Brittan Vineyards, Basalt Block Pinot Noir, McMinnville

CORAVIN. Explosive aromas and flavors. Great balance

2013 vintage

Potentially past its prime - love the acid but light on stuffing.

2013 vintage

Funky on the nose originally but came together somewhat after an hour slow Ox. The ‘14 is amazing so thinking this is past it’s prime.

2010 vintage

I don't have a lot to add to my June '20 note, except to just add that out of the 6 for me, only the one was corked, and the rest were consistently as described. Perfect with a seared salmon with a salad and hummus tonight.

2013 vintage

Interesting aroma, minerally, taste minerally as well

2010 vintage

Not getting the hate for this wine. It's a nicely elegant Willamette pinot on the feminine side. Drinking well now, but might improve. 13.2%

2013 vintage

quite fruit forward with the fruit leaning towards red to dark red with a little spice. pretty thin on the mid palate and short abrupt finish.

2010 vintage

Corked. We drank it anyway. It was lightly so and we used some cellophane. It is what it is.

2013 vintage

The harsh reviews here had me a little concerned about having 6 of these, but after finally getting into one tonight, I was pleasantly surprised. I guess we'll see if bottle variation is a factor, but so far so good for me. Medium ruby that's hinting towards purple. Smells like black cherry, plum, violet, tar, cedar, and crushed rocks. The violet floral component seems to be drawing out more as it opens up, which is nice. Light to medium body, …

2013 vintage

Definitely a bit of an oddball here, but still liked it. Needed 10 minutes to blow off some stewed fruit, bretty funk, and then only lasted about an hour (no decant) before fading. When it was good, the acid was super high and it was fairly full bodied and tannic, with not much in the way of expressive fruit or subtlety.

2013 vintage

Bought two bottles directly from the tasting room and always stored in a cellar. Drank one bottle about three years ago and it was a non-starter: zero fruit, acidic, strange. This bottle started out the same way, but gained heft and appreciable fruit within about an hour of opening. It was drinkable but not enjoyable for 1-2 hours from pulling the cork. I tried the wine again after corking the bottle and storing it overnight and it had degraded materially. …

2013 vintage

Was great the first night, awful the next.

2010 vintage

Perfect drinking window...approachable, nice fruit layer of cranberry, strawberry, kiwi. Nicely integrated with a long finish. Denver acid/tartness!

2010 vintage

Unlike the last bottle, which was flawed, this bottle was spectacular. Cherry, some forest notes, and noticeable but nicely integrated tannins. This is a bigger wine than I expected. I wish I had more of it.

2013 vintage

Still tastey. A little tart. But not turned. Very fruit forward.

2010 vintage

Blah. Very blah. Nothing interesting about this wine, that I could find. Very disappointed because I remember liking it in the tasting room. Tasted at different points over several hours with no noticable improvement.

2013 vintage

slightly more acidic than prior bottles. Deep flavors, well integrated tannins.

2013 vintage

Corked

2010 vintage

Just not good at all. Light, even for a pinot, which would have been fine if it didn't taste like a cleaning product. Great looking label, though!

2013 vintage

I don’t know about this one. Popped and poured. Strong acidity, but no real fruit. Drank over about 2 hours and never really opened up. Popped back on the cellar and tried on night too. Still same acidity and some sourness but zero fruit. The other bottles I have may end up being the red wine in a red wine braise ��‍♂️

2013 vintage

Decent quaff, not really special but worth the time. Muted nose, light fruit.

2013 vintage

Decanted with duck. Back to 91. Maybe just shut down?

2010 vintage

Popped one more at the 5 year mark.... no improvement. This was just an off wine for Brittan for some reason. Fruit was missing and what was there was disjointed. It happens...

2013 vintage

Really not good...time is gone for this wine...

2013 vintage

Probably one of the worst Pinot noirs from the new world I have experienced. At 5 years old, the fruit was gone and the wine was flat and tired. Consistent notes over 3 bottles. Bought from LASTBOTTLE.com. Perhaps this was a “drink upon release” wine but I’ve had Beaujolais drink well longer than this. Sadly I dumped the last bottle after opening, as I just couldn’t drink it.

2013 vintage

Fruit forward. Cranberry and strawberries. Very acid, sour at first. Needs to decant for 3 hours. Beautiful after letting it sit.

