2019 Hundred Suns, Pinot Noir, Bednarik Vineyard, Tualatin Hills AVA, Willamette Valley, Oregon.
The dark, sultry and earthy 2019 Bednarik Vineyard Pinot Noir from Grant Coulter and Renée Saint-Amour at Hundred Suns is a very old school Oregon Pinot, but uniquely crafted in parts with whole cluster carbonic lots in amphora to lots of 100% de-stemmed grapes in small open top fermenters. The results, after maturing in neutral French oak barrels for just under a year, are impressive and Burgundy like with layers of dark berry, wild plum, a core of black cherry and a lingering mix of orange marmalade and cranberry fruits, along with graphite, leather, briar spice, a hint of cedar and Earl Grey tea and subtle florals and mineral notes all come into play here. The tannins turn supple with air and the fruit becomes deep with the feral meatiness finding a good spot in the background, with a touch of chalky stones, somewhere between a Nuits-Saint-Georges ad a Gevrey-Chambertin in style. This may not appeal to the modern California Pinot drinker, but there’s no doubting the quality here and I was very much entertained over the course of a few nights with this wine. This intriguing 2019 is a bit less flamboyant than some of the other bottlings here, but that isn’t a fault and makes this Bednarvik very distinctive in its own right and showcases the year and terroir beautifully.
The block of old vines that Hundred Suns has at Bednarik Vineyard, originally own rooted back in 1988, near Cherry Grove in the lesser known Tualatin Hills AVA, is located at about 350 feet above sea level and set on classic marine sedimentary soils with an inter-planting of Pommard and Wadenswil clones and sees a cooler climate influence. This, from nice long hang times, gives the wines their concentration, complexity and low alcohol freshness, with the old clones adding structural tannins and earthiness, especially evident here in this 2019, a very traditional Willamette Valley vintage. The talented, ex Beaux Frères winemaker, Grant Coulter, originally from Monterey, near my own hood, says the 2019 vintage was more in line with his ideal Oregon growing season and that the cool hillside vines at Bednarik gave great intensity of color and flavor with moderate sugars with the grapes all being hand picked on October 1st of that harvest. Coulter, who continues to be an innovator, does a combination of winemaker techniques like the mentioned amphora fermentations, along with carbonic maceration in stainless steel, maybe some concrete, and traditional foot trodded open top fermentations, as seen here. Sometimes the early opened Hundred Suns Pinots come across like my favorite Cru Beaujolais, but this one is more transparently Pinot in in the glass and these wines age beautifully, don’t miss a chance to try them.
($60 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive