Grapes of Wrath

This article reports that California saw both (1) more plantings of Cab Sauv and Pinot Noir grapes, but also (2) lower sales of those grapes, which means a surprisingly large amount of Cab Sauv and Pinot Noir went unsold and rotted on the vines.

Lessons:
1. Just because a grape's wine is popular doesn't necessarily mean that it's smart to plant more of it.
2. There are, oh, at least 300 different vinifera winegrapes; why focus on just two? Too many grapegrowers do whatever other growers are doing. Not smart.
3. There are, oh, at least 300 different non-vinifera ("Modern") grape varieties, which ripen earlier, don't need antifungal spray, hang higher yields, have much more cold- and drought-tolerance, and make great-tasting wine, so why not plant those?

Check out modern winegrapes in my book (on Amazon) titled "Modern Grapes for the Pacific Northwest."

(photo credit Purdue University)

Alloro 2012 Pinot Noir

Enjoying this great Pinot with Andrew, who just helped crush 403 lbs of Malbec from Noble Wolf Vineyard in Dallesport.

This has wonderful boysenberry fruit nose, is super-smooth, ripe and ready.  What an atypical Oregon Pinot, in that the fruits are rich and forward, and there's no barnyard aroma at all. (The barnyard would be welcome if present; it's just not there, and that's fine, too.)

As it ages in-glass, the end-palate and the finish tend to tar and black fruits. Not my favorite part of the experience. But still a fascinating wine. Andrew says there is often a hint of eucalyptus in Alloro's wines, and we thought this one had a hint of that as well.

Phelps Creek 2013 Pinot Noir - Review

I usually write how much I like a wine, but lately there've been a string of bad wines. The latest disappointment is the Phelps Creek 2013 Pinot Noir. It's awful. My distributor gave me a bottle to taste, for which I was grateful.

Bouquet: There's no red fruit, no fruit of any kind. Just hot alcohol. Later, the nose picks up some adverse chemical smell. Yuck. I suspect, from the bouquet, that this vineyard was either too hot, or was overcropped (for which Pinot Noir suffers horribly--it loses all of its varietal character).

Palate: From bad to worse. No pleasure at all in this drink. There is not a single thing in the flavors to point to and be positive about.

Not sure what the price is on this one but please don't buy it. Pinot Noir is a great grape, but it is difficult to grow and difficult to make good wine from, and even then it can be frustratingly changeable in the bottle. So much so that we tend to eschew Pinot now. Why waste the money, when so many of them are so uninspiring?

It could be that it's difficult to make a good Pinot Noir in the Columbia Gorge. But I suspect this one was from the wrong vineyard and made in the wrong way. Stay away.