Wine Pick: 2006 Panther Creek Pinot Noir – 20th Anniversary Reserve
A very nice wine from a good vintage in the Wilamette Valley:
2006 Panther Creek Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley) – 20th Anniversary Reserve ($60/ 750 mL): Popped and poured from 375 mL bottle- served in Riedel Vitis Pinot Noir Stem and consumed over 2 hours. On the nose the wine is very aromatic with sweet ripe cherry, fresh raspberry, cola, mocha, and a touch of heat that slowly blew off. On the palate the wine begins soft with a subtle touch of cherry cordial, but builds momentum towards the finish, but a constant theme throughout is great balance. Very fine tannins on the finish with candied cherry, earth, mocha, and black tea that lasts 30 seconds+. Nice wine- My rating: 92 pts, GV
Note: This is a barrel selection of 56% Shea, 25% Freedom Hill, 14% Temperance Hill and 5% Vista Hills. Only 698 cases produced with a portion of all sales going to Oregon’s Relief Nursery.
Special Thanks to Miranda Karson for giving me this wine as a gift 
You are so lucky to have the 20th Anniversary Reserve! Panther Creek is by far one of the best Pinot vintners in the US, if not the world. All of the vintages in the past 10 years are just amazing, which shows how talented they truly are by surviving some odd summers in Oregon earlier this decade. If you want something that may come close to Panther Creek, try Argyle’s Nuthouse Pinot. Cheers!