Great video. Having lived in the Willamette Valley my whole life, and being in the wine industry, I find so many California Pinots to be over extracted (fruity) and over-oaked. Obviously, there are some that are more restrained, but they tend to cost a small fortune. My top picks in Oregon include Patricia Green Cellars (Jim Anderson), Sequitur (Mike Etzel) and Domaine Drouhin (Veronique Drouhin). A quick note on pronunciation, it’s Will-am-it 🙂
Look for vineyards that are in the Van Duzer corridor, a low spot in the mountains, where the cool air comes in from the ocean, such as Freedom Hill, or Momtazi. If you ever make it her give me a shout.
I'm from So Ca and I enjoy the Santa Barbara Pinot's because they are fruitier but having lived in the Willamette Valley for 13 years I enjoy those Pinot's as well. I've also have been trying Pinot's from New Zealand and I'm starting to enjoy them as well. But for me I still give the edge to Santa Barbara Pinot Noir's.
Some of my fav Pinots: I love the Racines Pinot; Craggy Range (NZ) Te Muna Pinot, fruity w/ more oak than Racines; Fromm Cuveé H Pinot (NZ) lighter w/ fruit & vanilla;; Flying Goat Pinot (Santa Maria), similar to Racines fruitiness, w/ touch of herb ($20!);Pelligrini Olivet Lane Pinot (Russian River), probably my favorite; smooth, cheery-coke, kirsch, hits all the right PN notes!
Great video! My wife and I visited Willamette last year and then Sonoma this year. I can’t say for certain which I like better but I did pour myself a glass of Small Vines for this video.
Got to be honest. In my opinion the best Pinot are still Burgundian in style. Bright, crisp, red fruits, with either little to no oak or very well integrated , in such, it simply adds to the forest floor. For the most part, that leaves out the more jammy California ones. Other than those like you had mentioned Domaine de la Cote Blooms field. But even some of those from Willamette, I feel have become a little more oaky than in the past. Such as one of my favorites,Eveshamwoods. Which is the one that started me down this rabbit hole of the wine world. At least for my palate. And as always: Enjoy the sunshine held together by water🍷
I am on the side of the lighter higher acid Pinot Noirs. My tasting crew will taste a dozen Russian River Pinot Noirs probably summer of 2025. They tend to be a bit spendy and have the reputation of being more extracted. We shall see.
California or Oregon? Yes! I appreciate both and the sub applications offer some interesting nuance. Recently I've been hearing good things about a winery named Lingua Franca so we tried some and really loved it.
Generally I prefer Oregon, the CA ones tend to be to oaky, especially those from Sonoma. Santa Barbara offers very good ones, I agree. But almost universally these wines are expensive. When it comes to value (if such a thing still exists in Pinot Noir), then I have had good experiences with wines from the Monterrey region.
Yummy. Just a note about pronunciation… Willamette has the emphasis on the ‘a’ instead of the ‘m.’ Sounds like Will-A-mitt. I was there a few months ago and they’re emphatic about the second syllable emphasis 🤓
I love the trolling of your pronunciation. 😂 pls keep it up. I haven’t tried Big Table but sounds like it’s worth a try. I enjoy Oregon PN so much I sometimes don’t wanna venture into California since I hear it’s much more fruity and bold…but I shouldn’t knock it til I try it.
He could just have a mental block on the correct pronunciation of Willamette. Sometimes when you read a word it comes out mispronounced on how you hear it in your mind and then is mispronounced when you try to say it. When that happens over and over again, this mispronunciation becomes embedded in your long-term memory as the normal way to pronounce the word. He may try to play it off that he is just trolling, but it could be that is just how his brain thinks Willamette should be pronounced. Even when he has consciously tried to slow down and pronounce Willamette the correct way, you could see it was a struggle and didn't sound natural.
You are truly a wine expert. Please pronounce Willamette correctly. I feel that it’s rude when you don’t. And since you are an expert, it makes sense that you pronounce it correctly.
Want more Pinot Noir???
Oregon Pinot Noir Blind TASTING: th-cam.com/video/R_F_Yk6bJYw/w-d-xo.htmlsi=lQD0biORPgaAeBXp
California Pinot Noir Blind Tasting: th-cam.com/video/VZHy8cdflrs/w-d-xo.htmlsi=JVAB-nTITUrzG_tK
Great video. Having lived in the Willamette Valley my whole life, and being in the wine industry, I find so many California Pinots to be over extracted (fruity) and over-oaked. Obviously, there are some that are more restrained, but they tend to cost a small fortune. My top picks in Oregon include Patricia Green Cellars (Jim Anderson), Sequitur (Mike Etzel) and Domaine Drouhin (Veronique Drouhin). A quick note on pronunciation, it’s Will-am-it 🙂
Agreed, Willamette nearly every time. Still so domestically and globally underrated. Though my top 3 is Nicolas-Jay, Cristom, and Lingua Franca
He seems to have a problem with that name.
@@whitelightning2291 all good producers. Just love the Cristom “Jessie”.
I mentioned the reason behind mispronunciation of Willamette in previous videos...
As a life long Oregonian, the way to remember how to properly pronounce Willamette is it rhymes with damn it. It's Willamette Damn it.
Came here to say as much. Grew up in Ashland! :)
I mentioned the reason behind mispronunciation of Willamette in previous videos...
