The 2008 Pinot Noir Meredith Mitchell Vineyard comes from a site described by Wright as “?old school with 6 X 12 spacing giving clusters half the size of normal with yields 2 tons an acre in a big year. In 2008 yields were 1.5 tons.” This was generally true throughout Willamette Valley, a splendid vintage but with considerably below normal yields. Dark ruby red with an already complex aromatic array of smoke, spice box, incense, violets, black cherry and black raspberry, in the mouth this is a brawny, more structured wine than its siblings (partly a trait of McMinnville Pinots). Densely packed and structured while buttressed with lively acidity, this will be a long-lived Pinot demanding a minimum of 3-4 years of cellaring. It should effortlessly see its 20th birthday. Ken Wright’s Pinot Noirs in 2008 are exceptional but only slightly better than his 2007s from a much more difficult vintage. Perhaps it is in the more challenging vintages that the cream really rises to the top, whereas the challenge in 2008 was to NOT make a really good wine. Tel. (503) 852-7070; www.kenwrightcellars.com

Bold and striking aromas of mushroom, seaweed and organic funk set this apart from the other Ken Wright vineyard designates. There’s plenty of tart, tangy cherry fruit also, though it seems to hit a wall, perhaps due to the recent bottling. This is a wine that could score even higher with additional bottle age. ——P.G.(6/1/2010)—— 91