Shea Wine Cellars Pinot Noir Block 32 Shea Vineyard

I tasted this last month. A very new world style. Big ripe fruit. Hardly recognizable as Pinot Noir. More like a Merlot. Seems to be drinking nicely now. Quite a contrast to Shea's block 23 (also 2002) tasted last night. I will drink my other bottle in the next couple years. The suggested drinking dates shown on this website seem to underestimate the keeping ability of these two wines.

If I had rated when I drank prior bottles 12-18 months ago, I would have rated consistent with the prior posts. But, this is now well past its prim. It is still nice (tonight with cedar plank salmon) but it is time to drink up anything you are still holding.

Wonderful. Earthy nose. Restrained flavors through the palate, with herbal notes peaking out. Medium body. Great OR PN.

This bottle of wine has aged wonderfully. It really shows the Shea Vineyard characteristics. Roses and dark fruits on the nose, though the aroma also shows a lot of alcohol. When I popped the cork, the fruit really took a back seat to the earth and forest floor, but as the night went on, the fruit returned. Strawberries and some vanilla (old tasting notes suggest a pretty high level of new oak), with the tannins smoothing out nicely. Lots of …

Memorial Day Weekend in Willamette; 5/24/2003-5/26/2003 (Willamette Valley OR) : Barrel tasting with Dick Shea. Not one of my favorites today. Fruit somewhat too dark, seemingly mostly blackberry and darker. Hard to judge a wine that has just finished malo, but I found it surprisingly closed with little spice for now.