I have just "discovered" your blog and have been reading your reviews and articles with great interest.

Although disappointed that many of my favorite inexpensive Oregon pinots (Brooks, O'Reilly's, etc.) are probably not as good as past vintages, I am happy to know that I should not waste my $ and drinking opportunities on them.

While I have not yet had any Oregon 2007s, it appears that the vintage is too just light for the cuvees to show much. At the same time, I prefer a bit leaner style of pinot and thought the 2006s were a bit too rich and fruity. I suspect the regular and SV 2007 pinots may be very enjoyable.

I also prefer dark fruit, earthy flavors and it seems that this vintage may be more of a red fruit vintage. Will be anxious to read more about what you find.

Thad,

Hello. I hope this finds you well.

I wanted to comment on your post regarding the 2007 O'Reilly's Pinot Noir. I've been working through a bottle the past several hours during and after dinner (sear/roasted sockeye salmon, steak frites, French green lentils and wilted lacinato kale) and while taking tasting notes came across your blog.

I have no connection to Owen Roe/O'Reilly's so let's get that out of the way first. I disagree with your comment that this isn't a quality wine. The wine is fine in every aspect of enology, there are no flaws in it. The wine is very light, a wine of finesse if you will and relative to recent warmer vintages in Oregon and it's lack of extraction, it needs lighter fare to compliment it. I think your food could have thrown it off. I know it was too light to stand up to the salmon I had it with (I hosted a tasting dinner and also served O'Reilly's 2007 Riesling and the 2006 Lenore Syrah (the fave of the pairings)). The wine needs white meat (think pan roasted cod or cold roast picnic chicken) due to it's lightness but the flavors are there. This is old school Pinot not a poorly made one. It is light and begs you to think about it. Also I'm not sure where you buy your wine but this is a $16 bottle most places, Pete's, Fred Meyer in Ballard, Top Market in Shoreline.

One final comment, what type of stemware were you using for the wine? Given the lightness I went with a Riedel Chardonnay/Riesling glass rather than a Burgundy which I thought would give it too much air.

Keep up the good work, you have a very nice blog. While I don't agree with your post, a good wine is one you like and you didn't like this one. I wonder if your bottle might have had some cork taint that was just enough to kill the fruit?

In Vino Veritas

BA

Even though a particular wine may not be my style, it doesn't necessarily suggest that it should be avoided. I would hope that my experiences with 2007 Oregon pinot noir offer a useful frame of reference for all wine enthusiasts.

For those that prefer wines that I recommend, then this frame of reference might encourage you to drink the same. For those that don't, then maybe the ones I would pass on are the wines you might favor. Point is, it's all subjective no matter who's assessment it might be.

Best of all, it is great having folks like you all share your experiences in this forum, for I am a better informed wine consumer as a result. And my hope is that other readers feel the same.

Many thanks for your input and commentary.