Friday night we went out to a local establishment with friends for
dinner. Of course each of us picked something very different running
the gamut from tuna to pork cheeks to guinea hen confit. I was
presented with the dubious task of picking a red to go with it all...

2000 Domaine Drouhin Lauren
I have not tried a Domaine Drouhin wine in a few years so I thought
this would be a good one to check out. Assertive nose with good fruit
to start; hints of raspberry and mint. It had a nice velvety feel, not
extremely tannic, very pleasent with some spicey notes. As the evening
progressed, some chocolate and dark cherry tones started to emerge.
Very good. I would recommend this wine for anyone looking for a nice
Oregon Pinot!

Tom AZ
alfazert at nwlink dot com

GREAT!!! I have a case of 1998....was not showing well upon last
tasting...thought it might be shut down last winter. Was planning to try
again this spring...

Any one else have experience with the 98 DDO-Laurene?


"Tom AZ" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Friday night we went out to a local establishment with friends for
> dinner. Of course each of us picked something very different running
> the gamut from tuna to pork cheeks to guinea hen confit. I was
> presented with the dubious task of picking a red to go with it all...
>
> 2000 Domaine Drouhin Lauren
> I have not tried a Domaine Drouhin wine in a few years so I thought
> this would be a good one to check out. Assertive nose with good fruit
> to start; hints of raspberry and mint. It had a nice velvety feel, not
> extremely tannic, very pleasent with some spicey notes. As the evening
> progressed, some chocolate and dark cherry tones started to emerge.
> Very good. I would recommend this wine for anyone looking for a nice
> Oregon Pinot!
>
> Tom AZ
> alfazert at nwlink dot com
>

Tom AZ wrote:
> Friday night we went out to a local establishment with friends for
> dinner. Of course each of us picked something very different running
> the gamut from tuna to pork cheeks to guinea hen confit. I was
> presented with the dubious task of picking a red to go with it all...
>
> 2000 Domaine Drouhin Lauren
> I have not tried a Domaine Drouhin wine in a few years so I thought
> this would be a good one to check out. Assertive nose with good fruit
> to start; hints of raspberry and mint. It had a nice velvety feel,
not
> extremely tannic, very pleasent with some spicey notes. As the
evening
> progressed, some chocolate and dark cherry tones started to emerge.
> Very good. I would recommend this wine for anyone looking for a nice
> Oregon Pinot!
>
> Tom AZ
> alfazert at nwlink dot com

Hi there,

A question that has always perplexed me. I just went to Google and
typed Domaine Drouhin Laurene 2000 and searched. The first hit was from
a restaurant and the second from someone likey to be a states-side wine
merchant. He was selling this bottle for 50 USD (plus shipping). That
is approximately 38 EUR at a time when Euro, by general consensus, is
quite strong vis-=E0-vis the USD. Just a couple of years back, 50 USD
would have been 50 EUR and a further few years back more like 60.

I just checked on the website of a wine merchant in my neighbourhood
and he had this offer:

Nuits Saint-Georges 1er Cru AOC, Les Chaignots - Louis Jadot 1999 for
47 EUR.

Now why the American wine is quite expensive in money terms. Is it
really a good value at that price? Or is it because of taxation and/or
customer tastes & preferences that the prices have been driven so high?

Cheers

It is a nice wine. A premium offering. It is good PQR if you compare to
its class within Oregon Pinot.

Why so high...#1-limited qty, #2-marketing 3-3 levels of distrubutors, small
state taxes....likely---cause winery sets price.

I have had better burgundy at less price. Go figure.
"TB" > wrote in message
oups.com...

Tom AZ wrote:
> Friday night we went out to a local establishment with friends for
> dinner. Of course each of us picked something very different running
> the gamut from tuna to pork cheeks to guinea hen confit. I was
> presented with the dubious task of picking a red to go with it all...
>
> 2000 Domaine Drouhin Lauren
> I have not tried a Domaine Drouhin wine in a few years so I thought
> this would be a good one to check out. Assertive nose with good fruit
> to start; hints of raspberry and mint. It had a nice velvety feel,
not
> extremely tannic, very pleasent with some spicey notes. As the
evening
> progressed, some chocolate and dark cherry tones started to emerge.
> Very good. I would recommend this wine for anyone looking for a nice
> Oregon Pinot!
>
> Tom AZ
> alfazert at nwlink dot com

Hi there,

A question that has always perplexed me. I just went to Google and
typed Domaine Drouhin Laurene 2000 and searched. The first hit was from
a restaurant and the second from someone likey to be a states-side wine
merchant. He was selling this bottle for 50 USD (plus shipping). That
is approximately 38 EUR at a time when Euro, by general consensus, is
quite strong vis-à-vis the USD. Just a couple of years back, 50 USD
would have been 50 EUR and a further few years back more like 60.

