Winemaking: RION Reserve Pinot noir: 1998 release reveals power and elegance

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RION Reserve Pinot noir: 1998 release reveals power and elegance

CHEHALEM 1998 Oregon Pinot Noir : Rion Reserve label

When Patrice Rion and I met over 13 years ago we had bearing vineyards at Ridgecrest, but no winery. I had been formally experimenting since 1983 and had discovered some of the principles of pinot noir winemaking we still use today. However, Patrice provided the Old World confirmation of the basics and encouragement, based on a similar view of what pinot should be.

Today, my view has not changed much and that is reflected in our style that tries at once to embody power and elegance in the same wine. Elegance is the important facet of pinot noir that sets it apart from ordinary red wine varietals, and that cannot be sacrificed for any reason. However, strength, structure and complexity are hallmarks of the best pinot noirs and provide an ageability and three-dimensional nature that is desirable.

In 1998 we obtained both major objectives, yielding a wine that, despite incredible density of fruit and acid and tannin structure, is finesseful, long, broad and silky on the palate. In its youth, the wine needs time to integrate to become totally balanced, but will be very close to Cheryl's and my objectives. Restraint in an intense, concentrated vintage gave us loveliness rather than beastliness, pinot noir rather than a cabernet or syrah. This wine is the equal of our first Rion Reserve, named as a thank-you to Patrice for his support, released from the last great Oregon vintage, 1994. Any judgment on superiority awaits maturity and aging, and may be difficult with two great distracting vintages close on its heels. We are racking our 1999 Rion Reserve tomorrow, as I write this copy.

Patrice has left the family domaine, Domaine Daniel Rion, and now works full-time for his personal label, Patrice e Michelle Rion. Always risk taking, which is very unlike the tradition-rich Burgundy wine industry, Patrice has pushed innovative winemaking techniques, marketing approaches, viticulture (e.g., he planted pinot blanc on Premier Cru vineyard land several years ago, the only such planting in the Cote d'Or), and business practices. We last saw each other on a joint marketing trip on the East Coast last year. Hopefully you can see Patrice when you open a bottle of our 1998 Rion Reserve.