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1996 Rion Reserve Pinot Noir

(updated 8/18/00)

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The Wine

This is our reserve Pinot noir, named for our friend and advisor Patrice Rion from Domaine Daniel Rion, Nuits Ste Georges, Burgundy; all our Pinot noirs are made with equal care and then select barrels are chosen which provide those characteristics we want in a reserve: complexity, weight on the palate, length and breadth on the palate, and balance; in a word, we look for our reserves to be elegant; this wine will not necessarily be the "biggest dog" in our yard, but will be the most interesting, longest lived, and most refined; this a spherical wine, balanced in every respect; sweet, succulent fruit interwoven with light oak elements; firm, yet with an extremely elegant, silky texture.

The Rion Reserve is our barrel selection of those cuvees best exemplifying pinot noir's ultimate grace and finesse, and is a perfect example of the stylistic differences we create between Ridgecrest and Rion Reserve. The 1996 shows that despite black raspberry and black cherry aromas, there is other wild berry, lavander, floral, delicate spice competing for airtime. It is packed. On the palate, a big attack of rich fruit, fine, suave tannins and spice impressed us. Full in texture, it finishes with hints of chocolate, great breadth and a rich, succulent and intense length. The Reserve is more about subtlety and understatement than bigness. It makes its best friends where nuance and delicacy, balance and elegance reign. It is more feminine than masculine.

The 1996 vintage is a classic combination of power and elegance, and this may be better to many palates than 1994 Rion Reserve. Its predecessors have both been considered one of the top 5 wines of their respective vintages. The reserve is full of black cherry and blackberry fruit, with brown spices, integrated nicely with French oak, and balanced with a firm tannin backbone; it reflects the large component of Ridgecrest fruit (95%) in elegance and sweet fruit and a strong wood statement from new oak. With time in the bottle deep forest floor elements have emerged, with brown spice and a supple, long finish.

Stats

Selected barrels from 7 fermentation lots, 95% old block Ridgecrest, harvested from 10/16-10/18/96; approx 14-17 days total fermentation with 6-10 days pre and 1-3 day post maceration; finished with RC212, 254, RA17; chaptalized ½-1 brix and saigneed 2-5%; 14 months in barrel with one racking, in 34% new French oak barrels from 5 coopers and several forests and 46% 1 yr barrels; Bottled 2/23/98 without filtration @ 13.2% alcohol, 3.62 pH, 5.6 g/l acid, 0.01 residual sugar. 970 cases made.

Quotes

Friends of the Vine, Japan: This special cuvee from Chehalem was matured in specially selected, high quality French oak barrels. Fragrances of anise and cinnamon, among other spices, and the smell of an old, smoky tree drift about the wine glass. The flavors are based around black cherry and framboise and it has good tannins, and durable acidity which makes the finish long. Rather than strength, this Pinot Noir emphasizes delicacy and complexity. If you like an old Burgundy, you will love this Pinot.

Fortune Magazine (May 29, 2000): "And You Can Keep The Wine" gave $100 to Brandon Carr, maitre d' and wine buyer at Four Square, in Durham, NC, to see what he'd buy. 1996 Rion Reserve Pinot Noir: I realized too late that I bought one of the same wines as the last sommelier. I can't say enough about Chehalem. If you see the name on a bottle, pick it up.

Wine.com: A true premier cru red burgundy-which this wine recalls-is much more captivating than the typical New World Pinot Noir. The aromas are piercingly pungent, the flavors precisely balanced between ripe fruit and vineyard terroir-and the total effect is scintillatingly sensual in an elegant understated way.

Robin Garr's Wine Lover's Page, September, 1999 (Randal Caparoso): A complete wine with flavors that fill the senses from top to bottom, and in between with smoky, richly oaked, luscious, almost liquor -like blackberryish fruit, gracefully extending across the palate with a sure footed sense of elegance and dried fruit concentration.

The Honolulu Advertiser, September 1, 1999 (Randal Caparoso): Here are seven that showed magnificently during that long weekend of Pinot madness [IPNC]: 1996 Chehalem, Ridgecrest Vineyards "Rion Reserve" - A complete wine, with flavors that fill the senses from top to bottom, and in between with smoky, richly oaked, luscious, almost liqueur-like blackberryish fruit, gracefully extending across the palate with sure footed sense of elegance and dried fruit concentration.