I just checked on the website of a wine merchant in my neighbourhood
and he had this offer:

Nuits Saint-Georges 1er Cru AOC, Les Chaignots - Louis Jadot 1999 for
47 EUR.

Now why the American wine is quite expensive in money terms. Is it
really a good value at that price? Or is it because of taxation and/or
customer tastes & preferences that the prices have been driven so high?

Cheers

"dick neidich" > wrote in message
nk.net...
> Any one else have experience with the 98 DDO-Laurene?

No, but I did recently taste the 2001 ($55US). It was served in a flight
alongside a couple of 2002 Jadot Burgundies [Beaune Bressandes, Côte de
Beaune (40US) & Gevrey-Chambertin, Estournelles Saint-Jacques, Côte de Nuits
($75US)]. I thought the Burgundies were overpriced for the quality
(especially the Gevrey). There was also the 2003 Argyle, Willamette, OR
($20US) and 1999 Husch Knoll Vyd. ($31US) in the flight. Anyway, the
Drouhin was the best of the American wines IMO, and perhaps a bit better
than the Burgundies, but at $55 it was no bargain.

In the next flight was all California Pinot Noirs. These were from Gary
Farrell, Williams Selyem, Domaine Carneros and Saintsbury. Collectively,
they were a _big_ step up from the first flight, as were the wines in the
next flight (Sanford, Hartley-Ostini and Morgan).

All in all, I found the Drouhin to be a solid wine among the entire lot, but
not worth the price. The best QPR (and my top wine of the night) was the
2002 Williams Selyem Russian River Valley for a _mere_ $39US. Also
excellent were the 2001 Saintsbury "Reserve" and the 2002 Sanford "La
Rinconada" (both $50US).

Tom S

Tom S wrote:
> "dick neidich" > wrote in message
> nk.net...
> > Any one else have experience with the 98 DDO-Laurene?
>
> No, but I did recently taste the 2001 ($55US). It was served in a
flight
> alongside a couple of 2002 Jadot Burgundies [Beaune Bressandes, C=F4te
de
> Beaune (40US) & Gevrey-Chambertin, Estournelles Saint-Jacques, C=F4te
de Nuits
> ($75US)]. I thought the Burgundies were overpriced for the quality
> (especially the Gevrey). There was also the 2003 Argyle, Willamette,
OR
> ($20US) and 1999 Husch Knoll Vyd. ($31US) in the flight. Anyway, the

> Drouhin was the best of the American wines IMO, and perhaps a bit
better
> than the Burgundies, but at $55 it was no bargain.
>
> In the next flight was all California Pinot Noirs. These were from
Gary
> Farrell, Williams Selyem, Domaine Carneros and Saintsbury.
Collectively,
> they were a _big_ step up from the first flight, as were the wines in
the
> next flight (Sanford, Hartley-Ostini and Morgan).
>
> All in all, I found the Drouhin to be a solid wine among the entire
lot, but
> not worth the price. The best QPR (and my top wine of the night) was
the
> 2002 Williams Selyem Russian River Valley for a _mere_ $39US. Also
> excellent were the 2001 Saintsbury "Reserve" and the 2002 Sanford "La

> Rinconada" (both $50US).
>
> Tom S

Thanks for the rather extensive comments - and with the prices - Tom.
And how I wish I was on similar flights as you. Perhaps it is the class
that I fly, but at best I end up with a choice of 2 whites and 2 reds.
And none of them are nearly as nice or even eclectic (and I daresay
expensive) as the ones you name.

Now one may or may not like a certain wine - from France or from
America - but it is rather strange, at least to me, when most of the
Oregon PNs that I have seen are priced at Burgundy premiere cru levels.
So its either those prices or funnily-named swill from Ernst and Julio
Gallo (beg their pardons for the exaggeration). Ahh, who said life is
fair!

Russian River sounds interesting. I had a lovely Sauvignon Blanc from
the region by the glass in a grill in Charlotte, NC on a trip last
month. Somehow the name of the area stuck in my mind and I tried a
Pinot Noir from the region (for both wines, I do not remember the name
of the grower or the vintner, a capital mistake, as I have learned). It
was an unfortunate choice and reminded me of the tart, closed offerings
of Sp=E4tburgender closer home in Germany.

