Owen Roe at Great Wine Buys

OWEN ROE WINE TASTING - Great Wine Buys, 1515 NE Broadway, Portland, OR 97232 (4/18/2009)

A free wine tasting hosted by Great Wine Buys, poured by Eric Brasher, the Director of Winemaking for Owen Roe Winery.

Corvidae Wine Company - The new budget label from Owen Roe, with great QPRs!

• 2007 Corvidae Wine Co. Rook Cabernet - Merlot - Syrah - USA, Oregon, Columbia Valley
  77% Cabernet Sauvignon from Ironbird Vineyard in Applegate Valley (So. OR), 15% Syrah, and 8% Merlot. Quite fruity on the nose, with lots of plum and blackberry. Nice and rich, coating the mouth nicely. Fantastic QPR! (91 pts.)


• 2006 Corvidae Wine Co. Syrah Lenore - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
  Peppery blackberries, with a touch of blue fruit as well. A tad bitter on the finish. Not as good a showing as the last time I tried this, but it was decanted last time... (90 pts.)


• 2007 Corvidae Wine Co. Cabernet Franc The Keeper - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
  Not labeled yet, so will be released in about a month. Mostly Cabernet Franc, with a dollop of Sangiovese to add some acidity. Lots of tobacco notes, with some wood and cassis flavors as well. (89 pts.)


• 2007 Corvidae Wine Co. Petite Sirah Fable - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
  Also not labeled yet, and will be available in about a month. This monster was still quite primal, with wild aromas of chocolate and flowers. Some nice earthy raspberry or blackberry flavors, and a touch of dark chocolate on the finish. Quite interesting...a Washington Petite Sirah! (90 pts.)

Owen Roe Winery - The top-end wines from Owen Roe.

• 2007 Owen Roe Cabernet Franc Rosa Mystica - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley
  I really enjoyed the 2006 vintage of this wine, so I was looking forward to trying the 2007. I was not disappointed! Still showing a bit young, there was lots of ripe berry and some earthy black olives present. Tasty, but I think it deserves some more time. (90 pts.)


• 2007 Owen Roe Syrah "Lady Rosa" - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley
  WOW! This was by far the wine of the tasting for me. Damn...I overheard the winery rep stating that the 2 Owen Roe wines had been opened the day before, and allowed to breathe. Maybe that was what made this wine work so well, compared to the last time I had it (Thanksgiving), or maybe it was the additional 6 months in bottle. Whichever, this wine rocked the house! Black as night, huge, coating mouthfeel, and so rich and complex I had to keep smelling and sipping! Violets, blueberry and pepper are all present and accounted for. This is a delicious wine...I may need to pick some up! (94 pts.)

Tasting notes posted from CellarTracker

Wine Tasting - Anam Cara Pinot Noir Vertical

ANAM CARA VERTICAL TASTING - Dietra's House, Portland OR (2/21/2009)

My friends Trish and Dietra joined me in organizing a vertical tasting of the Pinot Noirs from Anam Cara Cellars (Anam Cara is Gaellic for "friend of my soul"). We ended up with at least one bottle of every Pinot Noir the winery has released to date, as well as a Riesling and 2 bottles of Late Harvest Gewurztraminer dessert wine. It was a great event! A very special thanks to Nick and Sheila Nicholas at Anam Cara Cellars for the tasting notes, as well as the very generous donation of a bottle of their delicious 2003 Pinot Noir! And thanks to Timothy Nishimoto at Vino Paradiso for the nifty wine pouring spouts. They worked extremely well. And now the tasting notes, posted from CellarTracker as always.

Pre-Vertical Wines

A selection of random wines to quaff as we waited for guests to arrive. The Glass and Riesling were supplied by Trish, and the Lange Pinot by Jim and Allison. Thanks guys!

• 2007 J.K. Carriere Pinot Noir "Glass" - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
  Pre-vertical tasting wine. Light, pale pink. Rose of Pinot Noir. Not my favorite wine, but better than previous tastings. Nice acidity, keeping the light strawberry fruit alive. (84 pts.)


• 2007 Anam Cara Riesling Nicholas Estate - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
  Color is a light yellow-gold. Melon and pineapple on the nose, with green apple and citrus on the palate. Nice body, and much drier than many Rieslings I've had. Tasty. (88 pts.)


• 2006 Lange Pinot Noir Reserve - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
  Pre-vertical tasting wine, to get us in the groove. Nice fruit, dark color, sweet, leathery nose. Drinking very well right now. Not sure on QPR, but most liked this wine a lot. (89 pts.)

