Wine critic Steven Baker follows the cool climate back roads of Oregon Pinot noir country and shares his journal. His business, Authentica Wines, is a membership based wine club.

~ February 2011

Remnants of a powerful Pacific storm front played themselves out over the rain soaked fields and vineyards along Highway 47 as I made my way north of the tiny farming hamlet of Yamhill, about 30 miles southwest of Portland. Such storms are typical for Western Oregon in January and they usually begin sometime in October, when the jet stream dips south and the "Pineapple Express" sweeps into the Northwest from the South Pacific and puts an emphatic and blustery end to the wine grape growing season in the Willamette Valley.

I was late for my appointment and the curving, narrow two lane seemed to stretch on endlessly through the rolling, vineyard clad hillsides. Finally I reached Gaston and the g.p.s. told me that I had overshot my turn in the pounding downpour. So I doubled back south, made a right and drove several miles deep into the dripping, fir covered Coast Range foothills.

Finally, after driving several miles along a well-graded gravel road, the sky cleared and an opening in the thick Doug Firs to my right (just past an intimidating beware of dog sign) revealed my destination - a neat and compact little winery built snugly into a hillside, just below a meticulously cared for vineyard that overlooks a wide meadow. The original builders christened it Elvenglade with good reason - now this compact, sheltered winery serves as fertile ground for Tendril, Tony Rynders new premium pinot noir project.

After nearly nine years as the head winemaker for a resoundingly successful wine program at one of Oregon's more high profile, ultra-premium wineries - and a wrenching legal battle over his right to move on that took a significant financial and emotional toll - Tony has finally landed on his feet again and is back where he belongs - making small batches of pure, deftly crafted pinot noir.

Some of you may have followed the whole sordid story through the Oregon wine press, but the details are not relevant to our discussion today. What is important is that Tony made some of the most elegant and expressive Willamette Valley pinot noir of the last 15 years for his former employer. Wine critics and the wine press consistently awarded Tony's wines top scores, and his work was responsible for much of his previous winery's success.

There is no doubt that he will bring these considerable wine making talents to bear in his current project; only now it will be for himself, an even stronger motivation to excel. And more importantly, he plans to keep it small and intimate. "I'm making about 300 cases of wine right now. It may go up to 1,000 or 1,200 eventually, but anything beyond that is a place I don't want to go. I've been there before."

That's good news for fans of top-of-the line Oregon pinot noir, as the first vintage of Tendril demonstrates. The 2008 is made from a number of premium sources throughout the valley - mostly from sedimentary soils - only a very little from the Red Hills. Unlike some of his well known and more vocal colleagues, Tony is not a proponent of the single vineyard concept in Oregon. "If you can make a better wine from a variety of sources, I think that's what you should do" continued Tony.

It was hard to argue as we settled down to tasting the 2008. The color is dark garnet/ruby, with bright highlights, and the aromas are enchanting and well delineated, dominated by intense, sappy red and black cane berry fruit. The wine is tight right now, as it should be, considering its finely etched structure, which relies on well integrated acidity (a hallmark of 2008) and extremely fine grained tannins to support the opulent red and black fruits.

After aeration, the wine showed its considerable appeal, flashing layers of ripe Black Cap raspberry, blackberry and a vein of red currant, as well as an intriguing element of Asian spice and just a touch of evergreen. The wine just gets better and better the longer it is open, an indication of its potential in the cellar. In fact, it was only after a full day that the wine began to unfold and show its considerable weight and depth. Although well proportioned and skillfully crafted, this is a style that leans toward the richer and more opulent end of the spectrum for Oregon pinot noir.

The first vintage of Tendril is a really fine effort that can be counted among the top wines of the vintage, exactly what I'd expect from this talented and dedicated winemaker. I highly recommend this wine to anyone interested in impeccably made, highly expressive, small production Oregon pinot noir. In other words, get on board now, because the future for Tendril is very bright indeed, and once the word gets out and the reviews start rolling in, it will go very quickly.

~ Steve Baker

Tendril
Willamette Valley, 2008
Release Price: $48.00

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