Our blind tasting game—without the tasting! Can you identify a wine just by reading its tasting note? We post real Wine Spectator reviews. You use clues such as color, aromas, flavors and structure to figure out the grape, age and origin. Good luck!
Tasting Note: Sleek and vivacious yet elegantly structured, with layered raspberry and red plum flavors that take on notes of forest floor, black tea and spices as this builds tension toward polished tannins.
And the answer is...
Variety
Our mystery red wine is sleek with polished tannins, vivacious acidity and red fruit, tea, spice and forest floor notes. Let’s figure out what it is!
We can begin by eliminating Touriga Nacional, which tends to produce wines with blue and dark fruit notes, mint accents and high levels of gripping tannins, all missing from our wine.
A Cabernet Franc could show our wine’s lively acidity and red fruit and earth notes; unfortunately, our red is missing Cabernet Franc’s hallmark green bell pepper and chile pepper notes. Let’s move on!
The Greek Agiorgitiko grape can make wines with moderate levels of tannins and bright acidity; but these reds also tend to have dark fruit preserve and pepper notes missing from our wine. Maybe another grape works better?
Zinfandels often have moderate to high levels of tannins with red fruit, spice and earth notes. Have we got it? Not quite. Zinfandels also tend to have less-than-vivacious acidity, and their tannins are usually more “dusty” than polished. This grape has to go too.
Pinot Noir can make red wines with vivacious acidity and polished tannins that support red fruit, tea, spice and forest floor notes. We have a winner!
This wine is a Pinot Noir.
Country or Region of Origin
While it originates in France, Pinot Noir grows in cool-climate regions across the globe today. That said, it would be difficult to find any Pinot Noir vines in Portugal, and there isn’t much of it planted in Greece. There are several wineries who work with Pinot Noir in Washington state, but the grape isn’t nearly as prominent there as other varieties like Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. One of Pinot Noir’s footholds is California, where versions tend to be richer with ripe dark fruit flavors, savory and wood accents (the latter owed to oak influence) and plush tannins and textures. Meanwhile, farther north in Oregon, winemakers are known for a leaner style of Pinot Noir focused on the grape’s potential for red fruit, tea and earth notes. This sounds closest to the mark.
This Pinot Noir is from Oregon.
Appellation
We know that our Pinot Noir is from Oregon, so we can eliminate Portugal’s Douro, Washington’s Horse Heaven Hills, Greece’s Naousa and California’s Rutherford. This leaves us with two options in Oregon: Ribbon Ridge and the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater. The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater is located within the wider Walla Walla Valley region, which overlaps both Oregon and Washington state; there are red wines made in this area, primarily from Syrah, Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon. Meanwhile, Ribbon Ridge is a subappellation of Oregon’s Willamette Valley, which is renowned for its Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs. We have a clear choice.
This Pinot Noir is from Ribbon Ridge.
Age
Our Pinot Noir’s fruit notes are still fresh, and it isn’t showing any signs of significant aging. Let’s take a look at Oregon’s most recently released vintages to figure this red’s age, bearing in mind that Oregon winemakers tend to age their Pinot Noirs for a year or two. The weather in the Willamette Valley was largely sunny and dry in 2023, and that year’s Pinot Noirs can be delicate with watermelon, strawberry, cherry and orange blossom flavors. The growing season started cold and rainy for Oregon in 2022, and then it turned dry and hot; this vintage’s reds are often vivacious with polished tannins and accents of tea, spices and earth. Oregon experienced an intense heat spike in the summer of 2021, and that year’s Pinot Noirs are graceful, yet generous with blue and red fruit notes and floral accents. Of this group, 2022’s Pinot Noirs are the most on target.
This Pinot Noir is from the 2022 vintage, making it two years old.
Wine
This is the Brick House Pinot Noir Ribbon Ridge Halliday Hill 2022, which scored 93 points in the Oct. 31, 2024, issue of Wine Spectator. It retails for $70, and 98 cases were made. For more on Oregon Pinot Noir, read senior editor Tim Fish’s tasting report, "Oregon Ascendant," in the June 30, 2024, issue.
—Collin Dreizen, assistant managing editor
