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There is a big difference between what makes a good wine and what makes a wine expensive. Many experts would say that a good bottle of wine costs as much as the winemaker is willing to sell it for, and it’s as expensive as the customer is willing to pay.
I’m taking a brief detour from my tour of Panther Creek’s estate Pinot Noir vineyards. (If you haven’t followed along thus far, do take a look at these: Maverick, Kalita, and Lazy River. And don’t forget the oh-so-fun Pinot Noir-Chardonnay white wine blend. [know, right?])
Scented with red plum, vanilla bean and a wisp of spearmint, the wine tastes of baked cherry, plum and boysenberry with balanced acid, a mid-weight feel and a flavorful finish of orange oil.
Continuing my travels around Panther Creek’s estate vineyards. Today’s stop is the De Ponte Vineyard—doesn’t the name just sound fancy? Trust me, the taste doesn’t disappoint those expectations.
How to properly store opened wine bottles is almost as important as how you serve the wine. Nothing is worse than pouring a glass of your favorite varietal, taking your first sip, and experiencing that horrible vinegar flavor associated with oxidized wine. That’s a fast way to turn Happy Hour into Horror Hour.
This youthful, 19-acre site in the North Willamette Valley’s Yamhill-Carlton American Viticultural Area was established in 2013, the same year Bacchus Capital Management purchased Panther Creek Cellars and installed Tony Rynders of Domaine Serene fame as its winemaker.
In my most recent, very generous allocation of Panther Creek Cellars wines, I received samples of each single-vineyard bottling of the winery’s estate Pinot Noirs. How does one choose which vineyard to taste from next? I simply went with the name.
Shortly before the news began to spread on the Global pandemic I had the pleasure of visiting with our friends at Panther Creek Cellars in their Woodinville, Washington Tasting Room. Once again, Madelaine and Roxy, the Panther Creek Tasting Room wine mavens organized a Panther Creek Kalita Vineyard Vertical Tasting that included my first taste of the just released 2017 Kalita Pinot Noir.
Years ago a change was needed at Panther Creek. Tony Rynders got the call to take over their winemaking program. Speaking to Tony about this, he was excited at the opportunity. Having already consulted for many Oregon wineries, Tony set out to craft some very special single vineyard Pinot Noirs with his signature style — wines that exude great texture, richness and minerality.
This is a continuation of my tour of Panther Creek Cellars’ various vineyard sources. Today, we travel to Kalita Vineyard, located in the Yamhill Carlton AVA of Oregon, and planted entirely to Pinot Noir.
