2014 Eminent Domaine Estate Pinot Noir Ribbon Ridge 750 ml

Like Paupers with a Popgun in a High Stakes Shootout

We attended the first “Willamette” Pinot Noir auction, Oregon’s answer to Napa’s Premiere Napa Valley. Hundreds of collectors, retailers, and distributors came to The Allison Inn & Spa in Newberg loaded for bear, ready to drop thousands on 5-to-10-case lots of stunning single-vineyard 2014 Pinot Noirs from what many are calling “the vintage of a lifetime.”

We arrived early and spent two hours working the ballroom at the pre-auction tasting, devising our bidding strategy. By the time we settled into our third-row seats, we’d narrowed our list to just eight wines, including barrel samples from Bergström, Soléna Estate, WillaKenzie, Patricia Green, Trisaetum, and Cristom. Authorized to bid up to $6,000 per lot, we were ready for action, numbered paddles in hand.

But it would take less than 15 minutes to realize that “Willamette” was too rich for our blood. Every wild-berry 2014 Pinot Noir that had piqued our interest at the pre-auction tasting would fetch over $10,000 per lot! We were paupers with a popgun in a high-stakes shootout.

For those of you who have filled your cellars with entry-level 2014 Pinot Noirs from the likes of WillaKenzie, Soléna Estate, and Bergström, you know all about the deepest, darkest, juiciest, Russian River-like Pinots ever crafted in the Pacific Northwest. Now, as the top producers release their high-scoring single-vineyard wines, as we discovered at “Willamette,” the market is overheated, with demand far exceeding supply — nowhere more so than at Jeff Meader’s Eminent Domaine.

In 2002, the City of Portland decided to put in a new light rail line. What seemed like a great idea to city planners proved to be a headache for Jeff Meader. An office building Meader had purchased, into which he’d just plunged 130k in improvements, sat smack dab in the middle of TriMet’s path. The planners cited eminent domain, suggesting that the razing of Meader’s building was for the public good. Jeff went to court — and won — but the victory didn’t come easily or inexpensively.

Stories like this can build character. They’re also capable of sucking the wind out of young entrepreneurs, but not Meader. A few years later, Jeff became infected with the winegrowing bug. Initially, he remembered that day in court and did his best to let the virus run its course. But a couple months later, when he and his wife stumbled upon a 7-acre parcel at the very top of Ribbon Ridge — right next door to Harry Peterson-Nedry’s “RR” — Meader couldn’t help himself. The couple bought the plot on the spot.

The 2014 Eminent Domaine Pinot Noir Estate Ribbon Ridge is one of the richest, most voluptuous Oregon Pinot Noirs of the year. Deep ruby-purple to the rim. Lavish aromas of crushed black raspberry, black cherry, sweet spice, and white pepper, framed by plenty of new-wood cedar. Intensely concentrated on entry, the core is packed with black-raspberry preserves, black cherry, and a hint of kirsch, despite all the opulence of the vintage, finishing with bracing acidity, dusty tannin sturdiness, and sappy muscle. Drink now for its sheer hedonism or lay down until the mid-2020s.

93 points from Wine Spectator.  Total production of just 630 cases.  $39 per bottle for as long as 50 cases last.