The Most Burgundian of Them All
I recently tasted wines blind with Goodfellow Family Cellars, one of my favorite Oregon producers, and concluded from the blind evaluation that his wines are very Burgundian – in fact, perhaps the most Burgundian in Oregon. But that begs the question: What is Burgundian? The answer is not the same as it was 30 years ago, when I started drinking Burgundy.
A few decades ago, pinot noir from the Burgundy region of France (officially Bourgogne) featured lower alcohol, firm tannins, and fairly often notes of barnyard and other odd smells. We came to associate these characteristics with those wines, and appreciate them because of those markers. It’s how we told the French stuff apart from the Oregon or California stuff.
But that was also an era of change in the vineyards and wineries of Bourgogne. Ripeness became desirable, and information about how to farm the vines to more reliably achieve ripeness became widespread. Modern notions of sanitation also became more widespread, as did our understanding of oxidation and other factors. The wines in Burgundy became, as a group, riper and cleaner.
It’s not that Burgundy made bad wines then, and great wines now. There were always great wines – but some of those great wines were made by fortune, fate and circumstance rather than through technical control of the grape growing and winemaking factors. And some had flaws that would be unacceptable today, but that we used to identify the wine as “Burgundian.”
 |
 |
|
Marcus Goodfellow and co-proprietor Gaironn Poole flank unpaid intern Fletcher. |
The same thing was happening in Oregon in many cases in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when winemaking began to professionalize and the hobbyist wineries faded from the scene. In the early days, some the best wines were basically a happy circumstance of vintage character. In the modern world, however, we know how to control many of the vineyard and winery factors, and are able to ‘design’ a wine style on purpose.
As a result, there are now ripe, modern-style Burgundies and more structured, ageworthy Oregon wines that are made that way because the winemakers want them that way.
There are still big differences between most Oregon pinots and most Burgundies despite all this progress. The artful use tannins is one particularly large difference. Extracted from skins and stems primarily, tannin works as an antioxidant while the wine is aging, and adds a bit of bitterness to help balance a wine. An abundance of firm tannins present in many top Burgundies allow the wine to age gracefully for years or decades – or can even mean a wine is unpleasant to drink until it has aged a decade or more.
In Oregon, winemakers will extract tannins from their grape skins and include stems in the ferment and use other techniques to increase the tannins in their finished wine – if they want to make ageworthy pinot noir or aspire to Burgundian character. But it’s a tricky business, and must be done correctly.
Eventually the tannins form long molecular chains and fall out of solution as sediment, at which point we generally declare the wine to be mature – and hope that there’s enough fruit character left behind to make the wine worth drinking. There are many, many Burgundies that must be allowed to cellar for ten years before the tannins are tamed enough to enjoy the wine. On the flip side, there are few Oregon pinots that are still in need of additional cellaring at age 10.
I attended a tasting recently that pitted Goodfellow white and red wines against Burgundies, Premier Cru primarily. Tasting blind, I could pick out only one Oregon wine from as being Goodfellow versus all the Burgundian stuff, which included about 20 wines. One of the Burgundies was a flawed piece of crap that other attendees found “interesting” — which itself was interesting.
In any case, it’s clear to me that Marcus Goodfellow is, without question, making Oregon Pinot Noir and Chardonnay with a style and structure that matches Premier Cru Burgundy, and that is indistinguishable from such to an educated and experienced palate (aka my palate).
The wines are all somewhat approachable now, particularly with some decanting and food, but clearly have the stuffing for aging to ten years and beyond. They are not fruit bombs, but instead feature restrained alcohol, plenty of fine and integrated tannins that are derived in part from whole cluster fermentation, and also firm acidity – all required elements for ageworthy wine.
The Reserve-Level Wines of Goodfellow Family Cellars
Special! Any Six Bottles of Goodfellow Wines 6% Off!
Any 12 bottles of Goodfellow 10% Off!
Goodfellow discount added manually to final e-receipt.
Find the Goodfellow and all wines in this offer HERE
2014 Goodfellow Chardonnay Richard’s Cuvee
$39 / bottle
Made from 100% Whistling Ridge Vineyard fruit. The site here is exposed, which can result in some focused, stripped down fruit, but the ’14 vintage had plenty of flesh, so this comes off as a classic French style, with ample citrus, pear and apple fruits, great acidic cut, and wood perfectly married to the wine. It’s fresh and focused, but with excellent texture and substance. I’ve pegged this as white Burgundy twice now in blind tastings. A personal favorite. (Tasted with 2014 Caroline Morey Chassagne Montrachet Les Chaumees 1er and 2014 Antoine Jobard Meursault en la Barre 1er)
2012 Matello Pinot Noir Souris
$42 / bottle
Firm structure with a dense, ripe red fruit component. Long and intense, this is one for the cellar. Try again in 2020. (Limited Library Selection) (Vinous 93 Points)
(Tasted with 2012 Henri Boillot Volnay Les Chevrets 1er and 2012 Confurton-Cotetidot Gevrey Chambertin Petite Chapelle 1er)
2013 Goodfellow Pinot Noir Whistling Ridge
$36 / bottle
Good fruit extract is accompanied by waves of minerals and warm spices including hints of cinnamon. Medium-plus acidity carries everything through a lengthy finish that features palate-coating extract. Another cellar candidate.
2013 Goodfellow Pinot Noir Bishop Creek
$39 / bottle
This has a fairly demonstrative nose up front, followed by cool red fruits that are firm and dense in texture. There’s real extract here, well balanced by ripe tannic structure. Loads of potential for both the dinner table and the cellar. The vineyard has subsequently sold to Burgundian producer Meo-Camuzet. level.
(2013 Goodfellows tasted with 2013 DeMontille Volnay En Champans 1er and 2013 Serafin Morey St. Denis les Millandes 1er)
2014 Goodfellow Pinot Noir Whistling Ridge
$39 / bottle
The mineral-infused fruit component is framed by solid structure, and the whole thing has real inner tension. With great young pinots, inner mouth aromatics and the sense of extract on the palate are clues to the future. The future here is bright indeed.
2014 Goodfellow Pinot Noir Bishop Creek
$39 / bottle
Dark, intense and slightly sauvage fruit is married to significant fine tannins here, and the wine is young enough to show both focus and finesse at once. The vintage character shows as tons of dark fruit extract, typical of the site.