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Westrey, “Oracle Vineyard” Pinot Noir

Other, United States 2013 (750mL)
$29.00
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Westrey, “Oracle Vineyard” Pinot Noir

In the wine world, patience is a virtue. Except that, generally, we’re not that patient: Critics often assign scores to wines while they are still in barrel, and most of the world’s wine—about 99% of it, actually—is consumed within one year of its release. Add to this our (woefully misguided) tendency to write off entire vintages based on broad generalizations and you wind up with screaming deals like today’s.
Westrey’s 2013 “Oracle Vineyard” Pinot Noir is a triumph, a reminder of the value of both patience and perspective. Harvests are different for everyone, so any attempt to generalize is really a fool’s errand. If anything, the cool, wet conditions of the 2013 harvest seemed to benefit this wine, significantly: It’s got the kind of lifted perfume and nervous energy we look for in Oregon Pinot Noir, which, as we’ve asserted many times before, is the New World’s closest analog to great red Burgundy. In classic Oregonian fashion, Westrey co-winemakers Amy Wesselman and David Autrey work out of a no-frills, garage-style winery in McMinnville, directing whatever investments they’re able to make into viticulture and people. Their Oracle Vineyard, first planted in the 1970s and acquired by Westrey in 2000, is their crown jewel, and this 2013 exhibits the ethereal beauty Pinot Noir can achieve with time in bottle. Then there’s the price—a head-scratcher given this wine’s exceptional quality, and a great opportunity for those looking to restock the cellar following the heavy depletions of the holiday season.
The Oracle Vineyard started out as a seven-acre Pinot Noir vineyard, first planted by Frank Gorretta in 1977. Amy and David have since grown the total acreage on the site to 22, adding more Pinot Noir as well as Pinot Gris, and stylistically, their Pinot Noirs bear some resemblance to those of their Dundee Hills contemporary and regional benchmark, Eyrie (where Amy worked for some years under David Lett). The Dundee Hills offer some of the highest elevations in the Willamette Valley, with the Coast Range creating a “rain shadow” effect not unlike the one cast by the Vosges Mountains over Alsace in France. Whereas lower-lying subzones in the Willamette Valley are mostly on marine sedimentary soils, the Dundee Hills contain reddish volcanic basalt known as Jory. There’s a spiciness and luminous energy to this 2013 from Westrey that illuminates the region beautifully. The only issue, as David explained, was the sharply reduced crop size in 2013: Westrey’s harvest quantities were down 50% overall and 70% in Oracle Vineyard, courtesy of some late-September rains that delayed their pick into October.

What they did harvest, however, was healthy, balanced, aromatic Oregon Pinot Noir, fermented in 1,500-liter, open-topped vats with ambient yeasts. The resulting wine aged for 11 months in a mixture of new and used cooperage and was bottled unfined and unfiltered. I suspect that this wine had a few sharp edges when it was first released, but it has knit together and added an appealing layer of flesh with time in bottle.

So, while the waiting’s been done for you already, there’s a part you get to play with this 2013 should you wish. I’d encourage you to open the bottle and pour a glass. The wine, a medium-garnet at its core with pink reflections, shows aromatics that leap from the glass, ranging from drying rose, orange peel, mulch, damp herbs, cold underbrush, and a chipped wood note. While the nose exhibits maturity, the palate is buoyant with bright red and black cherries, fresh and dried herbs. It’s all in a supple, medium-bodied package, with fresh acidity and well-moderated alcohol. Now, close the wine up and come back in three to five hours to see a major transformation: The nose harmonizes and goes back in time, exhibiting brighter and more youthful herbal sassafras notes and florality. You’d swear there were some whole clusters incorporated during fermentation (there were not), but that’s just the cool vintage and elevation lending the wine the kind of vibrancy and persistence we crave from Pinot Noir. As I’ve said before, a wine’s profundity has nothing to do with weight! Decant the 2013 Westrey about 30 minutes before serving at 60-65 degrees in Burgundy stems. Its fragrant, fine-tuned qualities make it a good choice as a “gap-bridger” between meat and fish. An old-fashioned, Oregon-style “salmon bake” would be highly appropriate here, but there are ultimately many ways you can go with it. One thing I can assure you: a better Pinot Noir value will be hard to find. Cheers!
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Country
United States
Region
Other
Sub-Region
United StatesDundee Hills
Soil
Jory (Volcanic Basalt w/ Silt/Sand/Clay)
Farming
Organic Practices
Blend
Pinot Noir 100%
Alcohol
13.8
OAK
Mixed New & Used Barrels
TEMP.
60-65
Glassware
Burgundy Stems
Drinking
Now-2020
Decanting
30 Minutes
Pairing
Cedar-Planked Salmon

United States

Washington

Columbia Valley

Like many Washington wines, the “Columbia Valley” indication only tells part of the story: Columbia Valley covers a huge swath of Central
Washington, within which are a wide array of smaller AVAs (appellations).

Oregon

Willamette Valley

Oregon’s Willamette Valley has become an elite winegrowing zone in record time. Pioneering vintner David Lett, of The Eyrie Vineyard, planted the first Pinot Noir in the region in 1965, soon to be followed by a cadre of forward-thinking growers who (correctly) saw their wines as America’s answer to French
Burgundies. Today, the Willamette
Valley is indeed compared favorably to Burgundy, Pinot Noir’s spiritual home. And while Pinot Noir accounts for 64% of Oregon’s vineyard plantings, there are cool-climate whites that must not be missed.

California

Santa Barbara

Among the unique features of Santa Barbara County appellations like Ballard Canyon (a sub-zone of the Santa Ynez Valley AVA), is that it has a cool, Pacific-influenced climate juxtaposed with the intense luminosity of a southerly
latitude (the 34th parallel). Ballard Canyon has a more north-south orientation compared to most Santa Barbara AVAs, with soils of sandy
clay/loam and limestone.

California

Paso Robles

Situated at an elevation of 1,600 feet, it is rooted in soils of sandy loam and falls within the Highlands District of the Paso Robles AVA.

New York

North Fork

Wine growers and producers on Long Island’s North Fork have traditionally compared their terroir to that of Bordeaux and have focused on French varieties such as Cabernet Franc and Merlot.

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