Value Wine Special
10% Off Any 12 bottles or More!
Discount applied manually to final e-receipt
2014 White Rose Estate Blackthorn Cuvee
$20 / bottle
My Top Value Pick
As our top ultra-value pick in round # 1, this wine delivers fruit and concentration beyond its exceptionally reasonable price point. The fruit is Dundee Hills red, but marked with the darker character of the '14 vintage. Most notably, the rose petal perfume of the site is intact - this estate is somewhat unique in the perfumed red aroma that emanates from its wines. It's also more forward than many '14s, which are young enough to still have some youthful firmness in many cases. So, for a meager $20 you get supple, dark-red fruit with a tantalizing red fruit - rose petal aroma, a layered and generous fruit palate, and a long fruit-centric finish. Impressive for the style and value.
2014 Brooks Pinot Noir Runaway Red
$18 / bottle
Wine Spectator 91 Points
This is my co-winner for best of the ultra-value pinots tasted recently. The Brooks Runaway Red is an entry-level bottling that was named after a barrel of wine that rolled a bit downhill one time, as I recall the story. This wine is sweetly fruited, open-knit and has a very appealing juicy character and pizzazz that makes it fun and easy to drink, but it also shows above-average complexity and length. That a wine this tasty went into a bottle for only $18 can only mean that Brooks' more elevated bottlings will be awesome, when the time comes. This is good enough that it was awarded a Wine Spectator 91 Points, with these notes: "Fresh and vital, with expressive cherry, cranberry and raspberry flavors on a polished, open-weave frame, lingering on the refreshing finish. Drink now through 2019 - HS"
2014 Evesham Wood PN Willamette Valley
$21 / bottle
Juicy and bright, with a vivid fruit character that delivers fresh red fruit flavors that are very persistent. This wine has more pure red fruit than many value pinots of the vintage, which tend to somewhat darker flavors. Compellingly good, BUT . . . It's almost sold out. I waited too long to go to print on this, and everyone else bought most of the bottles. Worthy of pursuing, but limited.
2014 Patton Valley PN Willamette Valley
$20 / bottle
Silken-textured, rich and dark-flavored fruit is the feature presentation of this tasty wine, showing excellent concentration and detail for the category. The palate is lifted by some juicy, pomegranate-inflected acidity to keep things fresh on the palate. This has more body than most, and is a standout effort.
2014 Roots Wine Pinot Noir "Klee"
$24 / bottle
WS 91 Points!
This one, too, shows vivacious acidity which buoys fresh, juicy fruit in an irresistible fashion.
From the WS: "Lithe and expressive, open-textured and tangy, with raspberry, cherry and lime peel notes coming together with presence and finesse on the long finish. Best from 2017 through 2022."
2014 Joleté Pinot Noir La Verre
$24 / bottle
Premium Club Selection
La Verre in French is 'the glass,' indicating the producer's desire to have this wine become a restaurant glass pour. In fact, it's typically available at Oregon restaurants only. The wine simply pops on the palate, with vivid, bright fruit flavors and a captivating personality that compels repeated tasting. Fresh, juicy, bright - these are common characteristics of these tasty bargains from the '14 vintage.
2014 Spindrift Pinot Noir Willamette Valley
$20 / bottle
Spindrift is made in a part of the Willamette Valley that is often overlooked, which we might call 'mid-Valley' around the Corvallis / Philomath area. It is a go-to value in every vintage, and in '14 they have nailed it again. The wine is vibrant, fruit-driven, perfectly balanced and very pleasurable to sip on right now. Like most of these '14s, there will certainly be development in the bottle in the first year or three. A ridiculous value on a wine that has not seen a price increase in years.
2014 Brigadoon Pinot Noir La Chouette
$27 / bottle
Premium Club Selection
This farming family has a sizable spread upon which they conduct various agricultural activities, including grape farming and grapevine rootstock growing. Baby grape vines gotta come from somewhere, and some of it comes from Brigadoon. They also made a modest amount of pinot noir, and this is our first selection from this fairly new producer.
This wine is a step up in depth and complexity at this level, and justifies a higher price than some of our other value picks. There is an impressive surge of dark fruit flavors on the palate, mineral-laden, lengthy, but remaining lively through the entire palate arc, which concludes with a lengthy finish. There is commendable depth and layering here, and plenty of room for flavor expansion with a bit of bottle age. An excellent effort with great appeal.
2014 Purple Hands PN Willamette Valley
$26 / bottle
Short Term Post-Off
Cody Wright is the overnight success that has been only 12 years in the making. But the word is out these days, and his wines are better than ever - reflected by his critical scores and rising prices - and his juice sells because it tastes great. He told me once that he wanted to be his own man in the wine world, despite being Ken Wright's son. In my estimation, he reached that goal sometime back.
This 2014 version of his entry-level pinot noir is simply a delicious mouthful of fruit that explodes on the palate, with cascading layers of fruit that seem endless. The wine has admirable weight and depth and length, and is exceptionally compelling. A top-tier pick in the under-$30 category.
SOUTH WILLAMETTE VALLEY 
