1999 Cristom Marjorie Vineyard Pinot Noir

Our friends who have a vineyard came for a visit to see the state of our vineyard and to have dinner with us. They have two children, but this weekend, they found themselves childless (thank goodness for camps!) and so they were able to make a little trek to spend some time with us. We began with a taste of Kerner, which exhibited the fruitiness of a Riesling but was packed with some good acidity. This wine is a good summer quaffer and priced around $20.00 makes it a good buy. We then moved on to Duval LeRoy Champagne with oysters and smoked salmon and cream cheese on cucumber slices. Our main dish was a mushroom risotto with seared scallops which we paired with this 1999 Cristom Marjorie Vineyard Pinot noir. We all enjoyed the wine which was dark purple in color and still had substantial fruit flavors that was the perfect foil for the earthy mushroom risotto. Yum! Cristom is located in the Willamette Valley in Oregon, and their website mentions that the Marjorie vineyard is named after the founder Paul Gerrie’s mother. The vineyard was planted in 1982 and the first release from this vineyard was in 1994. My husband and I are wondering if we have any more of this Pinot noir that he bought when it was first released. Some digging is in order!