Oregon bargain

Thirty years ago was the breakthrough for Oregon, when an Eyrie pinot noir shone in a competition against top French burgundies. Robert Drouhin, of the well-known Burgundian family, responded by opening a major vineyard in the Willamette Valley. The Drouhin wines from Oregon have always been good, but not the best even if among the most expensive. I wonder if the hippie spirit (perhaps I should say contrarian individualism) that drove the early days in Oregon simply doesn’t translate perfectly into French. Anyway, members of the Drouhin family have collaborated with a new venture, called “Cloudline.” This is a bargain-priced Oregon pinot noir, made of grapes purchased from growers who have long worked with Domaine Drouhin Oregon and produced in consultation with Veronique Drouhin-Boss. Big Red has a lot of it. The Cloudline 2002 is a first-rate pinot for the stunningly low price of $15 – wine from the Domaine Drouhin itself costs three or four times as much. My notes on the Cloudline: “Deep red but not dark, nose of sweet cherries, a hint of gunpowder, a whiff of oak. Silk in the mouth, a long finish with notes of plum and prune. Not complex but pure and delicious.” The only question I had about the wine was the acidity on the finish, which was a little much for plain drinking. But at dinner, the same acidity made it work beautifully. (I thought the acidity was like a good Italian barbera, which can be sharp when you first taste it but then complements a meal perfectly.) If you serve this wine, your guests may not think you’re a wine guru but I bet they will think you have become a good cook. And if they find out how little you paid, they’ll be wanting investment advice too.