These reviews are based on samples provided by the winery or organization acting on their behalf.
Overview
This was the third straight week the Twitter based #winechat had an Oregon winery and one of their Pinot Noirs front and center. The first two from Lenne Estate and Youngberg Hill were polar opposites. The Lenne was full of juicy darker fruit and ready to rock whereas the Youngberg Hill was tight with red fruit, spice and minerals and needs some cellar time. A quick review of the technical aspects of the wine and winery lead me to expect this wine to be somewhere in the middle between the two previous wines.
The Winery
The Wrigley Family purchased 200 acres of land in 2006 with about 80 acres being suitable for vineyards. They planted their first Pinot Noir (6 acres), Chardonnay (1+ acres), Riesling (1 acre) and Pinot Gris (1 acre) vines beginning in October of 2008. The first vintage release was 2009, with the “MAC” Cuvée Pinot Noir, McMinnville.
J Wrigley Vineyards is an estate vineyard located in the McMinnville AVA of Yamhill County Oregon. McMinnville is the home of the International Pinot Noir Festival, distinguishing Yamhill County as a contender in the global marketplace for award winning wines.
The preferred spelling is J Wrigley, with no period after “J”. As John Wrigley explains, “All our family’s names begin with ‘J’” – John, Jody, Jordan (6), and John Hayes (4). – “That’s our family”.
Regarding the Wrigley name: As far as he can determine, John Wrigley is not related to the Wrigley gum family. “They don’t send me Christmas cards,” he quips. “But I’d have to go back to genealogy charts to definitively determine that.”
If you are into the geological aspects of vineyards and the terroir, I highly recommend checking out the winery’s website by clicking here.
Much more information on the winery, the wines and the family is available by clicking here.
About Winechat
#winechat is a weekly, Twitter based discussion about something dealing with the world of wine. Generally, each week’s chat session deals with a specific theme and is lead by an “expert” in that area. This is generally a nice way to learn about a region, winery, type of wine, etc.
Mission
What is #WineChat? Click here to learn more.
Description
How do you join #winechat? Using a tool such as Hootsuite, log into your twitter account & follow the #winechat stream. Be sure to include #winechat at the end of each tweet so everyone in the stream can see you!
Grab a glass and join in!
The #winechat schedule is available on their Facebook page by clicking here.
#winechat is hosted by Protocol Wine Studio. For more information on them, click here.
2012 J Wrigley Pinot Noir Proposal Block Estate – SRP $45
There were 250 cases produced of this 100% Pinot Noir. The wine was aged for 10 months in new French oak barrels before bottling. This wine has 14.0% alcohol by volume.
My Tasting Note
The wine is a bright, brilliant red to ruby color. The sexy nose has raspberries, dusty flint minerals, white pepper, baking spices, cherries, earthy underbrush and mocha. This has medium body with moderate tannins and very good acidity. On the palate the raspberries and minerals grab hold initially, slowly allowing white pepper, spices and cherries to slip in with some earthiness coming in on the back end. The finish is long and nicely layered with bright fruit, minerals and some subtle earthiness. This is very tasty now but will be better with some cellar time. This could turn into a real gem in a year or two. (93 pts)
2012 J Wrigley Pinot Noir Proposal Block Estate
Closing comments
This was a very impressive Pinot Noir. I was very impressed by the streak of minerals that extended from the nose right through the long finish. This was my first exposure to J Wrigley and I look forward to checking out their other offerings in the future. Based on the wine chat conversation, I would highly recommend checking out the winery if you ever make it to Oregon wine country. John loves to talk about the soils in the area and the “terroir” they provide to the finished wine.
Connect with me
You can follow me on Twitter for more wine info, potential food pairings, and an occasional recipe or two. Be warned, I’m also a sports fan and there are occasional Pittsburgh Penguins, Steelers, and Pirates tweets. I attended the University of South Carolina, so during football season, there will also be some Gamecock posts.
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Cheers!
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Remember to support your local wine store!
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Notes – I use the “official” Cellar Tracker name for the wines. I use Cellar Tracker to help manage and organize my cellar. I highly recommend checking it out at www.cellartracker.com. Loading you existing cellar is a lot less intimidating than it would first appear. There is a good chance 99% of your wine is already in the system, so you generally only need to enter part of the wine’s name and the system will find it for you.
Prices noted are the prices I paid at the time of purchase. I don’t shop around to find the best prices, but my local store is usually VERY competitive. I generally get case discounts, and since I work there part time, I get a 5% discount. Wines purchased direct from a winery do not include any shipping charges. None of the prices include the sales tax.
All wines that were sent to me free of charge to sample will be noted and I will show suggested prices when available.
Cheers!
April 28, 2014
Cliff
Cliff's Wine Picks 