2013 vintage

Can’t remember when we drank this but it was earlier in 2018.

2010 vintage

A big ripe extracted style, especially for an Oregon Pinot. Its kept in balance by a firm underlying structure and nice finishing acidity. This hasn't budged much in its development.

2010 vintage

Tasted at Arroyo Vino Oregon PN tasting on 7/29/17: This didn't sing for me and I complicated it by not taking many notes. I simply wrote Deep Garnet and sweet. Judgement reserved. I would want to try again before posting a score. $49

2013 vintage

As S says, "If all pinots were this good, it could be my favorite grape." Well, I don't know about that! Extracted cherry flavors, but totally harmonious, with depth and good acids. Very nice!

2010 vintage

Surprisingly similar. This really hasn't budged much. Monolithic red fruit and showing every bit of it's extraction. It's missing a bit of depth and tang of the Gestalt. Some secondary hints are present. I'd be interested to see if the secondary notes can ever get out from under the fruit. Super dense and long, but a bit tiring.

2010 vintage

Ok I popped this early but since I am a huge fan of Robert's wine I had to taste. I was a little confused by this one... The nose was very tight which was expected but based on the nose alone I would never had guess this was a Pinot. Musty plum perhaps some raspberry and more earthy elements. On the palate the wine was again tight with more plum attributes than cherry. There was a tad bit of a …

2013 vintage

Drank with friends over 4th weekend. No decant. Closed on opening. Beautiful after 1+ hours.

2010 vintage

Decanted for a few hours and drank over three days. Consistent throughout. Super extracted--very dark for a Pinot--almost Syrah like (but no blending mentioned at the winery). Full mouth feel of bright acid and a dominating sour cherry. Maybe needed a few more years in the bottle.

2010 vintage

Decanted. Delightful balance and weight. Paired well with duck but could go lighter. 13.5%

2010 vintage

We chose this wine to accompany appetizers of chicken wings and filo wrapped spicy cheese. Brittan’s pinots tend to be deep and concentrated with a bit of tartness when they are young. This one was right on point and accompanied the appetizers perfectly. Bright, fresh nose of cherries and herbs. Forward flavors of cherries and strawberries with minerals and some earthy bramble. Wow. Love their wines! Lingering finish.

2010 vintage

Dark red and black fruit with a top note of forest smoke and roasted vegetables. Medium-bodied palate with black fruit, herbs and stones. Medium finish. Needed air to blossom. I'm interested in seeing how these age. 90+

2010 vintage

Would classify as more of a middle weight Pinot. A bit darker in color and taste, but still some tart crunchy red fruit with some nice minerality. Seemed ready to go straight from the bottle, but maybe just a tad better day 2 so you still have some time if want to wait.

2010 vintage

Mineral and cherry flavors dominate. Nice wine.

2010 vintage

Initial impression is that I opened this too early, but that passed quickly. Other tasting notes have mentioned that they thought the wine actually had Syrah added. I actually asked Robert Brittan if this was in fact Syrah when he poured it for us blind, which he a) Had heard before and b) Seems to get a kick out of. Anyways, these wines are intense bordering on medicinal. And quite concentrated. I always wonder if they're overextracted when I first …

2010 vintage

Going to give the benefit of the doubt and say this bottle was flawed. Tasted of stomach acid and no fruit despite the nose being muted but normal. Something amiss here.

2010 vintage

I am a huge fan of Brittan Basalt Block but this vintage is taking some time for me to warm up to. Out of the bottle the wine is darker with good clarity. The nose has a funk that blows off after 15 minutes. There is a green veggie component on the nose and you can tell that the wine is still wound pretty tight. I almost feel that some Syrah has been added? The initial attack is similar. A …

2010 vintage

Absolutely delicious. Ready to go immediately after opening.

2010 vintage

Stemmy green, fine tannin, decent fruit. Some sour notes.

2010 vintage

More fruit forward than the Gestalt. Fruit a bit redder and almost monolithic with more spice, cardamom. Fine tannin and acidity and softer. Medium body. Dense, extracted wine. I'd give it at least another year at least.

2010 vintage

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Brittan Vineyards, Basalt Block Pinot Noir, McMinnville

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