Oregon Pinot Noir

Veronica Drouhin, of the famed Burgundy house Domaine Joseph Drouin, once told of her experience founding a Pinot Noir specialist estate in Oregon. She told of finding the perfect site, with geology and climate incredibly Burgundian. She spent years trying to make a wine reminiscent of the great Burgundies she grew up with. Eventually, she gave up on making Oregon Burgundy, and decided to just make delicious Oregon Pinot Noir. It turned out that no matter what she did, the wines from Oregon had an innate richness of fruit that would not be found in Burgundy, and the secondary flavors were not as pronounced.

And that is a perfect description of Oregon Pinot Noir - a ripeness and richness more pronounced than that from Burgundy, but not as full as Pinots from California; secondary flavors not as impressive as a Burgundy, but more than California Pinots.