Light transparent garnet.  Big initial barnyard loveliness–gym socks and chicken-farm–which blows off with time and the always-apparent rich fruit takes an almost main stage against rich woody graphite and cassis.  Almost flat in its fullness, cloying even, dangerously dark alongside fairly uneven thinness.  While far from one-dimensional, there is a stillness–a mono-syllabic richness precariously balanced on a fine-point of briar and flint–which underwhelms while giving the initial impression of complexity.  Late-air offers nothing more than spice-addled oak.  Such is the intrinsic nature of some Pinot–and especially: Oregon Pinot.  In the mouth, thinness and tartness jump to the forefront, all cranberry fruit not able to hold off the acid and tannin with any sort of ripe complexity.  None of the situations presented in the nose translate to the palate.  The whole offering comes off obliquely harsh and under-fruited.  Still, flat, and bitter.  Green tannins abound, and whether this could age another 5 years remains a crap-shoot.  Probably at its absolute austere peak.
♦
2010 BLAKESLEE Pinot Noir Willamette Valley  12-8
http://www.blakesleevineyard.com

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