But now I indeed know better and have taken down the exact name of the
Russian River wine that you mention and hope to try it, if an
appropriate situation obtains. Luckily enough, I have been almost
always lucky with the name Willamette Valley among PNs and do wager to
buy a bottle (or a glass, depending on the situation) when I see them
somewhere and its within my budget.

Cheers

FYI..I love the Oregon Pinots and they have gotten quite pricey in recent
years.

If I had to criticize them the better ones will age gracefully to 3-5 years.
But most better ones are declining by 10 years old.

Some of the better Burgs are mere babies in 10 years. Thereore if longevity
plays a role in the wines price...I do think Oregon is drastically
overpriced on the premium pinots.
"TB" > wrote in message
oups.com...

Tom S wrote:
> "dick neidich" > wrote in message
> nk.net...
> > Any one else have experience with the 98 DDO-Laurene?
>
> No, but I did recently taste the 2001 ($55US). It was served in a
flight
> alongside a couple of 2002 Jadot Burgundies [Beaune Bressandes, Côte
de
> Beaune (40US) & Gevrey-Chambertin, Estournelles Saint-Jacques, Côte
de Nuits
> ($75US)]. I thought the Burgundies were overpriced for the quality
> (especially the Gevrey). There was also the 2003 Argyle, Willamette,
OR
> ($20US) and 1999 Husch Knoll Vyd. ($31US) in the flight. Anyway, the

> Drouhin was the best of the American wines IMO, and perhaps a bit
better
> than the Burgundies, but at $55 it was no bargain.
>
> In the next flight was all California Pinot Noirs. These were from
Gary
> Farrell, Williams Selyem, Domaine Carneros and Saintsbury.
Collectively,
> they were a _big_ step up from the first flight, as were the wines in
the
> next flight (Sanford, Hartley-Ostini and Morgan).
>
> All in all, I found the Drouhin to be a solid wine among the entire
lot, but
> not worth the price. The best QPR (and my top wine of the night) was
the
> 2002 Williams Selyem Russian River Valley for a _mere_ $39US. Also
> excellent were the 2001 Saintsbury "Reserve" and the 2002 Sanford "La

> Rinconada" (both $50US).
>
> Tom S

Thanks for the rather extensive comments - and with the prices - Tom.
And how I wish I was on similar flights as you. Perhaps it is the class
that I fly, but at best I end up with a choice of 2 whites and 2 reds.
And none of them are nearly as nice or even eclectic (and I daresay
expensive) as the ones you name.

Now one may or may not like a certain wine - from France or from
America - but it is rather strange, at least to me, when most of the
Oregon PNs that I have seen are priced at Burgundy premiere cru levels.
So its either those prices or funnily-named swill from Ernst and Julio
Gallo (beg their pardons for the exaggeration). Ahh, who said life is
fair!

Russian River sounds interesting. I had a lovely Sauvignon Blanc from
the region by the glass in a grill in Charlotte, NC on a trip last
month. Somehow the name of the area stuck in my mind and I tried a
Pinot Noir from the region (for both wines, I do not remember the name
of the grower or the vintner, a capital mistake, as I have learned). It
was an unfortunate choice and reminded me of the tart, closed offerings
of Spätburgender closer home in Germany.

But now I indeed know better and have taken down the exact name of the
Russian River wine that you mention and hope to try it, if an
appropriate situation obtains. Luckily enough, I have been almost
always lucky with the name Willamette Valley among PNs and do wager to
buy a bottle (or a glass, depending on the situation) when I see them
somewhere and its within my budget.

Cheers

Tom,
I passed on the Beaune Bressandes @ $26 (I went for the Boucherottes
and Coucheraux)- $40 is approaching highway robbery! The Saintsbury
Rserve was one of my favorite CA PNs back in vintages around '95, glad
to hear they're back to form.

"And how I wish I was on similar flights as you. Perhaps it is the
class
that I fly, but at best I end up with a choice of 2 whites and 2 reds.
And none of them are nearly as nice or even eclectic (and I daresay
expensive) as the ones you name. "

I believe Tom was referring to flights of wines (wines served beside
each other).

"DaleW" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> "And how I wish I was on similar flights as you. Perhaps it is the
> class
> that I fly, but at best I end up with a choice of 2 whites and 2 reds.
> And none of them are nearly as nice or even eclectic (and I daresay
> expensive) as the ones you name. "
>
> I believe Tom was referring to flights of wines (wines served beside
> each other).

LOL! Until I read your post, Dale, I didn't "get" that he thought I tasted
all those wines on an airplane. I wish!

