Oxbow Cheese & Wine Merchant has found a real gem: It is rare to find older American Pinots that are in great condition and showing significant bottle development. It is not that many Pinots can’t age well, but rather that most of don’t wait to find out! Amity is a small producer in Oregon founded by Myron Redford. Like his contemporaries, the late David Lett at Eyrie and Dick Ponzi at Ponzi Vineyards, Myron was one of the pioneers of modern Oregon wine production. A strict believer in “hands-off” winemaking, many wine professionals have felt his wines have been a bit uneven. When they have been good, however, they have sometimes been very good, and on occasion even exceptional.
Myron retired recently and sold his winery to the folks at Union Wine Company (Underwood cans!), who Myron believed would be great stewards of his and the winery’s legacy. In a dark corner of the winery cellar they found about 30 cases of this gem resting peacefully. Oxbow Cheese & Wine was able to grab a couple cases by virtue of having recently featured the Amity Pinot Blanc in their Wine Club. The flavor profile is very different than young Pinot. Instead of youthful cherry and red berry fruit, there is savory dried berry and plum, sage, tobacco, a touch of dusty earth — in other words a red that is maturing — but the wine still has firm acidity and solid tannins. It could probably go another 5 years if someone wanted to wait. If you ever wondered what Oregon Pinot could taste like with some bottle age, this is your chance, and at $39/bottle it is a steal.