2014 Ponzi Vineyards Pinot Noir Tavola Willamette Valley 750 ml

Pinot Noir Excellence Masquerading as a "Table Wine"

Encountering the 2014 Ponzi Vineyards Pinot Noir Tavola Willamette Valley on the menu at NYC’s Jean-Georges was like reuniting with an old friend. We met so many of the founding fathers of Oregon Pinot Noir in 1987, at the first International Pinot Noir Celebration in McMinnville. We were not the only ones impressed by Dick Ponzi back then; Robert Parker would call him “Oregon’s Best Producer” the next year. Luckily for Dick, us, and Pinot Noir lovers the world over, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

Luisa Ponzi grew up working the fields her parents pioneered in Willamette Valley. Perhaps she would have preferred zooming down the Disneyland rides her father engineered in his first career, but Dick Ponzi’s second act found the family strapped in for the roller coaster ride taking Oregon Pinot Noir all the way to the wine stratosphere. For young Luisa, the family business was something to avoid. She started college pre-med, and it wasn’t until Dick invited her to help in the winery’s lab that his youngest daughter caught the wine bug.

She could have easily enrolled in UC Davis, but Luisa has always been determined to go her own way. Instead, she went to the source, the same Burgundy terroir that inspired her parents in the late ‘60s to move north from California to the then-unrealized potential of Oregon’s Willamette Valley. The first American woman to complete her studies in Beaune, Luisa apprenticed with Christophe Roumier at the legendary Domaine Georges Roumier, a hands-on education in crafting what Stephen Tanzer has called the “wonderfully full,” “creamy,” and “seamless” wines of Chambolle-Musigny. In 1993, Luisa returned to her hometown of Beaverton to take over the reins from her father as head winemaker at Ponzi.

Luisa proved to be a chip off the old block, retaining Ponzi’s regular perch on Wine Spectator’s annual Top 100 list. So it was with no surprise but a good deal of anticipation that we ordered a glass of 2014 Ponzi “Tavola” Pinot Noir during a recent lunch at Jean-Georges, Chef Vongerichten’s culinary palace on NYC’s Columbus Circle.

“That’s our best table wine,” the sommelier told us, a sly smile lighting up his face. (Right: “Tavola” translates to “table wine.”) We chatted about the sensational 2014 growing season in the Willamette Valley. A “Goldilocks” vintage,” he called it. Goldilocks? Not too hot, not too cold — just right.

If you’ve been paying attention, you already know all about Oregon’s 2014 Pinot Noir “vintage of a lifetime.” It’s up there with 2012 — Stephen Tanzer’s “one for the record books.” We perked up when Wine Spectator rated 2014 Oregon Pinot Noir a stunning 94-97 points. Then Antonio Galloni chimed in, noting that 2014 is “a vintage that’s at least the equal of 2012.” So when we were shut out at the first “Willamette” Pinot Noir wine auction — with every wild-berry 2014 Pinot Noir that had piqued our interest at the pre-auction tasting fetching over $10,000 per lot — we were more annoyed than surprised.

The 2014 vintage in Willamette was the warmest year on record, not because of heat spikes but due to nights that never cooled all the way down. Many producers feared a massive crop and harvested early, when their grapes were still green. The smart, experienced winemakers pruned instead, slashing yields — and after two decades at the helm of Ponzi, Luisa counts among the savviest winemakers working the Willamette Valley. When she made the call to harvest at the very beginning of September, Ponzi enjoyed a pristine pick, stress-free, with pure, clean, ripe fruit.

The 2014 Tavola blends the best of Ponzi’s three acclaimed vineyards along the North Slope of the Chehalem Mountains — the Aurora, Avellana, and Madrona vineyards — along with the cream of the Pinot crop from sustainably grown vineyards in Oregon’s top AVAs — Dundee Hills, Yamhill-Carlton, and Eola Hills. Bright with notes of raspberry and spiced cherries in our glass at Jean-Georges, harking back to an extended cold soak. Riveting, lively, bright, and fresh from daily punchdowns. Soft, supple but forward, lush with a hint of spice.

Wine Enthusiast asked the right rhetorical question before selecting this “Tavola” as a 91-point “Editors' Choice”: “Who puts their lowest-priced Pinot Noir in 20% new French oak, and includes fruit from their best vineyards in the blend? Ponzi does, and the result is a terrific vintage for Tavola.”

$18 by the glass at Jean-Georges, and worth every penny. Just $22.99 for a BOTTLE for a few hours this morning. Shipping included on 6 or more.