In article >, Mark Lipton >
wrote:

> Over the holidays, we traveled to Oregon for Christmas, then down to San
> Francisco for my mother's 80th birthday and New Years. What follows
> here are the wines tasted in Oregon:
>
> On Christmas eve, our family gathers for a dinner of lamb and salmon.
> One cousin and I have for the past 5 years or so brought a few special
> wines to try. This year, my contributions we
>
> 1988 de Montille Pommard 'Les Rugiens' was opened 2 hours ahead of time
> and given a decant. At serving time, it had opened nicely to become a
> fairly four-square Burgundy with lots of raspberry fruit and pencil lead.
>
> 1988 J.-F. Mugnier Clos Vougeot was also opened 2 hours beforehand but
> not decanted. It proved to be remarkably similar to the Pommard, but
> showed some oakiness and had some added spice.
>
> (Alas, the 2005 Dönnhoff Riesling that I'd also brought was broken
> accidentally by a cousin)
>
> Both wines were very much alive and indeed might still be short of full
> maturity.
>
> On the 26th, I decamped for Yamhill County but most of my intended
> destinations were closed for the day. Instead, I stopped at the Ponzi
> Wine Bar in Dundee for a quick lunch and sampled their wines, finding
> them pretty unremarkable (as usual).
>
> The 2006 Pinot Blanc (13.5% ABV) smelled of apples and alcohol and light
> and clean.
>
> The 2006 Riesling (13% ABV) smelled of stones and kersosene and proved
> to be a lightly fruity wine with good acidity.
>
> The 2006 Pinot Gris (13.6% ABV) was pretty muted, but did taste of
> creamy pineapple with maybe a hint of citrus.
>
> The lone red wine at the tasting was the 2006 Tavola Pinot Noir (13.5%
> ABV), their VdT equivalent. It proved to have a smoky nose, bright
> cherry fruit and some oak. It would be a decent QPR choice at $15, but
> at the $25 they were asking for it, it's laughably overpriced.
>
> Moving on to Chehalem, I tried a much more interesting lineup of wines.
>
> Their 2006 Pinot Blanc Stoller Vyd (15.5% ABV) proved to be just as good
> as I remembered earlier editions of this wine to be. It has a potent,
> floral nose with good minerality, good acidity, a creamy texture and
> apple fruit. (It was given a sur lie treatment, which I think may have
> added to the body). A lovely wine.
>
> This led to a lengthy conversation with the pourer about my general
> preference for Pinot Blanc over Pinot Gris in Oregon, a point that he
> agreed with. He then stated that he felt that their Reserve PG was one
> of the best in the state.
>
> The 2006 Reserve Pinot Gris (15.5% ABV) had a mineral-laden nose and a
> creamy pineapply character, but was substantially less aromatic and less
> interesting than their PB.
>
> The 2004 Ian's Reserve Chardonnay had a nose of lemons and stones and a
> round mouthfeel with some lactic notes amid the white peach flavors. Not
> bad for a Chardonnay, but I'll take Brun's blanc for half the price first.
>
> The 2006 3 Vineyards Pinot Noir (14.8% ABV) showed bright cherry fruit
> in the nose with a bit of alcoholic burn and proved to have good acidity
> and loads of fruit. Also not a cheap wine, but one that can be drunk now
> or in 5 years time.
>
> Moving on to the single vineyard Pinots, we got to the 2005 Stoller
> Vineyard Pinot Noir which was all about smoky Pinot fruit, deep and
> young. An excellent example of Oregon Pinot to me.
>
> The 2005 Ridgecrest Vineyard Pinot Noir was an interesting contrast to
> the previous wine, showing much brighter red fruit in the nose, and
> proving to be more acidic and tannic and less deeply fruited. Certainly
> built for longer aging, this seemed far more Burgundian in character.
>
> Mark Lipton

I couldn't find the Chehalem tasting room when I was there. Where
exactly is it?