Look for vineyards that are in the Van Duzer corridor, a low spot in the mountains, where the cool air comes in from the ocean, such as Freedom Hill, or Momtazi.
If you ever make it her give me a shout.
Niceee!!!
Oregon , Domaine Serene is the best i’ve tasted from USA
Good producer!
Russion River Pinots for me. I've had many mixed quality from Oregon. The Santa Barbara Pinots are smooth, but a bit blah to me.
Pinot is a difficult grape to get right for sure
I'm from So Ca and I enjoy the Santa Barbara Pinot's because they are fruitier but having lived in the Willamette Valley for 13 years I enjoy those Pinot's as well. I've also have been trying Pinot's from New Zealand and I'm starting to enjoy them as well. But for me I still give the edge to Santa Barbara Pinot Noir's.
I'm a big SBC fan too
Some of my fav Pinots: I love the Racines Pinot; Craggy Range (NZ) Te Muna Pinot, fruity w/ more oak than Racines; Fromm Cuveé H Pinot (NZ) lighter w/ fruit & vanilla;; Flying Goat Pinot (Santa Maria), similar to Racines fruitiness, w/ touch of herb ($20!);Pelligrini Olivet Lane Pinot (Russian River), probably my favorite; smooth, cheery-coke, kirsch, hits all the right PN notes!
Very good wines there!
Great video! My wife and I visited Willamette last year and then Sonoma this year. I can’t say for certain which I like better but I did pour myself a glass of Small Vines for this video.
Small Vines is AWESOME!
I love Carneros Pinot for the funk it gives off. Truchard has this earth black tea bot I like.
Wowwww!
Santa Rita Pinot for me, been drinking it long before it was an AVA
Niceee you are an OG
I was drinking my 2022 Blue Canyon Pinot Noir out of Monterey as this video came on. For $15 you can’t beat it
Nicceee
Thanks for pointing out that not all Pinot Noir wines have low levels of tannins.
Truth!
Got to be honest. In my opinion the best Pinot are still Burgundian in style. Bright, crisp, red fruits, with either little to no oak or very well integrated , in such, it simply adds to the forest floor. For the most part, that leaves out the more jammy California ones. Other than those like you had mentioned Domaine de la Cote Blooms field.
But even some of those from Willamette, I feel have become a little more oaky than in the past. Such as one of my favorites,Eveshamwoods. Which is the one that started me down this rabbit hole of the wine world. At least for my palate.
And as always: Enjoy the sunshine held together by water🍷
Producer is important!
I am on the side of the lighter higher acid Pinot Noirs. My tasting crew will taste a dozen Russian River Pinot Noirs probably summer of 2025. They tend to be a bit spendy and have the reputation of being more extracted. We shall see.
California or Oregon? Yes! I appreciate both and the sub applications offer some interesting nuance. Recently I've been hearing good things about a winery named Lingua Franca so we tried some and really loved it.
Absolutely both are good! And the Lingua Franca Amity Hills was my favorite wine of the year at $50 and 95 points
One of my favorite in Oregon, they have shown up on the channel before!
Generally I prefer Oregon, the CA ones tend to be to oaky, especially those from Sonoma. Santa Barbara offers very good ones, I agree. But almost universally these wines are expensive. When it comes to value (if such a thing still exists in Pinot Noir), then I have had good experiences with wines from the Monterrey region.
Good call on Monterrey!
Wil-AM-ette!
I mentioned the reason behind mispronunciation of Willamette in previous videos...
Yummy. Just a note about pronunciation… Willamette has the emphasis on the ‘a’ instead of the ‘m.’ Sounds like Will-A-mitt. I was there a few months ago and they’re emphatic about the second syllable emphasis 🤓
I mentioned the reason behind mispronunciation of Willamette in previous videos...
Oregon … Willamette dammit … lol. The 2021 has been an incredible vintage for us. Willakenzie, Gran Moraine are standouts with many others.,
I lovvvee the 21 vintage in WV... I mentioned the reason behind mispronunciation of Willamette in previous videos...
I love the trolling of your pronunciation. 😂 pls keep it up.
I haven’t tried Big Table but sounds like it’s worth a try. I enjoy Oregon PN so much I sometimes don’t wanna venture into California since I hear it’s much more fruity and bold…but I shouldn’t knock it til I try it.
He could just have a mental block on the correct pronunciation of Willamette. Sometimes when you read a word it comes out mispronounced on how you hear it in your mind and then is mispronounced when you try to say it. When that happens over and over again, this mispronunciation becomes embedded in your long-term memory as the normal way to pronounce the word. He may try to play it off that he is just trolling, but it could be that is just how his brain thinks Willamette should be pronounced. Even when he has consciously tried to slow down and pronounce Willamette the correct way, you could see it was a struggle and didn't sound natural.
You should try it!
I mentioned the reason behind mispronunciation of Willamette in previous videos...
For me it’s Oregon all the way. I find it closer to burgundy.
Some producers can achieve this for sure
Ripens early? Is that true? The germans call it spatburgunder, which actually means 'late ripening' burgundain grape.
Definitely ripens earlier than other varietals.
probably because it ripens later than Weisburgunder...
You are truly a wine expert. Please pronounce Willamette correctly. I feel that it’s rude when you don’t. And since you are an expert, it makes sense that you pronounce it correctly.
I mentioned the reason behind mispronunciation of Willamette in previous videos...
Russian river . Roccioli
Very nice producer