Tom S

Tom S wrote:
> "DaleW" > wrote in message
> ups.com...
> > "And how I wish I was on similar flights as you. Perhaps it is the
> > class
> > that I fly, but at best I end up with a choice of 2 whites and 2
reds.
> > And none of them are nearly as nice or even eclectic (and I daresay
> > expensive) as the ones you name. "
> >
> > I believe Tom was referring to flights of wines (wines served
beside
> > each other).
>
> LOL! Until I read your post, Dale, I didn't "get" that he thought I
tasted
> all those wines on an airplane. I wish!
>
> Tom S

Duh indeed! Egg on the face and all that...

And Tom, its "she" not he.

Cheers

Hi TB,

TB wrote:
> Tom AZ wrote:
> > Friday night we went out to a local establishment with friends for
> > dinner. Of course each of us picked something very different
running
> > the gamut from tuna to pork cheeks to guinea hen confit. I was
> > presented with the dubious task of picking a red to go with it
all...
> >
> > 2000 Domaine Drouhin Lauren
> > I have not tried a Domaine Drouhin wine in a few years so I thought
> > this would be a good one to check out. Assertive nose with good
fruit
> > to start; hints of raspberry and mint. It had a nice velvety feel,
> not
> > extremely tannic, very pleasent with some spicey notes. As the
> evening
> > progressed, some chocolate and dark cherry tones started to emerge.
> > Very good. I would recommend this wine for anyone looking for a
nice
> > Oregon Pinot!
> >
> > Tom AZ
> > alfazert at nwlink dot com
>
> Hi there,
>
> A question that has always perplexed me. I just went to Google and
> typed Domaine Drouhin Laurene 2000 and searched. The first hit was
from
> a restaurant and the second from someone likey to be a states-side
wine
> merchant. He was selling this bottle for 50 USD (plus shipping). That
> is approximately 38 EUR at a time when Euro, by general consensus, is
> quite strong vis-=E0-vis the USD. Just a couple of years back, 50 USD
> would have been 50 EUR and a further few years back more like 60.
>
> I just checked on the website of a wine merchant in my neighbourhood
> and he had this offer:
>
> Nuits Saint-Georges 1er Cru AOC, Les Chaignots - Louis Jadot 1999 for
> 47 EUR.
>
> Now why the American wine is quite expensive in money terms. Is it
> really a good value at that price? Or is it because of taxation
and/or
> customer tastes & preferences that the prices have been driven so
high?
>
> Cheers

I can't really speak to the differences but locally (Washington state)
I have seen the 2000 Domaine Drouhin Lauren carried at local wine
merchants for $55 before adding tax. IMHO, I think the wine is a very
good wine but at $55 I thought it was pretty expensive. I asked the
merchant for some more budget minded options, that might have some of
the same qualities. She introduced me to another Oregon producer, Scott
Paul, who I am told worked for Domaine Drouhin. The wine is good (I
will post seperate notes) but costs > $20 USD.

Oregon Pinot's have been developing a strong reputation over the years,
and I think their prices have been reflecting the demand in some
respects (whether it is truly a good QPR or not).

Thanks,

Tom AZ

alfazert at nwlink dot com

Salut/Hi Tom AZ,

Good to see you posting again.

le/on 6 Feb 2005 19:24:28 -0800, tu disais/you said:-

>2000 Domaine Drouhin Lauren

A delightful wine, IMO. We tasted it at Domaine Drouhin themselves last
fall, not long after meeting you both. As it happens, the day we were there,
Jacquie & I had booked in at the Joel Palmer house, for a mushroom feast.
Well, to cut a LONG story short, we were given the rest of the "Lauren" we'd
tasted at the Domaine, so we took it straight down to the restaurant to be
decanted and to await our arrival 4 hours later.

> Assertive nose with good fruit to start; hints of raspberry and mint.

We thought we almost got a hint of eucalyptus.

> It had a nice velvety feel, not extremely tannic, very pleasant with some spicey notes. As the evening
>progressed, some chocolate and dark cherry tones started to emerge.

Yup, that's more or less what we found, except that by the time we came to
drink it, our bottle was beatifully opened, with the tannins well softened,
and full of lovely PN characteristics.

By the way, do you happen to remember what those oysters were that we tasted
with you in that Oyster bar near the market, and which we raved over? I keep
trying to remember, but the name just doesn't come.

>Very good. I would recommend this wine for anyone looking for a nice
>Oregon Pinot!

Yup. So would I, especially if they're Burgundy lovers as the wine was far
less "in your face" in style than some we tasted (and liked too, btw).


--
All the Best
Ian Hoare
http://www.souvigne.com
mailbox full to avoid spam. try me at website