fruit side of Pinot Noir; they tend to be tangy and tightly
wound but often lack concentration. While some wines may put on weight and gain
sweetness with bottle age, that’s a gamble I’ll personally leave to others. The
2013s also tend to lack the tannic structure for more than mid-term aging
although they will likely endure on their acidity, which I suspect will usually
outlast the fruit in this vintage. Thus, the smart money will stick to
producers with a track record of success in vintages with similar flavor,
weight and structure profiles, like 2011, 2007 and 2005. A number of wines from
those earlier years have aged gracefully and provided plenty of drinking
pleasure to Pinot lovers who prize lightness and zesty red fruit over power,
heft and darker fruit character.

Speaking of Those 2012s

It was a genuine pleasure
to be able to taste through so many superb wines as I worked my way through the
2012s that were released subsequent to my report last summer, and I also tasted
some pretty impressive examples from the often erratic 2011 vintage. The high quality
of the ‘12s has been discussed extensively by now but it bears repeating that a
near-perfect growing season and harvest set the stage for what is, by my
reckoning, the most consistently outstanding set of Pinots I’ve experienced
from Oregon since I first started tasting the wines in 1985 and visiting the
region in 1995. The best wines—and it’s a formidably large list in 2012—are must-buys
for fans of the region as well as for novices. Even those collectors who are
normally skeptical about New World Pinot Noir owe it to themselves to see what
Oregon can achieve with this finicky variety under ideal conditions, which are
a genuine rarity in this normally cool, grey and often rainy area -&nbsp;hotter
vintages like 2009, 2006 and 2003 aside.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1445482640088-CristomVeraison22_edited-1.jpg"> Pinot Noir undergoing veraison during the 2012 growing season 

The only criticism I’ve
heard leveled at the ‘12s is that the wines are too friendly (the wine snob version is “too obvious” or “too easy”),
but since the vast majority of Pinot lovers—and wine drinkers in general—don’t approach
drinking the stuff as an exercise in masochism, such comments are meaningless.
It’s a vintage of such consistent quality that one can grab a 2012 off the
shelf or wine list with a remarkably high likelihood of getting something
that’s utterly delicious.

A Word on Oregon Pinot Pricing, and Relative Value

As in every prime
wine-growing region, prices for the best Oregon pinots have been steadily
rising, but with only a few exceptions I haven’t detected much that’s truly
rapacious. Yes, a handful of wines are commanding prices upwards of $100 a
bottle but in the grand scheme these represent just a drop in the barrique. It’s still possible to buy
some of the state’s best Pinots for $50 or less, and that’s something that no
other world-class region that grows Pinot can claim. In a world in which $50+
village-level Burgundies and $150 premier cru wines (let’s not even talk about
grand crus) have become the norm, Oregon’s best examples are looking like
outright steals these days. In fact, I’ll go far as to say that in a vintage
like 2012, and quite possibly 2014 and even 2015, there’s no richer source of
value in high-end Pinot Noir than Oregon.

Another Vintage of a Lifetime? Maybe Two in a Row?

I had the chance to taste
a number of barrel samples from 2014,
as well as a few bottled wines back at home in recent weeks. As improbable as
it may sound, 2014 is shaping up as a vintage that’s at least the equal of 2012. The growing season remained almost two
weeks ahead of schedule all year thanks to an early flowering and to
consistently warm, dry weather—and warm nights—through the spring and summer. In
fact, 2014 registered the highest heat accumulation numbers ever recorded, surpassing
even 2006. There was some welcome rain at the end of September (many growers
had begun harvesting during the second week of the month) that refreshed the
vines, and the result was a pain-free harvest of perfectly ripe grapes that never
experienced disease pressure. Thus the crop was up to 50% larger than that of 2013.
The downside is that drought stress has begun taking its toll on unirrigated
vines (an issue that extended through the 2015 harvest, by the way), a situation
that a number of producers mentioned as a looming issue that will have to be
addressed not far down the road.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1445483352954-Pre-Veraison+Pinot+Noir+at+Amalie+Robert+Vineyard.JPG">Pre-veraison Pinot Noir at Amalie Robert Vineyard during the 2015 growing season 

