Cristom, Mt. Jefferson Cuvee Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley

Wow. Excellent drinking today.

2015 vintage

Tasted alongside a 2019 Eileen, this was leaning earthier and initially more open, like sweet mushroom reduction and black cherry, with softened tannins. A delicious crowd pleaser.

2017 vintage

Corked

2012 vintage

Love pinot, needed a 375ml for the night. Very decent bottle to satisfy the urge.

2017 vintage

if you don't know how new oak changes a wine, then you should drink this and get up to date. the new oak ruins this wine. if makes it much darker fooling the ignorant into thinking the grapes are really ripe. it turns the juice into black cherry juice. who wants that? the oak masks everything that is beautiful about pinot noir. what a debacle! and by the way, anytime you think you taste chocolate in a pinot noir, you …

2012 vintage

Would be a 97 if just rating the nose. Huge Complex and Beautiful floral, savory, red fruited nose with that magic quality that you can only get from Pinot. Palate is disappointing with fading acid, fruitless thin mid palate and a metallic tannin profile that lingers longer than you’d want. Over the hill. Still, all told, this was a very nice wine to experience from a great producer. Grateful to have had it in the cellar.

2010 vintage

Similar impressions, true Burgundian style terroir expression. Doubt it improves much if any from here.

2015 vintage

Corked

2015 vintage

This is still quite tannic, with a rigid structure. Plenty of rich cherry fruit once you break through the wall of astringency. Good acid and some nice earthy spice, but I'm surprised at how rough and tumble it is at this point. I recall this bottling as more refined.

2017 vintage

Med ruby. Med+ ripe red strawberry, raspberry, black cherry, cola, sweet baking spices, cedar, earth. 50% whole cluster, aged 11 mos. in French oak, of which 20% new. Developing. Dry, w/ nice depth to the fruit, med acidity, med tannins & alcohol (13.5%). Medium bodied, w/ med+ flavor intensity and length, w/ a very pleasant, earth and balsamic finish. Very well balanced & harmonious; Burgundian in style. Drinking great at 7 years, w/ several years left but not likely to …

2017 vintage

This is my 3rd bottle. March and October 2023 - both 92 points I have no idea what happened, but this wine transformed completely from good wine to very good wine! 30 minutes in the decanter. Lovely, sweet and strong aromas of red cherry, raspberry, strawberry, minerals, wet forest. Taste? Live, energetic, very juicy, addictive. First of all - a lot of spice, that is balanced by ripe red cherry and strawberry. Mint is here! Milk chocolate is here! Minerals …

2012 vintage

Dark ruby in color. Muted aromas of dark red berries, spice, woodsmoke and florals. Medium bodied palate shows sour-sweet cherries, plums, spicecake, good acidity and woodsy flavors on the finish.

2015 vintage

Gentle strawberry and cherry juice. Earthy, some minerals and/or chalk. Lingering raspberry.

2017 vintage

Fruity and powerful. Probably will be better in another 5 years

2017 vintage

Oxidized and slightly maderized.

2017 vintage

when first poured, touch of cherry on the nose and a lot of mushroom and earth -- first sips had lots up cherry and dark berry up front with a clean finish -- as another recent drinker noticed, much of that is lost as the wine airs out a bit -- the tannins take over, and you get a highly structured wine but missing some of that dark berry from the first sips and would like a longer finish -- …

2017 vintage

I had this wine 7 months ago and I guess 7 months for 11 years old wine doesn't make a difference. It's still great, tasty wine. Below is C&P from my first review. This juice is different then one from Burgundy. Sweeter, with thicker texture, with more spice than fruits. Shy smell ( no good) red cherry, earth, minerals. Taste is much better, much more vigorous, full of strength. Sweet red cherry, black cherry, sweet raspberry, tobacco, cola, vanilla, red …

2012 vintage

Wow. Nice ripe, zesty strawberry flavors with baking spices. Long almost sweet finish nicely balanced by fruity acidity. Drink now.

2017 vintage

Light red. Fragrant nose of strawberry and cherry. Lovely mouthfeel - light on its feet. Clean finish with no tannins remaining but reasonable finish given its age. Great QPR and shows how well the Cristom wines age.

2010 vintage

This juice is different then one from Burgundy. Sweeter, with thicker texture, with more spice then fruits. Shy smell ( no good) red cherry, earth, minerals. Taste is much better, much more vigorous, full of strength. Sweet red cherry, black cherry, sweet raspberry, tobacco, cola, vanilla, red currant, strawberry, black tea. Nice spice and bitter herbs in pretty long finish. Acidity and tannins make this wine still so fresh. I am not surprised that this wine evokes various emotions and …

2012 vintage

PnP. Dark cherry, red berry, some spice and vanilla, some lower level loamy earth notes, Medium body, medium acidity, still has fairly assertive tannins in the finish. Seems like it's just starting to come into its own and develop some secondary character, but for my tastes I'd wait a few more years on this (maybe 2025-2027).

2017 vintage

Corked.

2017 vintage

Some pretty grippy, harsh aspects to the acid finish here, but exuberant slightly candied cherry fruit and lovely earthy notes of geosmin/sweet mud. Certainly a delightfully timeless and youthful surprise at 11 yo. I imagine this might have seemed quite harsh on release?