2004 Anam Cara Pinot Noir

• 2004 Anam Cara Pinot Noir Nicholas Estate - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
  Color is a brownish red, quite lighter than I remember. Nose of leather and cherries. On the palate, sweet cherry fruit, lots of leather and tobacco, and a sour cherry finish. No tannic structure to speak of, but nice acidity. Probably nearing the end of its drinking window. (87 pts.)


• 2004 Anam Cara Pinot Noir Reserve - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
  Color is a brick red, not as brownish as the regular 2004 Estate wine. Nose of subdued leather, with cherry and raspberry fruit. More body in the mouth than the Estate, and much smoother as well. This seems to be holding up better. Sweet cherry and raspberry fruit, and a touch of tannins on the finish. (89 pts.)

2005 Anam Cara Pinot Noir

• 2005 Anam Cara Pinot Noir Nicholas Estate - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
  Ruby red color. Nose is tight, not giving me anything at first, then grudgingly throwing me a tiny hint of raspberries. The taste is much better. More fresh and bright than the 2004s, although tighter as well. Fairly complex, with a chocolate raspberry dessert flavor, ending with a bitter, earthy/tobacco finish. I dig the complexity of this one. (90 pts.)


• 2005 Anam Cara Pinot Noir Reserve - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
  Color is identical to the 2005 Estate, ruby red. Nose is the best so far, with a lovely earthy raspberry and cherry aroma. Taste is quite tannic, with some cherry flavors, and a bit of alcohol heat on the finish. This may have been better if we had decanted it. It seemed to calm down as the night wore on, and I revisited it several times. One taster wanted to combine this nose with the flavors of the 2005 Estate to make 'the perfect wine'. (90 pts.)


• 2005 Anam Cara Pinot Noir Heather's Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
  Decanted 1 hour. Color is identical to the 2005 Reserve. The nose has similar aromas, but more sweetness than the Reserve. On the palate, I get fresh raspberries, tobacco, earth and a nice chocolatey finish. (92 pts.)

2006 Anam Cara Pinot Noir

• 2006 Anam Cara Pinot Noir Nicholas Estate - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
  Color is a bit darker ruby than the 2005s. Nose of toasty oak, leather and raspberry, following to the palate. The oak is really evident, and in my opinion, makes the wine very enjoyable. Long finish of sweet cherry fruit wrapped in saddle leather. (93 pts.)


• 2006 Anam Cara Pinot Noir Heather's Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
  Decanted 1 hour. Color is a bright ruby, shimmering in the glass. Nose of black cherry, oak and some pepper(?). In the mouth, this wine is tight and oaky, despite the decanting time. Black cherry flavors rule the roost, with some leather and pepper and a sharply tannic finish. (91 pts.)


• 2006 Anam Cara Pinot Noir Reserve - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
  Decanted 2 hours. Color is a dark maroon, the darkest so far. Nose of coffee or mocha...wow. Some leather there as well. Flavors of spicy black cherry, leather and a nice coffee finish. Some tannins evident, but controlled nicely by the acidity and fruit. Some oak is present as well, but not standing out as much as the 2006 Estate. (93 pts.)


• 2006 Anam Cara Pinot Noir Mark I - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
  Decanted 2 hours. Color is a duplicate of the 2006 Reserve. Nose is huge! Peppery raspberries and earth. Taste is really spicy! Lots of pepper coming through, wrapping around the black cherry and raspberry fruit, and finishing with the zing of tobacco. Astounding wine...may be my Wine of the Night. (94 pts.)

2003 Anam Cara Pinot Noir (A donation from the winery!)

• 2003 Anam Cara Pinot Noir - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
  This was a gift from the winery, their first release. Color is the darkest Pinot Noir I've ever seen! Almost looks like a Syrah... Nose is super-sweet and perfumed, very port-like. On the palate, this does NOT taste like Pinot! More like a port, with sweet blackberry fruit, and a lonnnng earthy finish. A great wine to end the red tasting with. Someone said this is a great wine to enjoy with a cigar after a big steak dinner. It was definitely the crowd favorite, but coming in #2 for me. (93 pts.)

Dessert Wine

• 2007 Anam Cara Gewürztraminer Nicholas Estate Late Harvest - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
  Color is an almost clear straw yellow. Sweet citrus and honey on the nose, following to the palate. Baked apples join the party, and the honey finish goes on for days. One of the better, if not the best, dessert wines I've ever tasted. (92 pts.)

View my photos of the event on Flickr.