Friday Sips

Note different day!! Another pre-holiday fun-filled tasting day. Three wines, seamless and themeless and as the mantra goes, one never knows what top-drawer things may be uncorked alongside of our regularly scheduled program.

**The Cellar Door will be closed this Friday July 3rd for the holiday weekend**

No your eyes are not blurry, yes another Jermann wine has made it into our hot sheet. Normally we begin by telling you what a genius Silvio Jermann is, but since we have already explained that, we will tell you a little more about the wine this time. Firstly, I was going back into the Cellar Door annals to see when the last time it was when we offered the iconic Pinot Bianco from this godlike producer and it turned out to be March of 2004! It wasn’t that we forgot, we have always loved it, the problem was distribution, obtainability and up until now, pricing.

This 2013 Pinot Bianco is ambrosial. The nose of this white wine from Italy’s Friuli region reveals boundless scents of baked apple, flint, tangerine, white flowers and is seemingly mineral-soaked. This viscous beauty coats your mouth with rich flavors that are kept in perfect balance by its vibrancy and zest. This wine screams for seafood, particularly grilled salmon or halibut. Nothing brings a bit more sunshine than we already have quite like a Jermann’s prime, piercing and penetrating Pinot Bianco.

In all of the fascination and stimulation of the 2000 Galet Vieiles Vignes which is soon about to disappear, the 2004 version is almost a neglected child who happens to be a prodigy. Having recently tasted this upon my re-entry from France, this wine knocked me over with a grilled NY strip steak.

The usual blend of 60% Grenache, 30% Mourvedre & 10% Syrah from 80+ year old vines forms the base of this wine. 11 years old, it has moved beyond primary scents of secondary and tertiary ones. Dried violet, smoke, pekoe, leather and very spice-driven characteristic that almost divulges a Chinese 5-spice character dominate this fully mature, complex, Chateauneuf from a vastly underrated vintage. Texturally it is has depth, focus, spice, more spice and plenty of movement that carries over to the long finish that has a quasi-Barolo-like character. Try this wine with grilled or pan seared beef, lamb or soft-ripened cheeses. In its drinking window now, it will continue to hold serve for at least another 5 years.

Thrilling in quality and value as usual, the 2012 Mt-Jeff is still quite approachable and very typical of a Cristom wine, always based around aromatics and beauty. Red berry, violet, soft smoke, and elusive herbs and spices are the characteristics of the wine. In the mouth, it is very young and provocative, but what is underneath is velvety, concentrated and long without being jam. A layered and extremely fine 2012, this excellent Pinot can be accessed or aged. Drink through 2020.

Many folks like to pound their chests and proclaim who is the best producer in a given region. Here in Oregon, one would have to include the wines of Cristom as challengers to the mythical title. Steve Doerner is one of America's most influential tacticians of Pinot Noir, and year in and year out, his creations are ones that lovers of this varietal flock to as reference points.