2012 vintage

Drank over two days. On day 1 it opens with lovely aroma of roses and ripe plums. However the taste doesn’t match up as the primary fruit has dissipated and the remaining tannins overpower the emerging flavours. Much better on day two when tannins have mellowed, leading me to believe that this will improve over the next year or two.

2017 vintage

Pretty red fruit and spices on the nose. Medium bodied and elegant with a nice core of acidity. Nice finish. Very good today. Solid 91 points

2017 vintage

very good. Nice red fruits. Smooth

2017 vintage

Very nice Pinot Noir in a great drinking window. Interesting in trying more from Cristom aftre this one. Good stuff.

2017 vintage

Good ruby-magenta in color. Lifted aromas of dark red florals, baking spices, bright red berries and hint of earth. Silky red berries, pressed florals, minerals, good acidity and baking spices on the finish. This is always a great value.

2015 vintage

Similar to previous bottle with a bit softer texture. Recent TNs look to be on point, still seems to have plenty in the tank too.

2015 vintage

Very fresh balanced with Raspberry, lingonberry. Nice Vine!

2017 vintage

Robe bourgogne claire. Nez peu présent. Pinot assez léger sur les fruits rouges. Bel équilibre, agréable à boire. J’aurais aimé avoir plus de corps pour un pinot à ce prix.

2017 vintage

Ditto previous notes. An affordable alternative to Burgundy.

2017 vintage

Light to medium ruby. Really pretty nose right off the bat - floral, traces of wood, ripe and juicy purple/dark fruit. Consistent notes on a medium+ in body palate that is showing a bit tightly wound. Long, lip-smacking finish. Drinking beautifully right now.

2017 vintage

Complex and ethereal, capturing well the essence of Pinot. Fresh strawberry, cassis bud, cherry coke, vanilla, forest leaves. Not too dissimilar to Burgundy Pinots except for the slightly heavier use of oak. The palate is ample, very aromatic, fairly youthful with some tertiary flavor, oak has blended nicely but could soften a bit further. All the aromas come together nicely, the finish is long. It’s in a very nice place but can definitely age 5-10 more years depending on your …

2010 vintage

Clean Pinot aroma with lighter red fruits. Flavor profile is slightly darker red fruit. A hint of cola so we know this a New World wine. Powerful without being rough. Balanced finish.

2017 vintage

Interesting and herbal with some tea and tart cherry notes but the stemminess is becoming more prominent now and I don’t think that I am liking it both in the palate and nose. It is quite astringent now and I don’t think that it will improve. I liked this better a couple of years ago.

2017 vintage

Decent, but not much fruit flavor.

2017 vintage

Quaffable.

2012 vintage

What is expected from an Oregon pinot, but a bit boring. Restrained cherry fruit with a bitter element. I have liked prior vintages of this wine more. On the other hand, the wine actually improved over 3 days. So, I think this wine may improve over the next couple of years and, if opened soon, may benefit from a couple of hours of air.

2017 vintage

Vraiment bien, Pinot aux allures bourguignonnes. Équilibre puissance/finesse exemplaire.

2017 vintage

Light, fresh, and lovely. SVR really enjoyed.

2017 vintage

What a steal this wine was. A very elegant expression of the quintessential Oregon pinot. Light and fruity with enough tannins to complement a light to medium meal. Seems like the 6 years in the bottle were a good call. CellarTracker suggested it would peak from 2019 to 2022. They were spot on. Recommended.

2015 vintage

WIML92 Tasted non blind. Garnet to dark garnet color in the glass, clear looking throughout. Nose of Birch, black berries and black cherries. Flavors of black raspberries, black cherries and black berries. Medium acidity, medium tannin, full bodied. Drink over the short term to maybe the medium term.

2015 vintage

This wine’s strengths are a good backbone, with excellent balance and good length. Notes of blueberry, a hint of tobacco and oak. 90-91.

2012 vintage

Lovely, balanced, characteristic Oregon Pinot Noir with good structure, sappy acidity, gentle tannins, and lovely but light aromas of raspberry and black tea with hints of wet soil. It has a light++ body and is very versayile with a variety of lighter foods. It is fading, drink by 2022.

2015 vintage

From a warmer vintage, nice round berry but short finish. Nice

2015 vintage

Cherry and cranberry, violets, cola, spice, some earthy tea notes. A ton going on in the aroma and palate. Has a medium+ acid on the finish and some tannins in the finish. I haven't tasted it since release and this was my last bottle but reading through recent notes I thought it might be wise to open it (since some folks think it's starting to fade). I think it's still going fairly strong. Yes, the fruit has faded a bit …

2015 vintage

Drink up! I’ve had many bottles of the ‘15, most rated 92, the last just four months ago. Those were all much better than this one. On night one it was good, but lacking the charm I’ve come to expect, and on night two was disappointing, with an excessively mineral character. My wife refused to finish her glass.

2015 vintage

Energetic dark cherry upon opening, body starting to thin, good length and drying finish. Very good night 1, less so night 2. Recommend drinking up!

2015 vintage

Very nice, but I would drink up. Day 1 phenomenal, day 2 not nearly as nice.

2015 vintage

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Cristom, Mt. Jefferson Cuvee Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley

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