Panther Creek Cellars Archives

19
May
2020

Panther Creek Cellars 2017 Carter Vineyard Pinot Noir

categories: Booze, Wine

This is the last in my line-up of single-vineyard Pinot Noir tastings from Panther Creek. (Although I do have a bonus post coming up…). They were all beautiful in their own right, offering a surprising amount of diversity in each bottle. From the infant-youthful Maverick, to the regal De Ponte, and the easy drinking Lazy River.

So how did this Carter Vineyard stack up? I loved this wine—it filled me up body and soul. Well balanced in flavor and texture, and the perfect pairing to our salmon salad. I know I shouldn’t pick favorites, but I think this Pinot Noir (in the line of Panther Creek single-vineyards) comes second only the the Kalita Vineyard. Read on…

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05
May
2020

Panther Creek Cellars 2017 Chardonnay

categories: Booze, Wine

I’m taking a brief detour from my tour of Panther Creek’s estate Pinot Noir vineyards. (If you haven’t followed along thus far, do take a look at these: Maverick, Kalita, and Lazy River. And don’t forget the oh-so-fun Pinot Noir-Chardonnay white wine blend. [know, right?]) No, today I’m featuring their estate Chardonnay—a Chardonnay actually worth drinking. I have a hard time with Chardonnay: it can be bland and boring, or completely unbalanced with all the winemaking things you can do to it. Ah, but here we have subtle simplicity holding hands with a solid structure. Drink it on its own, drink it with food, but either way drink and enjoy.

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30
Apr
2020

Panther Creek Cellars 2017 De Ponte Vineyard Pinot Noir

categories: Booze, Wine

Continuing my travels around Panther Creek’s estate vineyards. Today’s stop is the De Ponte Vineyard—doesn’t the name just sound fancy? Trust me, the taste doesn’t disappoint those expectations. Before you read on, make sure you’ve read about the winery’s other single estate bottlings: Maverick, Kalita, and Lazy River. And don’t forget to check out this super fun Pinot Noir-Chardonnay white wine blend. (I know, right?)

Also, don’t judge me, yes that is pizza in the background. Again.

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07
Apr
2020

Wine Review: Panther Creek 2017 Kalita Vineyard Pinot Noir

categories: Booze, Wine

This is a continuation of my tour of Panther Creek Cellars’ various vineyard sources. Today, we travel to Kalita Vineyard, located in the Yamhill Carlton AVA of Oregon, and planted entirely to Pinot Noir.

A bit about the vineyard from the Kalita Vineyard website:

Year planted: 2000
Varieties planted: Pinot Noir
Clones: Pommard, PN 114, PN 115, PN 777, all on grafted rootstock
Acreage planted: 22 acres

A bowl-shaped site providing winemakers with the option to select grapes grown on hillsides facing South, Southwest or Southeast with elevations ranging from 400 to 800 feet.
The soil is classic WillaKenzie soil.
22 acres of Pinot Noir with four different clones – Pommard, PN 114, PN 115 and PN 777 – all on grafted rootstock. Spacing is 4’x7′.
A Certified Sustainable Vineyard by Oregon Live
Managed since first planting in 2000 by Results Partners (currently led by Daniel Fey).

Now onto the wine…

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23
Mar
2020

Panther Creek Cellars 2017 Maverick Vineyard Pinot Noir

categories: Booze, Wine

My latest shipment from Panther Creek Cellars came with single-vineyard Pinot Noir from each of the winery’s estate vineyards. Super fun. I had the chance to compare the vineyards last year, so was so pleased to get to experience the 2017 release this year. The new kid on the block: Maverick Vineyard. In fact, this vineyard, located in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA of Oregon was only planted seven years ago, in 2013. For those of you unfamiliar with a vine’s growth cycle, typically the first three years of a vine’s life does not produce any fruit (or at least not enough or enough quality fruit to make wine). So, I imagine, 2017 was really the first harvest that yielded enough fruit to make enough sellable wine. And even then, only 150 cases were produced. So, how did the new kid fare?