Oregonines f Brandborg Winery

"COOLEST, COOL CLIMATE VARIETALS"

Our site is very cool. We are one of 9 reference vineyards that are scattered throughout the Umpqua that participate in an ongoing research project. We are collecting climate and phenology data from each of the sites. Our site is the coolest of the nine and our growing degree days have not reached the 2000 growing degree days that are the minimum threshold to be classified as a region I. Region I is generally considered to be the only climate cool enough to grow top quality pinot noir. We are farming on the edge, and that is what always gives the most distinctive grapes, stretching the ripening curve to the very last minute.

July 2008 Wine Enthusiast

87 pts...Brandborg 2006 Bench Lands Pinot Noir (Umpqua Valley); $20

Here is your perfect salmon wine, light in color and offering plenty of fresh herbal flavors along with tart currant and cranberry fruit. It does not have the color or density of Yamhill county Pinots, but that makes it more suitable for a meal, and the herbal side of the wine is nicely matched to its juicy acids and tight tannins. – P.G.

88 pts... Brandborg 2006 Love Puppets Pinot Noir (Umpqua Valley); $30

Brandborg has established a style that is well-suited to the locale, and their Pinots are perfectly balanced and mix in spices and fresh herbs with the tart, cool climate fruit. This is a crisp, unpretentious style of Oregon Pinot. – P.G.

89 pts... Brandborg 2006 Ferris Wheel Vineyard Estate Pinot Noir (Umpqua Valley); $38

As with the other Pinots from Brandborg, this estate bottling puts the spices front and center, and matches the intensity of the fruit and the barrels appropriately. This is seductive and elegant with feminine grace. The spicy plum and red currant flavors carry some tasty barrel notes of clove and cinnamon, and the wine has a bit more intensity than its stablemates. – P.G.

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