Wine & Spirits, April 1999-87: Scents of red berries and beets are as touch wild and feral. Then the raspberry and strawberry flavors lighten as oak takes over, leaving a final impression of smoked ham hocks. Though angular, with the fruit in hiding, there's an elegant, nervous charge to the finish that promises an interesting future.

Wine Spectator, April 30, 1999 (Harvey Steiman): 87. Light and appealing for its polished, supple texture, unusual for a '96, with pretty tea and raspberry flavors echoing on the subtle finish. Drink now through 2001.

Dan Berger's Vintage Experiences, March 11, 1999: One of the best Oregon Pinot Noirs I have tasted in years. Deeply complex aroma of black cherry, cinnamon and clove, with faint notes of oak and underbrush. Somewhat Burgundian. Aeration opens it to reveal real depth and complexity. A sylish combination of intensity and elegance.

Wine Enthusiast, March 1999: 83. Pale ruby garnet cast. Moderately full-bodied. Low acidity. Moderately extracted. Moderately oaked. Mildly tannic. Brown spices, dried herbs, red fruits. Subdued aromas feature an herbal overtone and a generous oak accent. Lush and supple in the mouth, but low acidity makes for a flat finish.

International Wine Cellar, March 1999 (Steve Tanzer): 86. Medium red, with a pale, amber rim. Smoky red fruits (cherry, raspberry, strawberry) complicated by underbrush, tar, mint, sandalwood and orange zest. Soft, slightly Flaccid redfruit flavors show a slightly stewy quality but make for agreeable drinking. An easygoing wine that finishes with light tannins, decent red fruit persistence and a hint of alcohol.

Northwest Palate (Portland, OR), January-February 1999: Highly Recommended. Bright, brick garnet color. Aromas of mint, black cherry fruit, and smoke. Black cherry and mint flavors balance moderate tannins. Excellent balance between juicy fruit and toasty oak. Cellar 1-2 years.

Cooking Light (Birmingham AL, national), January-February 1999 (Karen MacNeil): Pinot noir is thought to possess the most erotic aroma of any grape in the world. If you can afford it, go to the best wine merchant in town and ask for a great red Burgundy. California and Oregon also produce wonderful Pinots (alas, also expensive). [3 California]. From Oregon, seek out Chehalem and Domaine Drouhin [2 Oregon].

The Vine, January 1999 (Clive Coates): 11.0. Good colour. Some development. A lack of depth and grip on the nose. Weak, feeble and short on the palate. A confection.

Liner & Elsen Newsletter (Portland, OR), November, 1998: Superb Pinot--very elegant and beautifully fashioned.

alt.food.com, 11/8/98 (Robert Wolfe): This year's version is the best ever. The wine is wide open now, with pure supple fruit that expands and evelopes the palate. Flavors of red and black cherry roll across the palate seamlessly, with highlights of black fruit and hints of loam (remember, Willakenzie soils) dancing on the back of the tongue. Everything glides into a long, harmonious finish. While this stuff is almost irresistable now, there is just a hint of tannin beginning to peek through, suggesting additional development to be gained over the next year or two. Drinkable proof that huge extraction is NOT the only way to go. In any case, this is one of the stars of the year.

Willamette Week (Portland, OR), June 10, 1998: The only thing that might make this wonderful wine better would be its immediate release into our cellar today. Fuller and lusher than the '95, it's sophisticated melange of black tea and meaty, spicy and deliciously ripe black cherry and raspberry flavors. Impeccable balance and a mature use of oak--like salt in cooking, enough to bring out and complement flavor but not enough to overpower--make this one of the best '96s we've tasted so far. --Giraud and McQuillen

A Customer: 1996 Ridgecrest Pinot Noir and 1996 Rion Reserve Pinot Noir ... both are absolutely marvelous wines. The Ridgecrest is the big boy of the two and goes well with many things but the complexity and sublety of the Rion makes it special. It is outstanding with upland game birds and whole roasted chicken. Congratulations on great wine.