Looking even farther
ahead, this year’s harvest looks like it could match up to 2014 and 2012 in
sheer quality and, in terms of yield, exceeds the healthy crop of ’14.
Conditions throughout 2015 were just
as warm and dry as in the previous vintage and, according to growers that I’ve
spoken to in recent weeks, musts are dark, aromatics are explosive, flavors are
concentrated and tannins are strong. The possible Achilles’ heel of the vintage
is that there may be too much concentration
and tannins to make wines of elegance and balance. The material seems to be in
place to yield some seriously impressive wines, at the very least from the
standpoint of power and depth. But somehow I doubt that fans of 2005, 2007,
2011 and 2013 are going to find much to get excited about.A Word on Pinot Noir Clones in Oregon

Spend even a few minutes
with an Oregon producer and the conversation will inevitably turn to clonal
selection. And there’s plenty to talk about. The family of Pinot clones planted
across the Willamette Valley can essentially be broken down into two branches:
the heritage clones and the Dijon clones. The range of clones is still
expanding as growers continue to bring in new (for the region) selections such
as suitcase clones smuggled in from France, especially Burgundy, and
well-established clones from California such as Swan and Calera. For now these
newcomers make up just a small percentage of the Pinot planted in Oregon but
their presence is on the rise.Two Pinot Noir clones (the
heritage clones) of Swiss (Wadenswil) and French (Pommard) origin were originally
planted in Oregon by the first wave of growers like David Lett, Dick Erath,
Charles Coury and Dick Ponzi in the 1960s and 1970s. There was also a third
clone that’s still scattered around called Gamay Beaujolais but it never really
became a factor in fine wine production and is more of a curiosity today,
albeit a sometimes interesting one. These heritage clones were selected from
the nursery of the University of California-Davis and became the backbone of
the Oregon Pinot Noir industry.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1445481997027-David+Lett+poses+in+front+of+a+barn+in+Dundee%2C+Oregon%2C+with+the+first+vines+for+The+Eyrie+Vineyards+Feb+1967.jpg">David Lett poses in front of a barn in Dundee, Oregon, with the first vines for The Eyrie Vineyards in&nbsp;1965

The Wadenswil clone was
the only one planted by David Lett at his pioneering vineyard in 1965 and he
selected it for its ability to ripen in cold climates and for its resistance to
vine diseases. The Pommard clone first arrived in the early 1970s thanks to
Dick Erath and Charles Coury, and most Oregon Pinots through the 1990s were
made from some combination of Wadenswil and Pommard. Coury had also reportedly smuggled
in some Pinot cuttings from Alsace that he mixed in with his Pommard plantings
and later sold to other growers along with the Pommard, which is what his
customers thought they were getting. In time it became clear that this was a
different beast and it became known as the Coury clone. Some of it is still
planted today and is even made into single-clone bottlings by a handful of
wineries.

A shift in plantings began
in 1987 with the first arrival of three so-called and aptly named Dijon clones
(113, 114 and 115) selected by David Adelsheim in 1984 from the nurseries of
the University of Dijon. Interestingly, these three clones were isolated from
cuttings given to Dr. Raymond Bernard of the University by Jean-Marie Ponsot,
whose family estate in Morey-Saint-Denis in Burgundy is one of the most
renowned in the world. These selections
were chosen because, like the Wadenswil, they were suited to early ripening and
disease resistance, both prized attributes in Oregon’s cool climate where late
harvesting continues to be a risky undertaking.

Today, Dijon selections
dominate Oregon’s vineyards, with no sign of losing popularity. In fact, new
generations of Dijon clones (notably 667, 777 and 828) have found widespread
popularity here since the first three caught on, as growers have become more focused
on matching clones to specific sites. Today the most widely planted Dijon
clones are 115, 667 and 777, and most Oregon Pinots are made with some
combination of the three, with heritage and often suitcase clones in the mix as
well.

You Might Also Enjoy<a target="_blank" href="http://vinous.com/articles/oregon-pinot-noir-update-jul-2014">Oregon Pinot Noir Update</a>, Josh Raynolds, July 2014 <a target="_blank" href="http://vinous.com/articles/new-releases-from-washington-state-dec-2014">New Releases from Washington State</a>, Stephen Tanzer, December 2014 --Josh RaynoldsPhoto credits:&nbsp;John D'Anna,&nbsp;Jason Lett

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